Brighid and the Rowan

by Yuri Leitch

Title

Brighid and the Rowan

Artist

Yuri Leitch

Medium

Drawing - Pencil

Description

Brighid and the Rowan

This icon was created as a frontispiece for volume two of 'Voices from the Grove'; which is dedicated to Brighid and the Rowan tree. The symbolism comes from various Brighid traditions.

In the foreground is the Romano-British bas-relief of Brigantia, from Birrens in northern Britain; which is probably the oldest known representation of Brighid in the British Isles (3rd to 4th century AD). Her symbolism is heavily influenced by the Roman goddess, Minerva – goddess of wisdom and protection – as well as all arts, including music, poetry, and medicine (which are divine characteristics shared by the Gaelic goddess Brigid). The primary symbols of Brigantia, her spear and shield, have been continued into the modern era as the attributes of the personification of the British Isles, Brittania. An old fifty-pence piece, adorned with Brittania, can thus serve as a great 'lucky charm' of Brighid/Brigantia.

At the base of Brigantia's spear is an omphalos (egg-stone) that marks the sacred centre, or navel, of her territory – which can be a tribal territory, the centre of a kingdom, the centre of one's self, and the centre of the northern hemisphere night sky. The central stars (those that never set) are the circumpolar constellations – Ursa Major (Great Bear), Ursa Minor (Little Bear), Draco (Dragon) and Cassiopeia (the Queen of Heaven) – all are depicted within this icon (the mother bear and cub; the red serpent energy for Draco, flowing up Brighid's spear; and the W-shape of Cassiopeia rests upon her breasts).

As well as being tools of protection, Brighid's spear and shield also represent the circumference/boundary of a sacred grove and the vertical axis that connects the centre-point of a territory to the centre of the heavens. Thus she offers both the tools of protection and the means by which one can connect, within, to the centre of all things – a bit like the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Bears and serpents (Draco) hibernate in the winter and then return again in the spring – this is akin to Brighid's annual festival of Imbolc, which marks the beginning of spring.

Brighid's shield is decorated with three swans and a triskelion (triple spiral) in honour of the Irish goddess, Brigid, of the Tuatha Dé Danann; who is a triple goddess. The constellation of Cygnus the Swan is situated upon the Milky Way, close to Cassiopeia, the Queen of Heaven. The triskelion represents the centre-point too – as three spirals of energy manifest in equal flow from the one source.

Cygnus the Swan is one of three bird constellations that form an asterism known as the Summer Triangle (the other two birds being Aquila and Lyra). The three swans on Brighid's shield are also a nod to the Summer Triangle, which in Brythonic (Welsh) lore are remembered as the 'Adar Rhiannon' (Bird's of Rhiannon) the divine sovereignty Bride of Dyfed (south west Wales and St Brides Bay).

The big bright star, by the little bear's bottom (and aligned with Brighid's own central axis) represents the pole star, Polaris (of the Little Bear) - around which all other constellations appear to rotate.

Uploaded

March 26th, 2021

Statistics

Viewed 1,478 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/14/2024 at 2:15 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags