It's All Geek to Me:
tales of the Greek Gods by Leah Samul
Brigid 1989: Brigida, The Muses, and Apollo
Does the Celtic Goddess Brigida have anything to do with Apollo and the Muses? Yes, if you enjoy looking at similarities between widely divergent cultures. This is Brigida's month for those of us who celebrate the Celtic influenced tradition, and so this month's Greek column will talk about some of similarities in the attributes of these deities. Let me state at the start that I don't mean to suggest any kind of cross-cultural pollination occurred between these two groups. I'm not trying to prove that the ancient Celts hung around with the ancient Greeks and that this cameraderie produced a common way of seeing things. I'm only pointing out where resemblances occur.
Brigida is one of the more well-known and recognized Celtic deities, having survived into Christianity under the guise of St. Brigid. There is no St. Apollo, and classics scholars have always had trouble with his multi-faceted personality: "The difficulty is that the legend of Apollo and his functions reveal divergences which are sometimes even contradictory", and "As to his functions, they are so multiple and complex that it is often hard to connect one with another." (Larousse, p. 113) However, the reading I've done shows that, taken together, Apollo and the Muses have some attributes similar to Brigida's constellation of smithcraft, healing, and inspiration or poetry.
The poetry/inspiration aspect is the most obvious and easiest to see. The Muses were part of the retinue of Apollo and were his habitual companions. They were very important on Olympus, where their poetry and music often charmed all the Gods, especially Zeus. Hesiod begins his Theogony by praising the Muses, and in the same work credits them with being his inspiration in his description of the Gods and Goddesses. Their number varied, going from three at the start who were worshipped on Mount Helicon, to seven in Lesbos and Sicily, eight in primitive Athens, and finally nine. Their names were Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpischore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania and Calliope.
At first they were seen collectively as a group that presided over all aspects of music and poetry. This later became more defined and they acquired individual characteristics. And it appears from way Larousse talks about the Muses, drama was included under the heading of poetry. Calliope, who was first in rank of all the others, took the function of the Muse of Epic Poetry and Eloquence. Her symbols were the stylus and tablet. Erato was the Muse of Love Poetry. Thalia, who at first was a bucolic Muse, later became the Muse of Comedy. Her symbols were the shepherd's staff and the comic mask. And Melpomene was the Muse of Tragedy, with the symbols of the mask of Tragedy and, interestingly, the Club of Heracles. The Muses were acknowledged to be the source of inspiration to writers, dramatists and poets, and they were held in high esteem in the ancient classical world.
Another similarity to Brigida that is easy to see is the attribute of healing. Apollo is connected to health and healing in several ways. Larousse says that "because the sun is murderous with its rays which strike like darts, and at the same time beneficent because of its prophylactic powers, Apollo was thought of as an archer-God who shot his arrows from afar (Hecatebolos) as the God of sudden death; but also as a healer-God who drove away illness (Alexikakos)" (Larousse, p. 113)
In addition, one of Apollo's sons, Asclepius, became the God of medicine. Asclepius was educated by the centaur Chiron, who educated many young Greek heroes. According to some traditions Chiron was thought to be the source of knowledge about medical arts, which he passed on to Apollo's son.
The healing aspect of Apollo resembles Brigida in another way, and this is where things get a little more complicated. Brigida was connected to smithcraft. The Olympian God most associated with smithcraft would be Hephaestus, the blacksmith of Mt. Olympus. Although neither Apollo or the Muses were directly involved in smithcraft, Apollo was associated with the light of the sun, which of course carries heat with it. As stated above, the light and heat of the sun are important for healing. Connecting this to Brigida, it is the heat of fire that enables blacksmiths and smithcraft workers of all kinds to do their work.
In this regard, fire is the element of transformation. It takes no stretch of the imagination to notice that the healing process is one of transformation from disease to health. The ability of fire to strengthen and purify metals as a blacksmith does when he/she creates a sword is mirrored in the modern-day use of the phrase "baptism of fire." Apollo's son Asclepius was in fact born in the midst of fire. He was torn from his mother's womb when her dead body was burning on her funeral pyre.
These are a few of the similarities I've noticed between the Greek group of Apollo and the Muses, and the Celtic Brigida. I don't mean to try to convince anyone that there is an exact parallel going on here. But the cross cultural resemblances that come up naturally are always fascinating, and for me it is one of the most enjoyable aspects of reading and studying mythology.
PRAYERS TO BRIGID AND PAGANISM IN CELTIC CHRISTIANITY
[Brigid is one of my patroness Goddesses and I'm always on the look-out for prayers I can adapt and say to her at odd times: like when I'm riding on the bus, washing dishes, at the laundromat, etc. I recently came across two books that have Celtic Prayers/Invocations in them. Some of the prayers in these books do mention Brigid specifically, but most of them were addressed to other Christian deities and/or Saints. It goes without saying that wherever I have substituted the name Brigid, you can substitute your own favorite God/dess.
