My path to becoming a Priestess of Brighde wasn’t something I set out to do. There was no moment when I decided this was the path I would follow. Instead, it emerged gradually, through a series of experiences and connections that only made sense when I looked back.

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My interest in this began long before Glastonbury. Through my studies in Anthropology, I became fascinated by the ways different cultures understand their relationship with the land, the sacred and the feminine. I was struck by how powerful and diverse the stories of goddesses were in many ancient cultures, and by their relative absence from the culture I had grown up in.

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As I explored these ideas alongside my own experience, I became increasingly interested in what can be lost when we place too much emphasis on one way of knowing. I wasn’t looking to reject logic, science or reason, but to make room alongside them for intuition, imagination, symbolism, creativity and our relationship with the natural world.

When I eventually found my way to Glastonbury and began training as a Priestess of Brighde, these threads began to come together. What surprised me most was that, over time, my connection with Brighde began to reveal links with the landscape and traditions of the place I call home in Aberdeenshire.

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The idea of remembering has become an important part of this journey for me. Not remembering something I once consciously knew, but reconnecting with ways of relating to nature, community, creativity and the feminine that can feel distant from modern life.

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My Priestess practice is not separate from the other work I do. It has become another thread in the tapestry, influencing the way I think about ceremony, creativity, nature, community and the spaces I create for others.

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The poem below was written at the beginning of my Priestess journey and was read on Bride’s Mound in Glastonbury. Looking back now, I can see in it those first quiet stirrings the beginnings of a path that I could not yet understand, but was beginning to follow.

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The First Stirrings

The stirrings were small to begin with.

It was in quiet, unexpected ways that Brighde started to show up in my life.

It was in walking in the moonlight, gazing up at the moon in wonder.

Feeling the beginning of remembering things long forgotten.

It was in my renewed interest in lighting and tending fires.

Practically, but also recognising a need to ignite the fire within; rekindling a love of ancient wisdom… and remembering the ways and secrets of the earth.

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Brighde showed up in synchronicities.

The puppy who came into my life unbidden, sharing my birth time… 04:55.

With green eyes and auburn fur, guiding me towards connection and belonging.

The newly acquired clock in my old van stopped at exactly the same time as the original clock.

Two clocks sitting side by side. The same time, yet thirty-six years apart. An awakening to times past and present.

On a whim, a seemingly random action suddenly opened up freedoms I never dreamed of.

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Gradually, the stirrings grew.

Now, Brighde, I am starting to see You everywhere.

In the kitchen, where magic happens in the spell-binding preparation and honouring of food.

In the white swans that glide across Loch Skene, feeling their beauty in my heart; unique, one of a kind and full of grace.

In the garden, ever watchful for signs of change, the wheel turning, welcoming the snowdrops emerging from the cold earth, reminding me of new beginnings, hope, and my ability to overcome challenges.

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And so I step forward, my heart on my sleeve, called to You, Brighde.

As my personal guide, peaceful, loving and beloved, to doorways, portals and windows into the sacred world… and things birthed back into the world.

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Just as You, Brighde, come to wake the sleeping world, I am called to live my life to its full potential and honour Your ways.

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My journey with You begins… here I am, ready, listening for how I can serve You; how You will speak through me and reveal Yourself to me.

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I call on Your energy, Brighde, to relight the flames of forgotten dreams, to drive away lethargy and fill me with Your life force.

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There is nowhere the warmth of Your flame cannot reach…

Brighde, I walk my path with You.

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