Best of KnotWork ~ Brigid: Rebirth of the Mother by Laura Murphy | S5 Ep20
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Our Story
The goddess Brigid is known to be a daughter of Dagda, “the Good God.” But who was her mother?
Laura Murphy tells her own story of Brigid’s birth at Newgrange. The child comes from the milky way, the way of her mother, the goddess Bóinn. (Laura offered us Bóinn’s story in Season 2, Episode 7.)
Our Guest
Laura is a poet, activist, and healer. She is a passionate campaigner for Ireland’s Mother and Baby home survivors and other issues surrounding equality, environmental and social healing including the recent successful campaign to make Brigid’s Day a national public holiday in Ireland (February 3, 2025!)
Watch the “Is Mise” Lightshow, Brigid’s Day in Kildare 2022.
Our Conversation
The first time Brigid is recognized with a national holiday February 1, 2023, a green comet crossed the skiesArtists who are with us in the conversation, Caitlin Matthews and Dee Mulrooney. See the images on Myth Is Medicine.Power of the sacred twelve and thirteen, and yet Brigid’s sacred number is 19 (the sisters who held the sacred flame in Kildare).The significance of the cygnus constellation in this story and in Laura and Marisa’s storiesDagda: sacred masculine as midwife. Echoes of a KnotWork episode with Perdita Finn, who describes Joseph as midwife to Mary. Brigid and Mary in Celtic Christianity, which was close to the Essene tradition. Kate Chadbourne in Season 1, Episode 1, the story of Brigid as best friend to Mary, creating a diversion with the flaming harrow on the day that Mary was nervous about being “churched” after childbirth.Imbas forosnai, the energy of creation, as well as “the inspiration that illuminates” and the power of prophecy and speaking things into creation.Music at the start of the show is by Beth Sweeney and Billy Hardy: billyandbeth.com
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KnotWork Myth & Storytelling
On KnotWork, we explore the mythology and folklore of Ireland, and beyond.
Episodes begin with a story, followed by a deep dive conversation about how this age-old tale still resonates today. Our guests include oral storytellers, writers, artists, musicians, and spiritual leaders.
Occasionally, in our Myth Workers and Culture Makers series, our guest offers a song, a meditation, or another bit of creative magic. We talk about what it means to live a myth-inspired life.
These conversations explore our relationship to land and to identity, particularly related to what it means to be Irish and a member of the Irish diaspora.
Whether you’re drawn to Celtic culture or the mysteries that linger at ancient sacred sites, or whether you just like a good story and expansive conversation, you’re in the right place. Welcome. Fáilte.
Your host is Marisa Goudy, author of The Sovereignty Knot: A Woman’s Way to Freedom, Power, Love, and Magic. She is a myth worker, a story healer, a writing coach who lives on the lands of the Lenape people (New York’s Hudson Valley). She holds an MA in Irish literature from University College Dublin.
- No. of episodes: 93
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