Brigid: A Friend For Our Times Conference

It suddenly occurred to me I should let you know that Land, Sea, Sky Travel is hosting a one-day online conference on 16 May 2020.

I will be talking about Brigit as a constant companion, and leading a contemplative session on that theme. I don't yet know who the other presenters are, but I have always enjoyed LSST's conferences, and I expect to do so again this time.

Perhaps I will see you there.

Also presenting:

Sage from Clann Bhride
Gwilym Morus-Baird from Celtic Source
Echo Summer-The Social Justice Druid
Amy Panetta from The Celtic Feminine Podcast
Paulie Rainbow from Denver Celtic Women's Circle
A.B from Kildare, who is going to come out and talk about their hometown

From their page:

A Year with the Witch
Brigid A Friend For Our Times
An Online Polytheist Conference

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

from "A Summer's Day" by Mary Oliver

Land, Sea, Sky Travel is proud to host our third year of curated online conferences. Over the course of the year, we will be hosting eight conferences. Each conference will hold a specific theme relevant to Irish, Welsh, Gallic, and Devotional Polytheists and Magic Workers.

The conference will provide a balanced mix of hands-on, devotional, and experimental practice with academic and lore-based studies. In addition, a chat room will be provided to facilitate building friendships and meeting other polytheists. Each conference will feature at least five presenters, providing a mix of well known faces and fresh voices in polytheism today.

The conference may be accessed from any phone, tablet, or computer.

To help make it accessible to all participants, especially those who cannot commit to attending the full eight hours, a recording of the entire conference is included with your registration ticket. Participants will also receive a digital welcome packet with exciting content from each of our presenters, along with other offerings from polytheist groups, small businesses and community members. During the conference, we will be giving away items such e-books, books, tickets to a future conference in this series, and other exciting surprises.

Full and partial scholarships will be offered for the conference, along with discounts for group viewing parties. Registration will be offered for free to individuals under the age of twenty-one or over the age of seventy-one and all women of color...


Please follow this link to find out more.

Blessings of Brigit on you all.

Online Brigid Class by Amy Panetta

Amy leading Sunday worship at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Estrie, Quebec, Canada26 January 2020

Online Brigid Class +  Can You Help?

While I give a number of in-person talks and work- -shops, many people feel disappointed that they  cannot make it due to their location and schedul- ing conflicts (or even the weather!).   So!  I have created an Online Brigid Class: The Music of Brigid,  Ireland's Patroness  It is 50 minutes and includes: A blessing - Farewell to the darkest part of  the year (Samhain) and Greeting to the new  season of early springtime (Imbolc). Background on Brigid, the pre-Christian  goddess, and Brigid the saint. Short film on Brigid's celebration in Ireland  and about the music that is featured. Info on some of the earth-based music  written in dedication to Brigid. Me teaching you how to sing one of the  most popular songs dedicated to Brigid,  Gabhaim Molta Bhride in Irish Gaelic.   This Online class can be accessed for  $15.  Are you interested?  If so, just email me at  apanettamusic@gmail.com, and I'll get  back to you with the details ASAP!   With your payment for this online class, I will  put the money to use directly on the work I do  for the Celtic Feminine Podcast.  Currently, the website for the  podcast does not have its own domain name  and I have not paid for a hosting service.   Right now, the site is free, but it has unsightly  ads on it.  So, the money from this online  class will go towards purchasing a domain  name and for the hosting service.   Thank you very much for your consideration!

Podcast Mael Brigde, Founder of the "Brigit's Sparkling Flame" Blog and "Daughters of the Flame" Flametending Group, Discusses Her Work

Ah! Last spring I had a lovely visit with Amy Panetta when she came to Vancouver for the Celtic Studies of North America annual conference. Somewhere in there she managed to do this interview of me, and now it is up on her Celtic Feminine Podcast. You can listen now or download it for later.

