Join us in this episode, for a spellbinding conversation with Pauline Breen! Pauline is a Priestess of Brigid and the Author of several books including: “Brigid: Goddess and Saint of Ireland”, “Maman Brigitte: Dark Goddess of Africa and Ireland” and "Brigantia- War Goddess” . Pauline is passionate about researching and sharing all the various faces of Goddess Brigid. She lives in Ireland. *And Pauline gives us a short invocation to Maman Brigitte at the end of the episode-so stay tuned!
We chat about Pauline's early years as a Catholic and her connection with Saint Brigid and then later in life she discovered the Pagan Brigid. Pauline had an epiphany moment while in meditation with Marion Brigantia, her teacher, in Glastonbury, England. She then had another 'aha' moment when she traveled to Portugal to a church in Lumiar where part of St Brigid’s skull is enshrined. From then on Pauline was hooked and she became immersed in the many aspects of Brigid. While researching her first book, Pauline began her fascination on how the Saint Brigid travelled with the Irish to the Caribbean and onto the Americas.
Pauline tells us about Maman Brigitte’s emergence in Haiti during the slave trade, tracing her development into a prominent figure for both Haitian and Irish immigrants who experienced similar social and economic circumstances in Haiti and in New Orleans, Louisiana. A unique blend of Afro-Haitian Lwa religion of VouDou (or VooDoo) and Catholic Irish Brigid; Maman Brigitte emerges as the Dark Goddess and Great Mother that guides and protects the forgotten, the outcasts and the marginalized in life through their our darkest times and ultimately in death. But death takes many forms. Parts of us die all the time with changes in jobs, relationships, situations, homes, projects, health, life circumstances…etc. We are always shedding. Sometimes these “deaths” are very difficult and Maman Brigitte is there to hold space for those feelings, that grief process and to bridge that past into our future.
Pauline is not a VouDou practitioner or initiated in VouDou religion nor is she familiar with the Yoruban system of spirituality but when writing her book she was looking at Maman Brigitte through the lens of the Irish and how far Goddess Brigid traveled, morphed and was incorporated into other religious practices. Pauline believes we need the Dark Goddesses such as Maman Brigitte now because they can guide us and show us the root cause of our suffering and teach us that our darkest nights are our ultimate power. And to take this deep journey is where Maman Brigitte’s wisdom and healing comes in.
Brigid in all her aspects is as relevant in 2025 as in the pre-Christian Ireland. As Pauline tells us; “There is room for everyone under Brigid’s mantle”. And Brigid continues to shine her flame in her many variations such as Maman Brigitte to all who are open to her in this very moment in time and beyond with her eternal love and power. Tune in and be enlightened!
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Mar 8 20252 m