mythology alert - brigid and fire

Ok ok ok so I know that I have run this figure in the ground, but I'm about to move on so indulge me one last time. This past weekend I mentioned something about Brigid being the goddess of fire. This has only been mentioned specifically once in all the reading I have been doing and it was in a rather new agey reference so I've been lead to conclude that this is a more recent attribution to her as opposed to a historically authentic connection. After all, even Oxford reference materials don't mention it. However, I am going to be keeping any visual references to fire in this piece fro two reasons. One is not a soundly based academic reason, and pretty much consists of the fact that I really like fire and think that it will be cool. The second reason though is academically based. Both Brigid the goddess and Brigid the saint are patronesses of smiths/blacksmiths. (As a quick aside, Oxford's Dictionary of Irish Mythology [Ellis 50] also connects these two Brigids so I think at this point there really is no question that they are tied together.) While they might not historically have been connected directly to fire; what is a blacksmith without that element? A smith can pound in metal all day but without fire and coals to heat the metal, he'll not have anything but a chunk of cold unharmed metal and bent up tools. so if you want to play connect the dots, fire and Brigid are at least historically indirectly connected. Therefore, the fire stays.

brainstorming for "host of the air" first initial

Today's motto was keep it simple, and that is exactly what happened here. The swoosh of fabric has no discernable iconographic purpose, but it looks cool and solves the question of what to do with the letter d's tail. To give this illumination relevance to Air, Brigid's Cross hangs off the tengwa. Color differentiation will highlight the letter o (the actual capital letter). The fun things about theta (the vowel ... in this case the right hook that is separate) is that when they are the first letter in a piece, the tengwa (the consonant ... in this case the letter that looks like an m with a long tail) has to be illuminated as well. You can't very well write a theta without it's carrier, and a 48pt theta written over a 22pt carrier might be somewhat amiss. Thus, in cases like this, efforts must be taken to emphasize the letter that is really being capitalized whilst illuminating them both.

The misc. grapes and chalice illustrations are ideas for various accent images to be strategically placed around/beside/near the text body. Not so much obscure symbolism, these objects are pulled from/derived directly from the text itself. Known exceptions are the possible fire in the chalice (Too Harry Potter? Darn you Rowling.) and the sheaf of oats (direct symbolism tied to Brigid the goddess and Imbolc).

brainstorming for "hosts of the air" title page

Greetings folks! I haven't picked up the TTP for a couple weeks so it is fantastic to actually have some imagery to share yet again. A good hour + was passed at the pizza parlor early this afternoon. It's amazing how much can get done when forced to leave the house. Add a table made for four (seating just lil' ole' me) to spread papers out on, an endless supply of diet coke, and a pizza buffet of cheesy bread sticks; presto -instant inspiration! Today I tackled the poetic conundrum that is The Host of the Air.

The funny thing about Host of the Air is that it was brought into TTP late in the game as a replacement for Rose of the World. Drawn in by Air's beauty, I felt that surely this was a sensible replacement. Mythological symbolism, possible alchemical symbolism, religious symbolism, people who were other that what they seam- this piece has it all! Funnily enough, this has also been one of the most frustrating poems to brainstorm until today. Perhaps it was the cinnamon sticks or perhaps it was the cheesy bread, but inspiration hit today and it consisted on one key idea ... keep it simple. Host of the Air has so many exciting ideas that, like usual, I wanted to do all of it and ended up finding that this overload was causing me to do nothing at all. Therefore for the title page I focused a few key elements:

1) Brigid the goddess/saint was the woman Yeats refers to as bride and is the subject of this poem.

2) Yeats constantly refers to Bride's dim long hair

3) Brigid the goddess was a goddess of fire (I found this in further reading and will discuss it in some detail later this weekend.)

4) The most recognizable symbol of Brigid the saint is Brigid's Cross. (pictured at end of post)

I then combined all of these into one image that will be sketched on Host of the Air's title page. I have not figured out the placement of the title itself yet, but that will come later. For now here is brainstorm #1 for Air's title page. Along other lines, this was a major breakthrough, because at the moment there is only one other title page sketch - which incidentally is also of a woman. With two of the six transcribed poems being represented by human figures, there clearly is a trend that must continue through the rest of the pieces for continuity sake. We shall see how that works out. For now, enjoy the first Host of the Air title page brainstorm with details. It is clear that there is cleaning up/refiguring that needs doing, but for now I'm thrilled to have this much.

"rose" is out and "air" is in, a mythological angle is discussed

After much internal debate it has been decided that the poem The Rose of the World simply does not fit with the other pieces I have chosen. It's replacement (looks like I'll be transcribing again over the Christmas weekend) is a piece of greater length called The Host of the Air. there are three things your should know about this piece 1) It is beautiful and 2) It has no ties to alchemical imagery that I can find 3) It has possible ties to Irish/Celtic mythology that I plan on exploiting for all they are worth.

1) He heard while he sang and dreamed/ the piper piping away,/and never was piping so sad,/ and never was piping so gay.
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The bread and the wine had a doom,/ for these were the host of the air;/ He sat and played in a dream/ Of her long Dim hair.
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O'Driscoll scattered the cards/ and out of his dream awoke:/ Old men and young men and young girls/ Were gone like the drifting smoke.

The imagery this poem evokes, took my breath away the first time I read it. It is quite possible that this has become my second favorite Yeats poem ever - nothing can usurp The Stolen Child.

2) Pretty self explanatory. There is apparently no alchemical symbolism in this poem. there is, of course, the possibility that a mere novice such as myself is simply not knowledgeable enough to decipher any that is buried in the text. However, for the sake of simplicity, this artist will operate on the assumption that none exits in the text until proven otherwise.

