It's in rhe Air!

Well, it seems that it is "in the air" and that this fact is due to "the time of the year." (I mean my "Pierce Wise" dream, and its interpretation, in my last two Dream Diary posts).

I have just heard of a ninety-five year old woman who, on the day of my Pierce Wise dream, surprised everybody by taking a taxi into town, and staying overnight in a hotel.

This adventure was obviously a gesture to demonstrate that she was still an independent personality, just as my dream was a call by my subconscious to my Ego to re-assert mine.

It is in the air because of the time of the year. Today is the feast day of the "Matron Saint" of Ireland, Saint Brigid. This saint is thousands of years older than Christianity; and "Saint Brigid's Day," or the ancient "Brídeog," announces Spring. Today, grass starts to grow and the birds come out to sing. There is a feeling of waking up (in Ireland anyway: other European countries may be later). It is probably the little bit of extra day-light that wakens us up.

You don't have to be elderly to experience this re-enlivenment. Indeed, I experienced a similar emotion when I was 12, and wrote a poem in Irish expressing it:

Nuair a thagann Féil' Bríde,
Nuair ' imíonn an Geimhreadh,
Deir guth im' chroí
Gur breá bheith beo.

Tig fás le féar;
Tig úire san aer,
Giorracht san oíche
Is fad sa ló.

Bíonn gach rud meidhreach
San Earrach aerach;
Éirionn an ghrian
Agus scaipeann an ceo.

This translates as:

When Bridget's Feast comes,
When Winter goes,
A voice in my heart
Says its wonderful to be alive.

Growth comes to grass;
Freshness comes to air,
Shortness to night
And length to day.

Everything is merry
In the airy Spring;
The sun rises
And the fog disperses.

Of course, the fog that disperses is the winter gloom we have felt throughout December and January. In recent years, I have re-written this poem as The First of Feb.

Today is bitter cold, as we would wish St Brigid's day to be. This is because bitter weather is necessary for a few days more to kill off the Hag who governed during the dark days in order to allow the young Princess Brigid to rule. Otherwise, according to folk observation over hundreds of years, the hag of winter will re-assert herself later in February and March.