Happy Goddess Day Kat!!

Today is Kat's Goddess Day... what's that you say? A new tradition in the Lewis family. :)

Kat's full name is Katherine Brigit... we named her after the Celtic Goddess: Brigit. During my pregnancy with Kat we had a few scary moments, most notably early on I started to bleed heavily. So we did the only thing we could do- prayed. We hadn't realized we were pregnant for long, but we already loved this little baby and didn't want to lose it. We prayed to Brigit to watch over myself, and Kat (and poor Tim as well) during the pregnancy and to bring us a safe healthy birth, followed by a healthy happy baby.

Sometimes the Gods listen...

So in honor of Brigit, we named Kat after Her.

Here is some basic information on Brigit from Wikipedia:
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In her English translation of Irish myth, Lady Augusta Gregory (Gods and
Fighting Men, 1904), describes Brigit as "a woman of poetry, and poets worshiped
her, for her sway was very great and very noble. And she was a woman of healing
along with that, and a woman of smith's work, and it was she first made the
whistle for calling one to another through the night.

Brighid was associated with cows, sacred flames, such as the one
maintained by 19 nuns at her sanctuary in Kildare, Ireland. The tradition
of female priestesses tending sacred, naturally-occurring "eternal flames" is a
feature of ancient Indo-European pre-Christian spirituality. Other examples
include the Roman goddess Vesta, and other hearth-goddesses, such as Hestia.
Brighid was also connected to holy wells, at Kildare and many other sites
in the Celtic lands. Well dressing, the tying
of clooties to
the trees next to healing wells, and other
methods of petitioning or honoring Brighid still take place in some of the
Celtic lands and the diaspora.

As one of the most popular goddesses worshipped by the Celtic peoples,
including the druids, many of her stories and
symbology survive in the persona of Saint Brigid. She is the
goddess of all things perceived to be of relatively high dimensions such as
high-rising flames, highlands, hill-forts and upland areas; and of activities
and states conceived as psychologically lofty and elevated, such as wisdom,
excellence, perfection, high intelligence, poetic eloquence, craftsmanship
(especially blacksmithing), healing ability, druidic knowledge and skill in
warfare. In the living traditions, whether seen as goddess or saint, she is
largely associated with the home and hearth and is a favorite of both Pagans and Christians. A number of
these associations are attested in Cormac's
Glossary.

Her British and continental counterpart Brigantia seems to
have been the Celtic equivalent of the Roman Minerva and the Greek Athena (Encyclopedia
Britannica: Celtic Religion), goddesses with very similar functions and
apparently embodying the same concept of 'elevated state', whether physical or
psychological.

Maman Brigitte, one of
the Lwa of Haitian Voodoo, may be a
form of Brigid. It is likely that the concept came to the New World through the
Irish who were kidnapped, enslaved and forced to labor in
the Caribbean alongside the enslaved Africans.[4] Because of
the intermarriage and cultural blending between the Irish and Africans, it is
possible that Haitian Voodo is partially influenced by survivals of Celtic polytheism.
Maman Brigitte is worshipped as the Lady of the Cemetery; her colors are purple,
violet and black. She is the wife of Baron Samedi, and
characterised as a hard working, hard cursing woman who can swear a blue streak
and enjoys a special drink made of rum laced with 21 hot peppers.

On February 1 or February
2, Brigid is celebrated at the Gaelic festival of Imbolc, when she brings the first
stirrings of spring to the land. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox
Christians, and some Anglicans mark the
day as the Feast of Saint Brigid; the
festival is also known as Candlemas and Purification of
the Virgin.

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So basically you have one pretty fantastic goddess, who transcends many cultures and religions. She's always been a personal favorite of mine, and now she has a special place in our hearts and household. So every year on Imbolc/St. Brigit's Day is now Kat's Goddess Day- We'll eat her favorite breakfast (since she's too little, we ate mine this year- French Toast... she'll get it from me so it works lol) and spend the day doing the things she wants to do. And in the evening we'll say a little prayer of thanks to Brigit for this fantastic little blessing of ours, and so Kat will learn- whether she decides to be Christian or Pagan or Vodou even :o) , that she can always talk to Brigit no matter what, and that she's named after a Goddess so hopefully she'll view herself that way, and not settle for anything less than someone treating her as such!