Play Podcast in New Window

In this podcast, Amy has a conversation with Mael Brigde, about her work and connection with Brigid.  Since 2004, Mael has maintained the longest-running, most prolific blog about Brigid entitled, "Brigit's Sparkling Flame" where she collects a variety of different resources about Brigid, such as in links, books, music, and events. She also has her poetry dedicated to Brigid on her "Stone on the Belly" blog.  She founded "Daughters of the Flame," which is the first non-church-based flame tending group dedicated to Brigid, which interestingly enough lit their first flame on Brigid's Eve, January 31st 1993, the same year that the Brigidine sisters in Kildare Ireland relit Brigid's flame.  

Currently, Mael teaches online courses dedicated to Brigid.

Links:

Brigit's Sparkling Flame Blog

Stone on the Belly Blog

Daughters of the Flame

Mael's Brigid Courses:

Journey with Brigit - Goddess of Poetry

Stepping into Brigit – Goddess Activation Course

Discovering Brigit – Goddess and Saint with Mael Brigde

Intro and Outro Music from the album, "A Year In Ireland" by New Time Ensemble, Used with Permission

To support the many hours that will go into this podcast, please consider donating.  You may send a donation by clicking HERE.  Also, be sure to send me an email at apanettamusic@yahoo.com notifying me of this donation.  Thank you!

Webinar Available to Support Solas Bhride Center in Kildare, Ireland

The following is from Amy Panetta's website:

Last year, in 2017, so many people were so generous to support me in my crowdfunding campaign to go to Ireland to continue my research in the music that is written and performed in dedication to Brigid.  This research was later shared at The Celtic Studies of North America Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia in April of 2017 and is continually shared on The Celtic Feminine Podcast.  With the money raised from the original crowdfunding campaign, I was able to get a flight and lodging in Ireland!  In addition, it was my pleasure to be able to present a 150€ donation in person to the Solas Bhride Centre in Kildare Ireland.

This year, in honor of St. Brigid's Feast Day, I would like to have a fundraiser to donate most of the funds to the Solas Bhride Centre for the excellent work that they do in promoting St. Brigid's values of peace, justice, and compassion.  Solas Bhride Centre and Hermitages is a Spirituality Centre dedicated to St. Brigid of Kildare, Patroness of Ireland. The centre caters to the large number of pilgrims and visitors, local, national and international, interested in the traditions, values and customs associated with Brigid of Kildare.  Please visit http://www.solasbhride.ie for more information.  

I have created a webinar that I would love to send you as a gift donation.  The webinar is about 50 minutes long and is like a class I would give in person where I offer a few words to center us in the season, share my story in how I came to be inspired by Brigid, discuss the life of Brigid the Saint and Goddess, show a short video clip of the variety of music dedicated to Brigid, and teach you the song, Gabhaim Molta Bride!  

Click here to donate.  Any amount, big or small, is a big help!  Once I get the notification of your donation, I will send you the link to the webinar!

A small percentage of donations will be used to offset costs to produce The Celtic Feminine Podcast and ongoing research projects dedicated to Brigid.

Amy Interviews Mael Brigde: Brigit Music, Daughters of the Flame, & More!

Well, that was lovely.

I just had a long conversation with Amy Panetta, who found me through this blog a few years ago (although I wasn't really aware of it until she approached me recently on Facebook). Amy is an energetic and very curious young woman—curious about things, that is, not curious in herself—and has combined her musical skills and love of Brigit in a number of projects.

Her main focus is Brigidine music, especially that composed in the last decades, and we got together today to talk about it, and about my love of writing songs to and about Brigit. Somewhere between the time we made the plan to talk and the talk itself, Amy asked me if we could do it as an interview, thinking she might use it in her podcast-to-be. I agreed and off we went.

I have been interviewed on paper, or asked to write some reflections on my connection to Brigit, but I have never been interviewed aloud on these matters and some of things she asked about I had never spoken discussed with another. So it was an interesting and fun experience for me, where I got to let my thoughts stretch and my chin wag. (I'm usually more the listener—believe it or not, those who know me.)

Amy is an excellent interviewer, with clear questions, a relaxed style, and adding enough of her own thoughts to make it a conversation instead of a monologue. I didn't feel like I was alone and honking, but at ease and chatting with a friend.

