40. Seaweed

In a session with a pilgrimage group yesterday we explored the symbol of Brigit's cloak. According to legend, the young Brigit had a vision of building a monastery and went to the King of Leinster to ask him for some land. The King said he would only give her as much land as her cloak would cover, so Brigit took off her cloak and laid it on the ground. The moment it touched the land the cloak began to expand and expand, magically rippling out over the fields and woods until it covered the entire Curragh of Kildare, giving Brigit a large area of rich land for her monastery. 

Our Brigit's cloak, spreading on the grass...

Reading this story symbolically one can find many layers of meaning. The cloak or mantle can be a symbol of protection. Brigit the Christian Saint was being given the care of the land, taking the role of the previous goddess Brigit into the new era. The cloak can also represent community, the embrace of the mother, divine protection and care, being wrapped in spirit. 

 

Galway Bay - the bright blue sea

The beautiful 'Brigit's cloak' donated to us some time ago is bright blue, and yesterday the image of the cloak that came to me - rather surprisingly - was of  the sea. The bright blue sea, spreading, ebbing and flowing. I walked by the sea this morning and saw long strands of seaweed streaming out with the current, and it was like looking at threads of the magic cloak as it expanded and grew.

The limestone rock under Brigit's Garden is made of mud from ancient tropical seas and is full of the fossil remains of sea creatures. The sea forms the land, the land washes into the sea, and life as we know it began in the ocean. Perhaps the image of the cloak as the sea is not so far-fetched. The bright blue water is a protective mantle for the planet; all is connected.