The two books I'm using as sources are Celtic Prayers: selected by Avery Brooke from the Collection of Alexander Carmichael, (designated as CP), and Celtic Christianity: Ecology and Holiness, An Anthology by C. Bamford and WP Marsh (designated as CC).
Both of these books stressed the fact that Celtic Christianity was much more connected to nature than the Christianity that developed in the rest of Europe. There's no doubt in my mind that this connection to nature came from the influence of Paganism and the Druids. While much (but not all) of the Pagan influence in Christianity disappeared during the Witch purges of Western Europe, it is a fact that the Inquisition never reached Ireland or the other Celtic countries in that area. For this reason Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man might have been saved from the Inquisition inspired anti-Pagan hysteria that started in the Middle Ages and lasted into the "Enlightenment." I used the prayers in these two books as jumping off points and changed the words to fit God/dess spirituality. For instance, where these books refer to the Holy Trinity, I substituted the Triple Goddess. I encourage people to further adapt these prayers and invocations and use them in rituals. -- Leah]
The Deer's Cry
(From CC)
I arise today through a mighty strength,
The invocation of the Triple Goddess:
Through belief in the threeness,
Through comfort in the oneness,
Of the creator of creation.
I arise today through the strength
of the universe:
Light of sun, radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire, speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind, depth of sea,
Stability of earth, firmness of rock.
I arise today through Brigid's strength
to instruct me:
Brigid's might to uphold me,
Brigid's wisdom to guide me,
Brigid's eyes to look before me,
Brigid's ears to hear me,
Brigid's words to speak for me,
Brigid's hands to guard me,
Brigid's shield to protect me,
I summon all Brigid's power to stand
between me and the evils of the world;
I summon all Brigid's power to
show to me the evil within myself;
And I summon all Brigid's fire
to purge me of evil and illness
and to heal me anew.
Invocation
(From CC)
Brigid of the Dawn
Brigid of the Clouds
Brigid of the Stars
Brigid of the Elements
Brigid of the Skies
Brigid of the Moon
Brigid of the Sun
[Original prayer said "Son of..."; as such, I think it is an excellent prayer to use when initiating a man or boy, or to be said by a man who is trying to connect with the divinity in himself.]
I Give Thanks
(From CP)
I give thanks to thee, O Brigid,
That I have risen today, to the
rising of this life itself;
May it be to thine own glory,
and to the glory of my spirit
likewise.
O great Brigid, aid my spirit with
thy great healing powers.
Help me to avoid doing evil to myself
and to others;
and as the mist scatters
on the crest of the hills, may your fires
clear each ill haze from my heart.
Be the eye of Brigid between me and each eye
The purpose of Brigid between me and each purpose
The hand of Brigid between me and each hand
The desire of Brigid between me and each desire
And no one can curse me.
Be the love of Brigid between me and each love
The kindness of Brigid between me and each kindness
The will of Brigid between me and each will
The ecstasy of Brigid between me and each ecstasy
And no venom can wound me.
Brigid's Aid
(listed in both CC & CP)
Brigid to enfold me
Brigid to surround me
Brigid in my speaking
Brigid in my thinking
Brigid in my sleeping
Brigid in my waking
Brigid in my watching
Brigid in my hoping
Brigid in my life
Brigid on my lips
Brigid in my soul
Brigid in my heart
Brigid in my living
Brigid in my dying
Brigid in my rebirth
Brigid in my spirit
forever.
Both books remark on the strong influence that nature has had on Celtic Christianity, and how different this is from the way Christianity developed in other countries. For example, a fragment of one of the prayers says: "She of my love is the new moon / The God of life illumining her." And then there's this one: "The eye of the great God, the eye of the God of Glory...Pouring upon us at each time and season. / Pouring upon us gently and generously. / Glory to thee, thou glorious sun / glory to thee thou sun, face of the God of life." And as Avery Brooke comments, while there were prayers asking for protection from "fairy women, banshees and nymphs...Many old druidic customs were happily blessed into the Christian faith..." (from CP.) The great respect in which the Druids were held by the Celts comes through as clear as a bell in this partial quotation from the prayer "Song of Trust": "I adore not the voice of birds...nor lots in this world...My Druid is Christ, the son of God..." (From CC, emphasis his). And one could hardly get more Pagan than this prayer, quoted in entirety:
The Sea
(from CC)
Look you out
northeastwards
over the mighty ocean,
Teeming with sea-life;
home of the seals,
sporting, splendid,
its tide has reached
fullness.
When Joe and I visited Brittany (Celtic France), we made a point of going to Karnac, which has the largest concentration of standing stones and stone alignments of anywhere in Europe. The beauty and the psychic impact of these Neolithic monuments was breathtaking beyond words. So it was no surprise to read in Celtic Prayers that "Scottish Gaelic today still has a phrase which means 'Are you going to church?' but when translated literally says, 'Are you going to the stones?'" (from CP, emphasis is Brooke's)