Who knows if this will ever be used as a podcast, but it was a good experience, helping me to think in new ways about a subject that is dear to my heart.

I look forward to meeting Amy in the flesh when she comes to Vancouver in a couple of weeks for the CSANA 2017 Conference, (27–30 April 2017, the Celtic Studies Association of North America), where she will be presenting her topic "The Feminine Face of God: Vocal Music Dedicated to Bridget, the Pre-Christian Celtic Goddess and Saint".

This is not an expensive conference, and it runs for several days, so there will be much to bend your minds with if you are able to get to Vancouver, Canada for it.




Image: Croghan Hill (Bog of Allen County Offaly Ireland) by Sarah777. This is the image I looked at throughout our conversation, since we were talking on the computer without video, and it was weird staring at my desktop and all those annoying reminders of things to do.

Amy Panetta: Brigit Classes, Updates, and the Fundraiser is Ending In Five Days!

Amy has been raising money to finance a research project in Ireland, which I posted about last month. She has been sending out updates and brewing all sorts of ideas. I thought I would share her latest (and last?) letter with you below. Of particular interest, perhaps, to those of you in the eastern United States, who might be able to attend her classes, but there is much more besides.

From her bio:

Amy Panetta, MA has been teaching music for over a decade in public schools, independent schools (including Montessori, Waldorf, and college preparatory), music studios in Northern New Jersey and the Central Vermont/Burlington areas.  She has experience facilitating West African and Caribbean drumming classes for adults and children in grades 1-12, as well as arranging percussion music for local high school productions.  Other related community involvement includes empowering teenagers in her previous role as Youth Program Coordinator at a Northern New Jersey Unitarian church.  Currently, Amy facilitates WorldSpirit Drum & Song sessions, leads classes discussing the music of Brigid, the pre-Christian goddess and Irish saint, and teaches a variety of private and group music lessons.

Amy holds a Masters of Arts in Ethnomusicology from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick where she spent time studying the dynamics of an on-campus Irish traditional music session; investigating songs written in dedication to Robert Emmet, an Irish hero; formation of community drumming groups; and sacred music written in dedication to Brigid, the pre-Christian goddess and Irish saint.  She has been active in NJ, NY, and MA since 2007 participating in drum circles and classes.  She has studied and been influenced by Marafanyi Percussion, Sanga-of-the-Valley, Mark Wood, Aimee Gelinas, the late Frisner Augustin, and John Bowker in Ireland.  Her related interests include work in the Positive Discipline program for teaching social and life skills, Compassionate/Non-Violent Communication, peace education, progressive/holistic teaching approaches, instructing a special needs population, and integrating spirituality and music.

• Dec 16 at 7:08 PM

Message body

Hello all!

I hope you are all doing well and having a good time getting ready for holiday festivities.  I certainly wish you and your loved ones the warmest holiday season!  

As you know, I started the fundraiser Music of Brigid, Ireland's Patroness back on November 1st (All Souls Day).  This fundraiser drive will end on December 21st - that's only five days away.  If you are feeling generous and would like to support this project, now is a great time to do it!  Just over 20% has been raised.  Thank you all who have contributed!  While the drive will formally end on December 21st, contributions can still be accepted afterwards (if you have any problem with this on the webpage, you can email me for my postal address).

I am happy to announce that I will be teaching several classes coming up in the new year discussing the Music of Brigid, which will include:

• Who the historical Brigid was, both the saint and pre-Christian goddess.
• The traditions in Ireland on St Brigid's Feast Day/Imbolc.
• Weaving Brigid's crosses.
• The nature of the songs dedicated to Brigid and where they are performed.
• Hearing a selection of songs that people have recently composed.
• Learning a song dedicated to Brigid in Irish Gaelic.  (All musical skills are welcome!)

Dates and Locations:

1/12/2017: AwenTree in Easthampton, MA

1/18/2017: Upstairs above the Grian Herbs Apothocary in Montpelier, VT

1/19/2017: Spirit Dancer in Burlington, VT

1/21/2017: Mystic Spirit in Montclair, NJ

You can find out complete information about these classes on my website.  More classes are being added soon.

