The goddess Brigid (or Brigit, Brighid, Bride…) holds a special place in my heart and every year I try to spend a full lunar cycle dedicated to her. The format I use most often is inspired by a devotional meditation Alexei Kondratiev describes in his book The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual which can be a bit hard to find nowadays.
I time the work in a way that the lunar cycle contains the #Imbolc Sabbat and usually this means starting on the day of the New Moon in January.
Overall the lunar cycle is split into 3 nine-day periods with an intercalary day after each one. Each of these nine-day periods is dedicated to one of Brigid's three primary aspects: white - Brigid as ‘banfhile’ , the female poet and inspirer of writers; red - Brigid as 'be goibneachta', the muse of smith craft; black - Brigid as 'be leighis', the muse of healing.
Each of the nine-day periods is in turn divided into a triad of three-day periods, each focusing on a different phase in our relationship with the goddess: starting with meditation, then addressing her and listening to her directly and lastly taking action of some sort.
The in-between days can be used to take stock of what one has learned in the preceding nine days and share experiences amongst those participating if you are doing this as a group.
Each morning I read (or send out if we do this as a group) short daily cues that help with the various stages, usually accompanied by a favourite image, song, a bit of poetry and so on, and I record my thoughts in a journal. You don't "need" any other materials as such but it’s nice to have a white, a red and a black candle available to support your work in each of the 3 nine-day periods.
Over time this builds up a lovely scrapbook of inspirational material for my work with Brigid. Each year is different, depending on where I am at in my life and who is doing this journey with me.
If you are curious to see an example: during lockdown in ‘20 I shared this framework with the outdoor ritual group I facilitate (“Woodspirits”, you can find us on Facebook here). Since we couldn’t meet up in person, this was a lovely way to stay connected and do something seasonal together. Just search for “lunar cycle” in that group and you will find the daily cues. Enjoy!