I am pleased that my music is featured in the February 1, 2009 edition of the Celtic Shaman Podcast in honor of the festival Imbolc, which is one of the four principal festivals in the Irish calendar, celebrated among Gaelic peoples. Imbolc is most commonly celebrated on February 2nd, which falls halfway between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere.
Fire and purification are an important aspect of this festival. The lighting of candles and fires represents the return of warmth and the increasing power of the Sun over the coming months. The holiday is dedicated to Brighid or Bride, the Gaelic goddess of poetry, healing, and smithcraft, and in the Christian period, Imbolc was adopted as St. Brighid’s Day.
In the following podcast, you'll be treated to stories and my music in celebration of this Celtic festival. Here’s an excerpt from the show notes:
Bride: Light of Imbolc
"Brighid of the Mantles, your mantle over me. Brighid of the Fair White Hands, your hand in mine."
Included is Dillon Carlyon’s reading from A Book of Saints and Wonders by Lady Gregory [1906] Book One: Brigit, The Mary of the Gael found at Sacred Texts.
Tira Brandon-Evans comments on traditions connected with Bride and Imbolc and reads from notes and invocations from the Carmina Gadelica. Smooring the Fire, Guarding the Flocks, and The Spell of the Fox. Dillon alternates with Tira reading the invocations in Gaelic and English.
The invocations are followed by “Epping Forest”, a song from my album A Light in the Forest.
If you enjoy our podcasts you may wish to join our public group or visit our homepage at www.faeryshaman.org. Have a happy and blessed Imbolc. Be well, be strong, be free!
Sample my CDs—take a trip to the Listening Room.
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