I am excited that some other opportunities are brewing, such as being a guest lecturer for high school and college students in VT.  Also, I have been accepted to speak at the Celtic Studies Association of North America conference coming up in British Columbia!  

I should mention also, that to make my research more widely accessible, I have decided to start up a new podcast in January 2017!  I should be posting one episode each month with the composers of Brigid songs, as well as experts in disciplines such as Irish and Celtic studies, folklore, and ethnomusicology.  Yay!  

If you are interested in supporting my research project, as well as the contribution I will be giving to the Brigidine sisters in Kildare, Ireland, please visit the following webpage (that includes a short video and description):

>>Click here to donate to the Music of Brigid, Ireland's Patroness fundraiser

I thank you very much for your generosity!  Please share this email with anyone who you think might be interested!

Beannacht,

Amy Panetta

WorldSpirit Music

Fund-Raiser for Brigit Music Research by Amy Panetta

Music Dedicated to Brigid, Ireland's Patroness

 

Amy Panetta, Organizer

Back in 2006, I was completely inspired by the story of Brigid, who is a pre-Christian goddess and saint, and a remarkable figure important to Irish culture and Celtic heritage.  I was going through a time in my life when it seemed that Brigid revealed herself to me through a very interesting series of synchronicities.  I was so taken by her that I read as much as I could about her, and ended up going to Ireland in 2008 for my own pilgrimage.  I was still enraptured by her story long after I returned to the US.  Brigid and the beautiful emerald Isle of Ireland was calling to me, so much so that I took a year-long break from teaching music to study ethnomusicology at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance at the University of Limerick in Ireland.  My masters thesis was entitled: The Feminine Face of God: Spiritual Vocal Music Dedicated to the Pre-Christian Celtic Goddess and Irish Saint, which discussed the phenomenon since the early 1990s, of songs being written dedicated to Brigid.  I was able to go to her week-long festival around her feast day on February 1st 2010 called the Féile Bríde, to participate and sing songs in the candlelit ritual on Brigid's Eve and attend all of the events dedicated to her that week, including lectures, concerts, and a peace and justice conference.  Since graduating with my masters degree, I have been giving classes to a variety of different types of groups, such as adults, fellow faculty members, and students, about who Brigid is and the songs written about her.  I continue to do academic research and have submitted proposals to speak at conferences.     

I am running this indiegogo campaign, starting on All Souls' Day, November 1, 2016 and ending on Winter Solstice, December 21, 2016, because I intend to raise funds for a research trip to Ireland for the 2017 Féile Bríde festival in Kildare, Ireland.  

By going to this festival, it will help me to continue to do research about songwriters and the songs they write about Brigid.  In addition, this trip will help me to continue to share the beautiful story of Brigid as pre-Christian Goddess and Saint that has already touched the lives, captured the imagination of so many people, and is so important to Irish and Celtic culture and heritage.   

How will my trip benefit others?

• I will provide information through articles I publish to my own research blog that can be accessible by all people with internet access, as well as in future academic journal articles.  
• The information gained will be used in the classes and professional lectures that I give about Brigid.
• This trip will help inspire me to compose my own songs dedicated to Brigid in a songbook that will be due out by February 1st, 2018!  I want to provide others with songs dedicated to Brigid to provide music for individuals and groups to use in their own spiritual practices. 
• ​Some proceeds from this campaign will be given directly to the Brigidine order of sisters in Kildare to continue to support the hermitage that they just built and finished, as well as their great work of hosting pilgrimages, events, and promoting peace, justice, generosity, and compassion, as well as Irish and Celtic heritage.  

 I thank you so much for your help in this project!  It is my dear intention that this project will inspire a new connection for both you and I!  I am excited to announce that there are several donation levels and rewards that are currently offered that will provide something of value to you, such as classes, academic lectures, and other things!  Check back often to see new rewards offered.  If you are interested in a class, they can be arranged for February or another month that works for both of our schedules.  

Please visit http://worldspiritmusic.wordpress.com for more information.

Click here to get to Amy's fundraising page.

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