How to make a St. Brigid's Cross

Hello Beautiful People :) With Imolc fast approaching, and finally coming out of our winter slumber, I am ready to make videos and be creative again! Here I share how to make a simple St. Brighid's cross with freshly picked rushes. I hope you enjoy. Below you can find a little more information on how the importance of Saint Brigid's cross came to life and a few other interesting snippets about her. Imbolc preparations This morning, I went out to one of my favourite patches to gather rushes. I will be making St. Brigid crosses with these later on today. Legend has it that St. Brigid came across a dying man in the field one mid-winters day. He pleaded with her to give him a cross so he could die with the symbol of his Lord in his hand. Brigid didn't carry hers with her that day, so she tried to find something that she could make one with quickly. With it being mid-winter, there was barely any growth around, but she found a bushel of rushes and quickly cut these to make a make-shift cross. She carried it back to the man, lay it in the dying man's hands, and folded them across his chest with the cross entwined above the heart. He died peacefully with her by his side and the cross in his hands. Brighid, Bridget, Bridie, Bree - she has many names. Bridget is a dual and even triple aspect deity - A Christian Saint in religious circles and a Goddess in pagan/Celtic lore, she is the keeper of the eternal flame and the maiden of the sacred wells. She is the first (maiden) aspect of the triple Goddess, the one who awakens the land with a sweep of her mantel, stirring the first flowers to push towards the light and bloom and summoning the sap of the trees to rise again. Snowdrops, Crocus, Hellebore, Daffodil and Violet are her flowers, as is the humble Dandelion. White Dove and Swan are her totems. In Celtic lore, she is the Goddess of prophecies and dreams, wisdom, poetry and music. It is customary to gather and burn all the leftover stumps of candles on her feast day - the 1st/2nd of February, and to bake a beautiful sweet bread in her honour. I will try and write more about the other traditions around her feast day and make bread in her honour too 🥰 The crosses are often shown to be made of straw, but I think rushes were the traditional material. They are usually bound with white, gold and red ribbons to represent the aspects of fire, the eternal flame and the return of the sun 🔥 You can actually make wicks from the central core of rushes. It is a fiddly business but works well. Wishing you all a beautiful day 😘 Love Bee xxx #imbolc #stbridget #candlemass Music licensed by Epidemic Sound EP Towards Silence - Thomas Schiller Our social media: www.crystalsandstardust.com www.facebook.com/crystalsandstardust www.instagram.com/crystalsandstardust