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Hope everyone is well? Anyone who saw my post on Threads or Instagram yesterday will know I'm suffering a bit. However, I have just acquired the Holy Trinity of Ibuprofen, Paracetemol and VIcks' Menthol Inhaler to help clear my blocked sinuses. Fingers crossed they all start working soon! A few months back, I said whatever the election results, I would host a retreat for Imbolc this year. Now with the Presidential results in for the US, it's clear I won't be voluntarily travelling to the US for the next four years. So I have two ideas: 1) Host a retreat in Ireland for those willing and able to travel 2) Host an online retreat Now, I have a very tentative third idea about hosting a retreat in Canada, but not sure if people would be interested at all. So, here's my question. Since it's coming to the time of year where I will have some quiet time to research and plan in work, I've put together a very short form for you to give me feedback on this: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevDQnWfY2JMAvDUwsBjXI4u6OpiO2zTxsnNLDWjl5Jhvo8Vg/viewform?usp=sharing​ There is an area to put in your email address, but it's not a requirement, only if you want to hear more about it. Now, a retreat in Canada is unlikely to happen in February, it may happen later in the year, but the Ireland or virtual options could happen in February, so let me know and I'll see what I can arrange. In the mean time, there's still time to start the Building a Daily Practice with Brigid course and finish before Imbolc!! OK, I'm off to get more meds into me.... BrÃd libh Órlagh P. S. Don't forget to give your input on the retreat ideas here! And sign up for Building a Daily Practice with Brigid here! Check out the links below: ​Brigid's Forge School​ ​Patreon​ ​Website​ |
I'm dedicated to helping women in particular develop their spiritual path in life. I'm focused heavily on Brigid in Ireland, although not all my followers are! I teach, speak, coach and mentor people to help them along their own individual path, based on what lore we have, but also allowing for each individual path to develop as it needs to.
For a long time, I had a problem I couldn't solve. My relationship with Brigid was growing. My Catholic upbringing wasn't going anywhere - not because I was still practising in any conventional sense, but because it's in me, in the way that anything you're raised inside is in you. And I couldn't work out how to hold both things at once. I've written about this conflict recently - the specific discomfort of being a pagan Catholic, of loving figures who belong to a tradition you've also had...
I want to be honest with you about something, because I think it might be useful. The last few months have been hard. I've been struggling with anxiety - properly struggling, not just the background hum that most of us carry, but the kind that makes the ordinary things feel effortful and the future feel unreliable. I'm getting professional help, and that matters. But alongside that, I've been going to the sea more than usual. On the rougher days - the ones where everything felt loud and sharp...
Last week, Ireland decided to have actual summer. Thirty degrees. Proper heat, the kind we're categorically not built for. We don't have air conditioning in the house. We do have a €30 mini air conditioner from Amazon that makes a heroic amount of noise for very little cooling effect. What we also have is a car with functioning air con - so I did what any sensible person would do. I invented a reason to drive to Waterford. I had exam scripts to collect. This was true. It was also, I'll be...