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.
The one thing I always light, no matter what
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There's one thing I've carried from my Catholic upbringing into everything I do now. I've never been able to leave it behind — and honestly, I've stopped trying. Candles. In the Catholic tradition, lighting a candle is an act of prayer. You light it for someone. You light it as petition or thanksgiving or remembrance. There are rules about when and where and why. I know all of them. I grew up with all of them. These days, I light candles for Brigid. For the Dagda. At the turning of the seasons. Before I sit down to do anything I want to bring intention to. The theology has changed entirely. The act itself hasn't moved an inch. My regulars will already be smiling at this — you know that candles are basically a running theme around here. And there's a reason for that. The ritual survived the leaving because it was never really about the institution. It was about attention. About saying: this moment matters. I'm showing up for it. That's what this week's post is about — getting to know yourself well enough to find out what you're actually carrying, and what's genuinely yours, before you try to build something new. [Read it here ] And if the post resonates — if you've been in that gap between traditions, wondering what's next — The Guided Path starts in two weeks. There are still places. I'd love to have you. Bríd libh Órlagh Check out the links below: Website |
Hi, I'm Orlagh, of Brigid's Forge
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.
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...
I want to tell you something about how this all began for me. I moved to England at twenty-two. I grew up Irish Catholic — properly Irish Catholic, which is its own very specific thing, shaped by history and survival and a particular fierce relationship with certain figures and practices that don't translate neatly anywhere else. When I walked into a Catholic church in England, I didn't quite recognise what I found. Same name. Different texture. The things that had meant something to me...
I want to be honest with you about something. The path I walked was not the most efficient one. It was not guided, not structured, and not supported in any meaningful sense. It was just me, stubbornly putting one foot in front of the other, refusing to give up on finding something that actually fit. That stubbornness is core to who I am. It makes me very good at some things and very difficult at others. It also meant that when there was no clear way forward, I made one anyway — slowly,...