Celebrating Saint Brigid: Tradition and Insights

Well, good morning, all.

Happy Saint Brigid’s Day to all of my friends who follow Saint Brigid. Warmer days are ahead — and I’m choosing to treat today like a hinge: one season closing, one season trying to open.

I’ve been wondering if posts like this belong here on Standing on the Ledge, or if they really belong on Unplugged Pagan. Here’s where I’ve landed: if this morning ritual helps me rebuild—body, mind, momentum—then it belongs here. If you want the deeper mythology and seasonal practice side, I’ll also cross-post or expand it over there.

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Who Saint Brigid is (and why Feb 1 matters)

Saint Brigid (often associated with Kildare) sits right on that boundary line between the old winter and the first hint of spring. Her feast day lands on February 1, which also overlaps with Imbolc—a traditional seasonal turning-point in the Gaelic calendar.

There are a few customs that show up again and again in Brigid traditions: making a Brigid’s cross (often woven from rushes), setting the home in order as winter starts to loosen its grip, and the idea of Brigid’s blessing carried into the household—especially around hearth, protection, and “keep the light going” energy.

So the theme for me today is simple: tend the hearth, don’t overcomplicate the day, and keep moving forward even if it’s only by inches.

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Today’s horoscope (Cancer / “Moonchild”)

You may be thinking that a relationship of yours could be better, even though it is good and acceptable. It is always nice to fantasize about how things could be, but we are often inclined to leave well enough alone. You may be concerned that if you voice your concerns or ideas for interacting and communicating in a better way, you will experience a conflict, which could make things worse. Yet, if you approach this in a loving and caring way, that’s unlikely. Try it.

My translation: don’t do the dramatic thing. Do the human thing. If there’s something I need to say, say it gently and clearly, and stop treating honesty like a grenade.

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The fir tree (my anchor symbol)

In the druidic / Celtic tree-symbol tradition I work with, the fir is my anchor: evergreen, steady, built for weather. It’s the reminder that “survival” isn’t a vibe—survival is structure.

• Evergreen mindset: I don’t need to feel spring. I just need to keep a little green alive.
• Resilience without noise: Firm footing, honest inventory, quiet persistence.
• Longevity over drama: I’m not trying to win today. I’m trying to keep the system running.

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Spirit animal check-in: the squirrel (Ratatoskr energy)

Yesterday a friend asked me what my spirit animal was. I did some digging, and I realized mine is the squirrel—and for my heathen friends, that points straight at Ratatoskr: the runner up and down the World Tree, carrying messages between top and bottom.

I’m taking that as both a compliment and a warning.

• The gift: preparation, gathering, stockpiling what matters, building contingency without panic.
• The warning: don’t become a messenger of anxiety. Don’t carry “insults” between parts of myself—head vs heart, fear vs pride—and call that productivity.

If you want the deeper lore post, I’ll keep that on Unplugged Pagan (because that’s where the myth lives loudest). Here, I’m keeping the takeaway practical: gather what I need, carry only what helps.

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Tarot reading (Rider–Waite)

Past: Nine of Pentacles (reversed)
Present: The Chariot (reversed)
Future: Eight of Cups
Me / Querent: Six of Cups (reversed)

What that says (plain language)

Nine of Pentacles (reversed) — Past: this is the “I should feel stable, but it doesn’t feel secure” card. Independence that’s got a crack in it. The appearance of “I’ve got this” while part of me is still bracing for the next shoe to drop.

The Chariot (reversed) — Present: forward motion is there, but the steering is off. Too many cross-pressures. It’s not that I have no will—it’s that my will is getting pulled in competing directions, so everything feels like friction. That “inconvenient” feeling? That’s the system resisting direction because it’s overloaded.

Eight of Cups — Future: walking away from what isn’t feeding the soul anymore. Not an angry exit—an honest one. The quiet choice to stop forcing meaning out of something that’s run its course, and to go find what actually fits.

Six of Cups (reversed) — Me: I’m not living in the past today. I’m trying to get unstuck from it. This is the part of me that’s done romanticizing old versions of life and is ready for the uncomfortable, adult work of “new environment, new rhythm, new identity.”

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The socio-psych lens (why everything feels “inconvenient” today)

Here’s what I think is happening underneath the surface:

• Decision fatigue + overload: when you’re carrying unresolved uncertainty (job start date, legal stress, health testing, money strain), your brain treats even simple tasks as “costly.” Not because you’re lazy—because your system is guarding energy.
• Role strain: I’m trying to be “student me,” “health-tracking me,” “legal-case me,” and “rebuild-my-life me” all in one morning. Those roles compete, and the competition shows up as friction.
• Avoidance as self-protection: the urge to avoid schoolwork isn’t a character flaw. It’s often fear in a practical disguise: “If I engage, I risk failing.” The fix isn’t shame—the fix is smaller steps.

So today’s move isn’t “motivation.” Today’s move is structure—fir tree style.

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My Brigid-Day “small fire” plan (for today)

• One body check: blood pressure or blood sugar (pick one, not both).
• One school move: 20 minutes. Timer on. Ugly work counts.
• One admin move: one follow-up item only (job start date or the lawyer email, not a whole campaign).

That’s enough. That is rebuilding. That is keeping the hearth lit.

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Closing

Happy Saint Brigid’s Day. Warmer days are ahead. And today, I’m not asking for perfect—just direction.

Tagline: Keep the hearth lit. Keep the ledger honest. Keep moving. Godspeed.

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References (for readers who want the receipts)

1. St Brigid’s Day / traditions overview (museum context): National Museum of Ireland – Irish Folklife Collection
2. Brigid of Kildare (historical overview / sources discussion): Brigid of Kildare (reference overview)
3. Brat Bhríde tradition (modern cultural revival examples): Creative Ireland – “My Brat Bhríde”
4. Public holiday framing (Ireland’s St Brigid’s Day holiday announcement): FOD.ie summary of government announcement
5. Ratatoskr in Grímnismál (translation / stanza reference): Grímnismál stanza 32 (Ratatoskr)
6. Rider–Waite meanings (primary text): A. E. Waite – The Pictorial Key to the Tarot (see: Nine of Pentacles, The Chariot divinatory meanings, Eight of Cups, Six of Cups)
7. Socio-psych lens (classic framing, not a diagnosis): C. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination; Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life; Lazarus & Folkman, Stress, Appraisal, and Coping; Deci & Ryan, Self-Determination Theory.