Authors On Their Own Writing: Erin Aurelia on Brighid

I’ve talked to Moon Books author Erin Aurelia about which of her own titles she most liked and why, continuing the interview series with authors began last year.  Here Erin writes about her book on the goddess Brighid, who is honoured at Imbolc at the start of February.

Q: Of the books you’ve written, which is your favourite?

A: My favourite is The Torch of Brighid: Flametending for Transformation

Q: What’s it about?

A: In it, I share what the devotional practice of flametending for the Irish goddess Brighid is, the history of flametending for her, who Brighid is and how she fits into the Irish cosmology, and how she inspired me to develop flametending for her into a daily spiritual practice for inner transformation through combining the flametending with ogham work. I also include meditations with Brighid at the Irish Fire Festivals to work with Brighid through the seasons of the year, as well as the most updated iteration of my Imbolc Advent, which for several years I reinvented and shared online annually. It is a four-week process of anticipating and preparing for the Irish feast day of Imbolc, or Brighid’s Day, when she is said to walk the land again and revitalize it by bringing the spring season. This advent is a series of meditations and rituals that help the practitioner connect with Brighid, contemplate what they will leave behind in the dying season of winter, and how they will recreate themselves with Brighid’s guidance and inspiration for the coming year of growth ahead. This book is essentially a deep dive into one way to approach a Brighid-centered spiritual practice.

Q: Why is it your favourite?

A: One night while I was tending her flame, I was contemplating the ogham and suddenly noticed that the traditional flametending cycle contains 20 vigils and the primary characters of the ogham also number 20. I began to explore what a flametending process might look like if superimposed over these 20 characters as a set of sequential vigils to comprise an inner journey of focused meditations that guide the practitioner though a quest of transforming, with Brighid’s guidance, a particular aspect that holds us back in our spiritual and personal growth into an element of spiritual strength and joy! 

It was such an exciting concept to explore, and began right away, jotting down ideas and structures that spoke to me in the moment, and then spent all my nights for many months going through this cycle over and over to observe how it felt to work through the meditations I was creating, glean what I was learning from them, and then working what I was learning into further refining these meditations and processes I was cocreating with Brighid’s inspiration and guidance. She also led me into working with her through each Irish Fire Festival and season and I share meditations for each of these feast days.

Q: Tell me a bit more about yourself and any other books you’ve written.

A: I have been a flametender for Brighid for 20 years. She has been my spiritual inspiration and guide through my meandering spiritual path that led me from Wicca to Goddess Spirituality to Celtic Polytheism. I founded the Daughters of Brighid flametending order (Nigheanan Brìghde Order of Brighidine Flametenders) which I managed for eight years. In my work life, I am the owner of Sunshine Editorial Services and Book Coaching, and I co-authored a book called Get Published: Industry Experts Share Their Secrets, in which I shared how I work with soul-centered coaches and healers through my book coaching program to help them write books to transform lives and amplify their authority in their own career world. I am also a poet and am delighted to announce that this year I will publish my first volume of poetry, Bone and Stars, poems about recovering and healing from domestic emotional abuse. This will probably become my new favourite book of mine once it’s released. Stay tuned!

Erin Aurelia is the pen and stage name of Erin R Lund, who works as a nonfiction book coach and editor by day and pens and performs poetry with her favorite local musicians by night. She lives in Vancouver, Washington in the Pacific Northwest of the US with her youngest son and more books than she will complete reading in this lifetime. Learn more about author Erin Aurelia and her book at https://www.sunshineeditorialservices.com/erin-aurelia-author

You can also view The Torch of Brighid at publisher Moon Books as well as at Amazon.

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