3) Here is where Host of the Air gets fascinating. Once breath was regained after the first read, the first thing that stuck out was that the main character (O'Driscoll) constantly refers to Bridget or Bridget his bride. While this could simply be a name, it bears noting that not only is Bridget (Brighid, Bridgit/etc) the Irish mythological equivalent of Minerva or Athena; but it is also the name of a much revered saint (Brigid of Kilgare) who is considered the second patron saint of Ireland. "Mere coincidence," you say. Perhaps, but this is where I'm going to claim artistic licence. I rarely use the "artistic licence" card, so I figure that it can be used this time without much remorse. With my mythological/Irish Saint angle in mind, look below to read some fo the notes I scribbled frantically last weekend over a chicken bruchetta sandwich at Applebees (highly recommended - just hold the pesto.) It's a good thing that the hostess ushered me to a four person table, because there were papers everywhere!

The Bride/Bridget connection

O'Driscoll consistantly calls Bridget "his bride." Another name for Bridget (whom I will call Brigid from now on) is "bride." In fact in Ireland, Imbolc/Candlemas (Brigid/St.Brigid's holiday/feast day) is sometimes called Lá Fhéile Bride, thus utilizing this form of the name. More on Imbolc and Candlemas later.

Brigid the goddess and Brigid the saint are connected how?

I started to post this information here but it ended up being far far too long. be looking for a new blog post that describes this in the very near future.

So the name Brigid appears constantly, how do you know it's not just a regular person and not a goddess at all? What is keeping Bridget his bride from really being just that - the bride/wife of O'Driscoll?

This is a very valid question, and for all intents and purposes there really is no reason to not believe that the poem's Bridget is who O'Driscoll says she is - his bride. Initially, however, I have a number of problems with this.

1) It is Yeats who wrote the poem. Very few poems that I've read by him actually say what they say, especially when there in any possible other meaning and mythology or the occult could be involved. [Note: occult is being used here in its original meaning beyond the range of ordinary knowledge or understanding; mysterious.]

2) A number of key words in the poem center around festivities (bread, wine, dance, piper). People both old and young are present and cards are being played while the piper plays on. While a couple of phrases support the idea that the celebration could be a wedding and Bridget was indeed "bride."

He bore her away in his arms/ the handsomest young man there

The dancers crowded round him/ and many a sweet thing said ... But Bridget drew him by the sleeve/away from the merry bands

However, there seems more possible that it was not a wedding celebration, with constant references being made to the macabre. Last I checked, sad and doom were not words associated with joyous nuptials. Secondly, I would have to do more research on the subjects, but it seems a bit odd that old men would be playing cards (gambling?) during a wedding party. Finally, the title The Host of the Air implies interaction with supernatural beings. Why would the poem be titled that, and then spend eleven stanza discussing O'Driscoll's dream about his wedding-which-was-not? It makes more sense to attribute the dream's festivities to something tied to a supernatural being - thus building a case for Brigid the goddess.

Ok, so let's pretend for a second that Yeats Bridget the bride is the same as Brigid the goddess, why her and not some other Celtic goddess/god.

You, my imaginary audience, ask very good questions. In my mind, the answer is very simple. Whether Brigid or St. Brigid be the object of scrutiny, their jurisdictions (for serious lack of a better word) are much the same. The Celtic goddess Brigid was described by Lady Augusta Gregory (Gods and Fighting Men, 1904) as a woman of poetry, and poets worshiped her, for her sway was very great and very noble. ... Considered by some to be the Celtic equivalent of Minerva or Athena, Brigid was well loved by the Celtic peoples and the Druids. Not only the protector of poets, she also oversaw the areas of blacksmithing and healing. She was celebrated during the festival of Imbolc (one of the four pinnacle festivals of the Irish calendar) which centers around fire and purification; and marks the transition from winter into spring. Some of the information I read said that the festival was perhaps the precursor to the American holiday of Groundhog Day. Therefore, we have a couple reasons this poem could be about the goddess. Not only was she the protector of poets (Yeats was a poet), but she was also a very well loved being of spiritual significance in her time, and had a significant holiday dedicated to her honor.

As for St. Brigid, like the goddess, she is also the patron of poets/scholars and blacksmiths. While she isn't the patron of any key healing professions, she is connected to children, babies, midwives, children of unmarried parents, and newborns. Since Spring is the season of new birth, it is possible that a connection to the previously mentioned festivities in that manner. St. Brigid's feast day is February1, which is otherwise known as Candlemas. Any research done on Imbolc or Candlemas will inevitably tie one to the other; the only chronological difference I could find was that Imbolc was traditionally celebrated on February 2, however, I was left with the impression that this date was not set in stone.

And, if you are looking for yet more proof that Brigid = Bride I give you a Scottish proverb about Imbolc, translated into English.

The serpent will come from the hole
On the brown Day of Bride
Though there should be three feet of snow
On the flat surface of the ground

So her feast celebration was Imbolc, great. I thought you said that Imbolc was about fire and purification. I don't see anything like that mentioned in the poem.

You caught me. This is the massive flaw in my thought process, and the very reason that I plead artistic license. While a reference to smoke is made once in Host of the Air I can find nothing that talks about fire, purification, badgers, or other key elements of the original Imbolc festival. Please pretend that this gape in logic does not exist.

Well that pretty much covers my Applebees notes. I did make a number of other notes that confirmed/justified the connection between Brigid the goddess and Brigid the saint and those will be following soon. And as a random side note, I have been trying to find out if the name O'Driscoll has any mythological significance, but have come up empty handed. At this moment, I'm operating under the assumption that it is a semi-common surname and is of no overall significance.