Lineage, Threshold, Heartbeat, Alchemy.

The following post is a bit more personal than my other posts. Flame-tending is on my mind as today is my day to kindle the fire and offer prayers and good energy to those within our order, Daughters of the Flame, and for anyone that requests it.

Across the globe, women have revived the ancient tradition of tending Brigid’s flame. In Kildare, Ireland, her fire once burned in the care of priestesses and later nuns, passed hand to hand across centuries. In our time, circles like Daughters of the Flame continue this practice, each woman tending for 24 hours before passing it on, with the 20th day entrusted to Brigid herself.

I’ve been tending since 1999, and in all the shifting seasons of my life, this has been the one constant. The flame I tend today was once lit from Kildare’s hearth, carrying Brighid’s breath across time. It is lineage, threshold, heartbeat, alchemy. It links me with those who came before and those yet to come, a communal heart that reminds me, nothing is lost, only transformed.

Each time I tend, I’m stepping into a lineage, Priestesses, Mothers, Rebels, Mystics, Poets, Artists, Outsiders, Catholics who see her as a Saint, and all who carried and carry fire in their own way, may you be acknowledged and embraced by Brighid’s wide circle.

Even if I tend alone, flame has an inherently communal quality. A campfire draws people near. A temple flame calls a village together. A candle vigil gathers grief and hope alike. Tending can be viewed as holding the “communal heart.”

Brighid’s flame is a thread, weaving our community into a tapestry of those who came before and those who will come after. Whoever tends is not just keeping the fire alive, they are the bridge of continuity.

Brighid’s Blessings to Everyone!