Available May 1, 2013:

Brigit: Sun of Womanhood

an anthology edited by Patricia Monaghan

and Michael McDermott

Brigit: Sun of Womanhood offers a holistic picture of Brigit from her beginnings as a Celtic Goddess to her role as a Christian saint. The contributors to this anthology hail from all parts of the globe—including Ireland, Scotland, the United States and Canada—reflecting the widespread influence of Brigit. Readers will be transformed by this inspiring collection. 
 
This newest anthology from Goddess Ink is edited by Michael McDermott and Patricia Monaghan and features writers from Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the US including Carol Christ, Sr. Rita Minehan, M. Macha Nightmare, Dolores Whelan, Joan McBreen, Matthew Geden, and many others. 
Advance Praise for Brigit: Sun of Womanhood

Bright: Sun of Womanhood is an encyclopedic compendium of various aspects of the female spirit.  Rather than being a daunting read, it is a delight from beginning to end.  There is something for everyone - male and female alike - within these pages, from the casual reader who is simply looking for light entertainment to the empathetic scholar seeking to broaden an already wide base of esoteric knowledge. The authors wisely have laid down no dictum of beliefs.  There is no dogma; no hard and fast perimeter.  The book is as transparent and full of joy as the spirit it celebrates, yet it also offers a serious, thought-provoking journey that will leave no pilgrim unmoved. –Morgan Llywelyn

author of Lion of Ireland and Druids.


This anthology is a deeply intelligent, wise, and alluring immersion into the living presence of Brigit, a creation of ritual space that is both ancient and immediate. ---Charlene Spretnak

author of Lost Goddesses of Early Greece


This wonderful collection of essays, poems, reflections, mediations and scholarship brilliantly captures the complexity, richness, and fertility of Brigit’s traditions. For many disenfranchised by male separatist religions, Brigit’s traditions allow us to hear ourselves think, and to hear each other into speech in thealogical mode. This volume will further spread Brigit’s cloak around the world, wrapping her followers in the comfort of her compassion, and inspiring them to weave their own cloaks, nurturing them as they protecting our vulnerable planet, Earth. –Mary Condren

author of The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion and Power in Celtic Ireland and a forthcoming major study on Brigit, the Cailleach or Wise Woman of Ancient Ireland.   

 

Brigit, Sun of Womanhood, edited by Michael McDermott and Patricia Monaghan, is a comprehensive and compelling collection of fiction, poetry, essays and photographs that celebrate Brigit in all Her many manifestations as ancient Goddess, legendary Catholic abbess and saint, and modern-day archetype of the divine female. The stories shared in this anthology will delight and inform, whether or not one’s ethnicity is rooted in Celtic traditions. Like the color-drenched prisms of a finely crafted kaleidoscope, this book opens the reader’s eyes and heart to the magical, multi-faceted aspects of this Goddess’s legacy and the potent medicine She offers. Informative and entertaining, this anthology serves up a soul-quenching helping of milk and fire, poetry and ritual that’s sure to satisfy contemporary seekers.  ---Mary Saracino

co-editor of She Is Everywhere! Volume 3: An Anthology of Writings in Womanist/Feminist Spirituality (iUniverse 2012) and the author of the novel, The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006). For more information visit: www.marysaracino.com.
Articles and poems included in this anthology:

Brigit, Sacred Virginity, and the Elements of Perpetual Energy --by Miriam Robbins Dexter

Brigit’s Litany --by Barbara Flaherty

The Great Bear Mother: A Journey with Brigit to the Ancient Dawn of Imbolc --by Jude Lally
Invocation to Brigit --by Ruth Barrett
In Search of Crios Bríde --by Barbara Callan

Magdalen Rising (excerpt) --by Elizabeth Cunningham

Forging --by Eileen Rosensteel

The Search for Bride’s Well --by Cheryl Straffon

Forging Finer Metal --by Barbara Ardinger

Brighde of the Isles --by Jill Smith

Goddess of Smiths --by Mael Brigde

Bride in Scotland --by Stuart McHardy

The First Keening --by Valerie Freseman

Brigit’s Runes in Sweden: The Völva and the Sun--by Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen

Saint Bridget’s Day --by Matthew Geden

Bridget and Kildare --by Sr. Rita Minihan

Poem for Saint Bridget’s Day --by Joan McBreen

Growing up with Brigit --by Emily Stix

Brigid of Ireland, A Historical Novel (excerpt) --by Cindy Thomson

Bridget’s Mantle --by Bee Smith

Got Milk?: The Food Miracles of Saint Bridget of Kildare--by Kerry Noonan

Reworking of an 11th Century Irish Prayer to Brigit --by Erin Johnson

Brigit: Cailleach and Midwife to a New World --by Dolores Whelan

Dawn at Brigit’s Well --by Patricia Monaghan

The Feast Day of Saint Bridget and Other Stories--by Carol Christ

A Garden for Brigit --by Jenny Beale

My Blood Song --by Szmeralda Shanel

Take Back the Hammer --by Slippery Elm

The Hem of Her Cloak: How Modern Brigit Worship Spread into the Southern Highlands of Appalachia --by H. Byron Ballard

Fa La La --by Allison Stone

Sacred Tattooing: A Dedication to Brigit --by Phoenix Lefae

Brigit’s Light: A Break from Rain --by Kersten Christianson

Inspiration and invocation: Creating a ritual with Brigit --by Betz King

The Story of Brigit: A Conversation --by Ita Roddy

Bridey: From Personal to Global --by Aline O’Brien (M. Macha NightMare)

Brigit --by Annie Finch

Fire Will Make It Whole --by Sabina Magliocco