How do you like your beef in the morning? I like mine pretty rare.

During the summer I had to research some stuff a lot for a big essay, and after I had photocopied what I needed (not quite the whole book, although it would have been cheaper than buying it) I sat in a local baguette shop typing/writing it up. The shop - Crumbs... - is what Subway pretends to be: they have a range of ingredients, and you can choose whatever combination you want.

One ingredient is beef - rare. I tried this the first time out of curiosity, and was hooked. It is so much better than well-done beef! Its bright pink and actually has taste! So now, whenever I go (which is not often enough, I must admit, this shop being entirely local) I have rare beef and blue cheese in my baguette.

The blue cheese naturally overpowers the beef most of the time, but the beef gives an essential under-taste that the bagguette would be lost without. And when I get bits of beef on its own...it's like some familiar piece of music that still manages to surprise you everytime with little nuances and twists.

The whole...well I hesitate to use the word cafe, as there is only room for ~15 people...is nice too. Everytime I've been in there I've been served by the same man - does he own the place? - who is very nice. I always take my plates back at the end (although I do that in any cafe, out of politeness) and he seems to be pleased.

"Have a good day!"

I always imagine I'm going to be swept off my feet by some stranger there - it is an intimate place and I can easily imagine in-depth and heartfelt conversation between two people, who will never see each other again, happening. That hasn't happened yet, but I still hold out hope.

Brigit

Brigit is the ancient Celtic goddess of Poetry, Smithcraft, healing, Childbirth, Inspiration, and the Fire and Hearth. When looking to invoke Brigit's healing aspect, she has been called "Nympha Brigantia". Brigantia had several rivers in Britain and Ireland named after her. This gives a watery facet to a fiery goddess. Brigantia and Brigit are related, or possibly the same goddess. Brigantia was the patron goddess of the Brigantes of Northen Britain, who herself seems related to Britannia, the namesake of Britain. Another slightly odd relation of Brigit is the Roman goddess Minerva (perhaps more famous by her Greek name, Athena). She was the goddess of was, wisdom and crafts. This also makes Brigit a protective goddess, a goddess of war. Support for this comes from the statue below (one of the few images of Brigit):

Brigit was also transformed by Christianity into St. Brigit, now one of the patron saint of Ireland. This shows how popular she was, that she survived into a new theology, into a prominent position.

Brigit is the daughter of the Daga, the 'good' great god of old Ireland. Or should that be daughters? For Brigit is either a triple goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing (contrasting with Maiden, Mother, Crone) or one of three sisters, each called Brigit and attributed one of the above. As Cormac, a scholar from the ninth century, says in his Glossary:

 

Although Brigit was said to be present at every birth, as a goddess of war, she laments for the fallen warriors, a mother goddess weeping for her fallen sons. She had a son, called Ruadan, who was killed in the Battle of Maigh Tuiredh. When she found him dead, "for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland" (The Battle of Maigh Tuiredh, 12^th century. In this text she is equated with another goddess, Bríg).

To look at another facet of Brigit, as a goddess of inspiration or the sister-goddess of poetry, she is a patron deity of language. She is said to have invented the Ogham alphabet, the alphabet of the trees.

To please this goddes of many talents, you can light candles or a fire in her honour for her fiery feature, or cast coins and rings into a well for her watery facet (make sure you have permission from the well owner before you do this though). Where three streams cross, you can also make offerings to her of flowers and milk. To invite her blessings into her home, make a small bed (some nice, soft material in a box) and place it above the mantlepiece, or the centre of your house/room. Invite Brigit to lay her blessings there, using your own words. Once Imbolc has finished, close up the box, and put it somewhere safe. Only use this box for this purpose. You can also make a cross of rushes, a solar sign, and hang it above your doorway for protection.