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.
🪄Unlock Your Freedom with Words Now!
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I know today's blog post might appear to be a bit off. Well, ok, the table is definitely a departure from the norm, I get it. But it is linked to the power of words. And, following on from this, I want to talk about the power of the words you use about yourself. I did a horrifically awful exercise years ago, as part of a disordered eating recovery program, where we wrote down some of the things we said to each other. And then we said them, out loud, to the person next to us. Very few people could get through that without crying. Seriously. And yet, we do it to ourselves all the time. So, while the notion of being called "Papist" or "Taig" or whatever, might not have an effect on you today, have a think about the words you use about yourself. It took me years to stop saying "I'm bad with money". Cos, you know what? I'm actually not. But until I stopped telling myself I was, I couldn't pull money together. I still tell myself I'm not flexible. Guess what? I really amn't. But nor do I commit to any program that might improve said flexibility. And I won't, until I do that work and stop telling myself I'm inflexible. Saying "I'm inflexible" is a static, non-moving, unchangeable statement. Possibly a better way to put it would be "I'm not as flexible as I'd like to be right now". Or "I'm working on improving my flexibility right now". Or any of a hundred different ways of saying it. Think this doesn't apply to you and your spirituality? Think again. How many times have you looked at a class or a program and thought "I'd love to do that but I can't because..." And you don't reach out to see if there's something that can be arranged? How many times have you thought about starting a daily practice, but you don't, because of.... And you stop there. As if all obstacles are immoveable and unchangeable. Now, of course. If a class costs €20k and you're struggling for €20 for food... yeah, €20k probably isn't going to manifest magically into your bank account. And if it did, it's possible you might have higher priorities than that class. But of course, getting the €20k isn't the end goal. Doing the class is. So, what can you do? How do you change the narrative to allow yourself to engage with the material? You could ask for a scholarship. You could ask for the reading list. You could go back through blog posts or podcast episodes or youtube videos and pick up the information from there. So have a think today: what language are you using to stop yourself doing something you really, truly want to do? And what would change that? BrÃd libh Órlagh Check out the links below: ​Brigid's Forge School​ ​Patreon​ ​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.
For a long time, I thought being a pagan Catholic meant I existed in a category of one. I worked with Brigid. I lit candles for Mary. I had a complicated, deeply personal relationship with Saint Thérèse. And I also worked with the old Irish gods, followed the wheel of the year, and did things that would have raised eyebrows in the parish and in the coven alike. I thought that meant I had to hide. That there was no community for someone like me - someone who hadn't made a clean break, who...
The religion I grew up in had a lot to say about women's bodies. Keep yourself pure. Guard your worth. The messaging was relentless and specific, and it came with vivid illustrations - a used piece of chewing gum, a heart passed from hand to hand until it was battered beyond recognition. The point was clear: your value as a woman was bound up in your body, and that value could be lost. Damaged. Given away. I absorbed all of that. Most of us did. And what it left behind, once I'd walked away...
This week's post starts with me, alone in a Travel Lodge in Holyhead at two in the morning, crying my eyes out and asking for guidance. What turned up was the Dagda: father of the Tuatha Dé Danann, one of the old Irish gods. His first suggestion was to drink some water. By the end of the night, he'd told me to go look into his daughter. His daughter is Brigid. And that's what this week's post is about. Read it here But before you go, I want to offer you a friendly warning. Once one of the...