Flame

Keeping

Become part of our monthly community ritual

Community Ritual
Monthly Fire Tending

Brighid’s Undying Fire is a profound symbol and beacon of hope for many. Her Eternal Flame has been tended to for centuries, burning away at the horrors of night.
Each month, I am extending this humble invitation for you to tend Brighid’s Flame with me, one of Her Flame Keepers*.

For a donation of £6, a candle will be lit for you from the Solas Bhríde flame that I personally brought back from a pilgrimage to Co. Kildare, Ireland.
Where I can find them, I default to 100% local beeswax candles. Failing that, a floating candle whose wick has been doused in a sacred oil of my composition, dedicated to and blessed by the Goddess, will be used as an alternative.

I propose to add your fire to mine and, at no additional cost or extra charge on your part, to fix, engrave, name, or pray over your candle if you so wish, as a petition to Brighid on your behalf. Some have used this light to bless a new endeavour, protect a loved one, or keen their dead. What space would you like me to hold for you ?

*Please Note: As part of their exclusive privileges, my Patreons automatically benefit from a recurring entry to my Flamekeeping shift, upon monthly request.

To become a Flamekeeper is to commit to a practice of devotion, of maintaining the light, even in the darkest of times. In ancient temples, the flame was tended by priestesses who believed that the fire not only sustained life but connected the realm of the living with the divine. These flames were never to go out, for in them rested the sacred promise of continued spiritual protection and reliance.

The fire of necessity that burns at the center of the tribe is the primordial Nied Fyr, Feu de Joie, Tin-Egin / Tein-Eigin or Need-Fire of our mythical Hearth. The mysteries of the hearth are ancient, sorcerous yet pious, and indeed essential to hospitality. 

Let us foster community.

You can donate more to sponsor someone in need, or choose to make your £6 donation for a Flamekeeping candle to one of my charity associations of choice: simply send me your receipt as a proof to be added to next month’s shift.

Breochwidh, Inghean An Dagha*

*Fire-Keeper, Daughter of the Fire

I have been an ardent Brighidine for close to ten years, but officially formalised my calling in 2019.

Being a Flamekeeper is a way for me to honour Brighid in an intimate capacity while also inscribing myself more broadly into the practices of an existing community. The goddess has tended the flame for me, within me, for a long time, and in more ways than one. I could go on about how deeply sacred, how achingly beautiful, how profoundly soulful the practice has proven to be. I make a ceremony of it, complete with music, prayers, songs and offerings. It matters to me that the ritual is repeated, that it is an ongoing commitment and not just a one time event.

In 2023, I went on a pilgrimage to Kildare (Ireland) and brought back fire lit from the Solas Bhríde’s flame. As part of a pledge I took with myself prescribing I be more open in the world about my religious beliefs, I decided to extend my Flamekeeping practice to the public, and issue an open invitation to all who need it, offering to light a candle on your behalf at Brighid’s altar, in what became a monthly community ritual.

I tend up to three shifts per month, being now a committed member of two renowned organisations dedicated to the tending of Brighid’s flame in a priestly capacity (Clann Bhríde and Daughters of the Flame), whilst also tending the flame for mysef.

In each Cill, one is assigned a shift one particular day over a cycle spanning 20 days. From the first day up to the 19th, Brighid’s perpetual fire is lit, and then “passed” from one member’s shift up to the next, so that Brighid’s fire is thus ever burning. A shift lasts for 24 hours from sundown to sundown, time during which I am responsible for tending the flame, taking care of the fire, making sure it does not extinguishes, and delivering it safely from the dark of night to the light of day. On the 20th day, Brighid is said to tend Her own fire Herself, after which day the cycle repeats itself.