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" One touch of nature

makes all the world kin "

William Shakespeare

Brigid’s Way: An Ancient Path Between Sky & Earth

June 3rd, 2015

Brigid’s Way is an alignment of ancient and sacred sites in Ireland that has become a Pilgrim Path to connect with the Goddess/Saint Brigid.  It is the inspiration of Dolores Whelan and Karen Ward and stretches from Brigid’s Well in Faughart, County Louth to Kildare. On the 27th June 2015 a group of Pilgrims will start their walk in Faughart, arriving at Brigid’s Monastic city in Kildare on the 5th July. This will be the third year that the walk has taken place. The following is from the Brigid’s Way Website explaining a little about the route and how the Pilgrimage came about, along with a short film about the first Pilgrimage that took place in 2013.

Origins of Brigid’s Way
Why this Pilgrimage route at this time?

As with many wonderfully profound ideas they seem to just arrive mysteriously. At the Brigid of Faughart Festival 2012 Karen Ward and Dolores Whelan attended a lecture given by Anthony Murphy (co-author with Richard Moore of Island of the Setting Sun: In Search of Ireland’s Ancient Astronomers). He spoke about the ancient alignment between the holy well on Faughart Hill in County Louth with the Curragh of Kildare, the two primary locations of worship to Brigid in Ireland.

As Dolores and Karen listened they realised that Brigid’s pilgrim path, which linked these two most prominent places of devotion to Brigid in Ireland, was unfolding before their eyes… This was both exciting and challenging! This initiative was inspired by a strong desire in these two Irish women to revive the ancient art of pilgrimage, a spiritual practice central to the indigenous spiritual traditions of this land.

Having many experiences of the sacredness of the land in Ireland and other countries, they believed that remembering, reactivating and walking this pilgrimage way had the potential to reconnect people with the sacredness of the land of Ireland.

They also saw that this pilgrimage had the capacity to awaken people to the consciousness of Brigid, who in all her different forms, Goddess, pre-Reformation Saint and wise woman, represents the divine feminine within the traditions of this land and belongs to the whole population of this country.

 

6 Responses to “Brigid’s Way: An Ancient Path Between Sky & Earth”

  1. Philip, I was part of the 2014 Brigid’s Way Pilgrimage, and I was left with very mixed feelings about the experience. I managed to have a great time despite numerous problems and lack of leadership. I would not recommend this trip for someone unable to do this. Still, it could work for some pilgrims. I wrote a blog about the journey: http://cathrynirelandbrigidsway.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-pilgrimage-begins.html Item: you have to work up from the bottom to get the chronology!

  2. Thanks Philip for the information. I didn’t know this, we are always learning. I Am working on an article about Brigid, but it’s all in portuguese.

  3. Hi Philip, Thank you for this article and thank you Cathryn for your comments. Brigid’s Way is organised by volunteers, but in the last year has expanded to work with many others to grow and to listen. Soon it will be the 3rd long pilgrimage, which we are all really looking forward to. It will also be the first time the organisers will not also be walking the whole pilgrimage (will only walk short sections, or cycle, or drive in the support car), so that more energy is kept for facilitation and organisation, and also the first time pilgrims are required to sign up for a code of conduct. It is also the first time we will be offering a night of camping exclusive to the group in a forest nature reserve and the first time we will be lighting a fire (with very rare landowner permission) on the Hill of Tara. It’s the 3rd pilgrimage, but there is much that is fresh and new about it, built on the many good things from the previous years. We look forward to welcoming pilgrims from a large range of ages, from different cultures, spiritual backgrounds and countries to future pilgrimages.

    Louise

  4. As someone who walked Brighid’s Way in 2013 I would highly recommend taking this pilgrimage. It was a very enriching experience for me with its challenges and the opportunity to walk with wonderful fellow travellers. I can identify very much with the comments on the youtube clip above. It is wonderful to see this pilgrimage grow and develop each year.

  5. I hope that one day I will be one of those that do this pilgrimage,it sounds special!

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