Overview: What is flametending, and how can a simple devotional practice be engaged with as a transformational spiritual path? Here in author Erin Aurelia’s new book The Torch of Brighid: Flametending for Transformation, all is revealed.

Verdict: For those new to the subject matter at hand, the Goddess Brigid and Saint Brigid are intrinsically entwined, with myths and legends attributable to one or both, sometimes indistinguishably. Each is traditionally associated with fire, with Goddess Brigid in particular to the forge, the sunrise, and dawn.

Celtic lore infers that Brigid in her many guises and names, along with other deities, are tied to fire and ritual as well. Mythology tells us that nineteen Druidic priestesses — known as daughters of the fire (inghean an dagha), or fire-keepers/flametenders (breochwidh) — kept a perpetual flame in a large shrine dedicated to the Goddess Brigid in Kildare, Ireland.

It is written that when Saint Brigid was born at the liminal moment of dawn, a beam of light burst around her head like a flame. When she built her monastery and church in Kildare, she continued the priestesses’ custom of keeping a fire alight.

For her and her nuns, the fire represented the new light of Christianity, which reached the shores of Ireland early in the 5th century. Also of note, Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis), a Welsh chronicler, visited Kildare in the 12th century and reported that the fire of St. Brigid was still burning and that it was being tended by nuns of St. Brigid.

Some historians record that a few attempts were made to have the fire extinguished, without success, and Brigid’s perpetual flame survived for many years, possibly up to the suppression of the monasteries in the 16th century.

The flame was re-lit in 1993 by Sr. Mary Teresa Cullen, leader of the Brigidine Sisters in Kildare, and since then they have tended the flame in their Solas Bhride Centre.

This famous perpetual flame in Kildare, and other flamekeeping sites around the world, are testament to the number of Brigid devotees who keep alive this sacred practice.

Thus, here in new book The Torch of Brighid: Flametending for Transformation by author Erin Aurelia - herself founder of the Daughters of Brighid Flametending Order - we immerse ourselves in the facts how this devotional practice of flametending for Irish Goddess and Christian St. Brighid, traditionally kept once every twenty days, can become a daily spiritual practice for transformation when combined with twenty spiritual inquiries as an inner journey of reflection.

As noted, Brighid is a goddess of the fires that transform ore into tools, plants into medicine, and inspiration into poetry so through guided meditations, energy work, contemplation, and journaling, you yourself will learn how to open yourself to Brighid, so her torch of illumination can guide you in transforming your fear and pain into power and joy.

You will also discover how Brighid can walk with you through the seasonal cycle of the year and bless your personal endeavors. So come, let Brighid become your daily companion so her light can lead you to wisdom and wholeness.

About the Author - Erin Aurelia is an author, poet, spoken word performer, and book editor who has tended Irish goddess Brighid’s flame for twenty years. Her work has been featured in the Paganism 101 anthology by Moon Books and in two anthologies by Goddess Ink: Brighid, Sun of Womanhood and Stepping Into Ourselves, An Anthology of Priestesses. She lives in Vancouver, Washington.

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