Discard (or burn) the cross you have from last year and then keep the new cross for the entire year, until the next arrival of St. While customs during this day have evolved over the years, from placing bread on windowsills to lighting a bonfire, there is one aspect of it that has remained consistent over the years: St.

This seasonal festival marks the first day of spring in the Celtic Calendar; when the days grow longer and the weather becomes milder. In rare cases, Brigid's cross may be set fully inside a circle; this is known as a "wheel cross" or "St. You can recite this prayer afterwards: “May the blessing of God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost be on this Cross and on the place where it hangs and on everyone who looks on it. A beautiful tradition, a holy and potent symbol woven from the rushes of Irish rivers and thought to ward off evil and hunger for generations of Irish people.Brigid was a pioneer who offered women the same resources for deepening their spirituality as were available for men.

All across Ireland, lozenges can be found on Neolithic stone monuments, where they were carved by prehistoric peoples. The spiral of the Brighid cross invokes the North Star and the pattern that the Big Dipper makes in the sky over the course of a year. Trying to bring comfort to the dying man, Brigid picked up rushes from the floor and began to make a cross while explaining its symbolism. Since 1934, we are synonymous with designing and crafting quality jewellery, homeware and giftware in the heart of the Curragh Plains in Co.Brigid's cross or Brigit's cross (Irish: Cros Bhríde, Crosóg Bhríde or Bogha Bhríde) is a small variant of the cross often woven from straw or rushes. Design [ edit ] The arms of the cross are not parallel to one another, giving the impression of motion. Brigid is said to have invented the cross herself while attending a sickbed and picking up rushes from the floor to craft them into a sacred cross. We cannot say for sure if the three-legged cross is directly connected to the lozenge, and we know the modern conception of a St Brigid’s cross is Christian—the crosses are traditionally blessed with holy water.

In County Armagh, for instance, the harvest season involves the weaving of Harvest Knots and Harvest Stars, the former of which involves a lozenge shape similar to that of Brigid's cross.Furthermore, Brigid’s association with healing made her a patron of physicians and practitioners of herbal medicine. The story of the first St Brigid's cross comes from a story about an old pagan lord on his deathbed whose servants summoned Brigid to his side to calm him. Brigid of the Tuatha de Danaan, in Irish Celtic mythology, was known as a life-giving goddess, which is why the beginning of Spring with the birth of new lambs and the flowers beginning to bloom again, was associated with her. Kildare, but her remains were exhumed during the time of the Viking raids along the east coast of Ireland and brought to Downpatrick, where she rests alongside Saints Patrick and Columcille at Down Cathedral.

Regardless, her life is well documented, and she remains a popular figure in Irish Christian history. As she explained about Christ and the cross, the chieftain’s restless mind calmed down, and his interest began to grow. To enable personalised advertising (like interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. Releasing records under the pseudonym "Burial," William Bevan comes from South London in England, and is one of dubstep's most enigmatic artists.Or you can learn with the My Irish Jeweler team, when folklorist and storyteller, Margo showed them the ropes. For hundreds of years, we have celebrated her feast day by making crosses from rushes and hanging them in our homes. The most popular of these is the diamond or lozenge cross, the dominant variant throughout Munster and Connacht.