In the following article I will attempt to reconstruct a Fyrnsidu-specific hearth Goddess by looking at similar, Indo-European deities and extrapolating accordingly.



The Greek and Roman Hearth Goddess



In ancient Hellenic religion, Hestia was the de facto goddess associated with the centre of the home – the hearth. According to Robert S. P. Beekes, her name is analogous to ‘hearth,’ ‘fireplace,’ ‘altar,’ or ‘oikos,’[1][2] positioning her as a personification of not only the hearth’s flame, but the domicile itself. The idea that her area of governance extends beyond the literal flame and encompasses the family unit is supported by the synonymical use of oikos, a word which in ancient Greek referred to the family, the family’s property and the house proper, depending on context [3]. Hestia also governed the various functions of domesticity associated with the hearth, such as the preparation the family meal and the baking of bread [4].

As a fire deity, Hestia acted as Goddess of the sacrificial flame, receiving prefatory offerings during domestic and public rites and sacrifices of wine at both the beginning and end of feasts [5].



“Hestia, in the high dwellings of all, both deathless gods and men who walk on earth, you have gained an everlasting abode and highest honour: glorious is your portion and your right. For without you mortals hold no banquet,–where one does not duly pour sweet wine in offering to Hestia both first and last . . . Hestia, you who tend the holy house [temple] of the lord Apollon.” [6]



Like Demeter and Dionysus, Hestia’s preferred sacrificial victim was the pig. According to Daniel Ogden, piglets were significantly cheaper than adult pigs, goats and sheep and were therefore popular in preliminary and purificatory rites- especially those rites where the sacrificial animal was burnt whole and not consumed [7].



If Hestia’s hearth-flame was extinguished in the home, it was considered a dereliction of domestic and religious duty on the part of those responsible for tending it. The same applied to Hestia’s public flame, or pyrtaneum, which, if allowed to die, signified a failure of the entire city-state [8].



Hestia’s cult was very much a female-centric one, with domestic duties related to her cult typically falling under the purview of the female head of the home. Evidence of civic priesthoods related to Hestia are considerably sparse, however, a sparsity which may be the result of there having been so few public shrines and temples dedicated to the goddess. Instead, Hestia had her place in all temples and shrines, whether domestic or public [9][10].



Roman Vesta possessed many of the attributes associated with Hestia. Like Hestia, Vesta was the hearth’s flame personified, she protected the hearth, home and family unit, and neglect of her fire was considered an affront to both the goddess herself and to social order and cohesion. This is exemplified by Vesta’s temple, which was rounded to represent the cosmos and had a domed roof, or tholus, which was intended to represent the canopy of the heavens [11]. The idea that the Vestal flame, both domestic and public, represented the earth’s centre in miniature is corroborated by Ovid, who tells us, “Vesta eadem est quae Terra,” or “Vesta is the same as Earth,” and “subest vigil ignis utrique,” or “Each contains an everlasting fire.” [12][13] This view buttresses Eliade’s theory that the home, templum and shrine were all imago mundi, sacred centres from which all cosmos radiates [14].

Much like Hestia, Vesta received first and last prayer during ritual- a fact which is supported by both Ovid and Cicero.



“Hence, too, I am of opinion that the vestibule took its name; it is from there that in praying we begin by addressing Vesta, who occupies the first place”[15]



“They held that Janus is the leader in a sacrifice … [Vesta’s] power extends over altars and hearths, and therefore all prayers and all sacrifices end with this goddess”[16]



Vesta and Janus were invoked so often during ritual, Pliny the Elder noted that their names had become synonymous with the act of prayer itself [17].

Vesta was something of a contradiction, being both an unmolested virgin and phallic mother goddess simultaneously. Not only was the hearth’s fire symbolic of her, but the divine phallus, the fascinus, was as well. According to Schroeder, this seeming contradiction in the goddess’s character may have been the result of her being directly associated with the penetrative act of inserting a stick into a hollow log to create her ritual fire [18].

While Janus presided over the doorway, Vesta governed the threshold, or limen. It is for this reason that new brides refrained from stepping on, or kicking the threshold of the home – a tradition confirmed by Plautus, Servius and Catullus [19][20][21]. This liminal aspect would offer explanation as to why she played such a pivotal role at the beginning and end of all Roman rites – she governed the threshold between the world of men and the world of the Gods.

Vesta, the Di Penates and domestic life were celebrated during the festival of Vestalia [22]. At the beginning of the festivities, the penus Vestae, or Vestal sanctum was opened to the public and barefoot women would walk in procession to the temple where they would make offering to the goddess on behalf of themselves and their families [23][24]. Donkeys were decorated with floral garlands and pieces of bread – acts which were done to honour the animal whose bray had interrupted Priapus’s attempt to rape the goddess[25].



“Something of ancient custom has passed to us:

A clean dish contains the food offered to Vesta.

See, loaves are hung from garlanded mules,

And flowery wreaths veil the rough millstones.

Once farmers only used to parch wheat in their ovens,

(And the goddess of ovens has her sacred rites):

The hearth baked the bread, set under the embers,

On a broken tile placed there on the heated floor.

So the baker honours the hearth, and the lady of hearths,

And the she-ass that turns the pumice millstones.

Red-faced Priapus shall I tell of your shame or pass by?

It’s a brief tale but it’s a merry one.”[26]

Once the festival was concluded, the curtain to the penus Vestae was closed for the year and the temple was subsequently swept in an attempt to remove any unholy pollutants [27].



Brigantiâ, Brigid and St.Brigid

Given the sheer range of Celtic-speaking peoples, we are provided with several viable options for a “Celtic” hearth goddess. For the sake of conciseness, we will limit the focus of this section to a singular deity and her offshoots – Brigantiâ.

Brigantiâ, whose name translates to ‘the high one,’ [28] was typically equated with Roman Victoria and Minerva through interpretatio Romana. In a stone-relief found at the Roman fort at Blatobulgium (Birrens, Dumfriesshire), Brigantiâ is depicted holding globe of victory, a spear and wears the headdress typical of a tutelary deity [29]. The inscription at Blatobulgium is one of seven dedicated to the Goddess, all of which are found in Britain. An eighth, possible inscription, found on a Celtiberian coin, reading: ‘BRIGANT_N’, may be suggestive of parallel cult outside Britain [30].





Gregory of Tours provides us with a depiction of the Goddess, “Berecyntia,” whose image was carried by wagon throughout the commune of Autun to bless the “fields and vines”. According to Edward Anwyl, the Berecyntia recounted here may be Brigantiâ in her guise of corn-goddess.



“The natural conservatism of agricultural life, too, perpetuated many practices even into comparatively late times, and of these we catch a glimpse in Gregory of Tours, when he tells us that at Autun the goddess Berecyntia was worshipped, her image being carried on a wagon for the protection of the fields and the vines. It is not impossible that by Berecyntia Gregory means the goddess Brigindu, whose name occurs on an inscription at Volnay in the same district of Gaul. The belief in corn-spirits, and other ideas connected with the central thought of the farmer’s life, show, by their persistence in Celtic as well as other folklore, how deeply they had entered into the inner tissue of the agricultural mind, so as to be linked to its keenest emotions. Here the rites of religion, whether persuasive as in prayer, or compulsory as in sympathetic magic, whether associated with communal or propitiatory sacrifice, whether directed to the earth or to the heaven, all had an intensely practical and terribly real character, due to man’s constant preoccupation with the growth and storage of food for man and beast.“ [31]



While information regarding Brigantiâ’s personality is decidedly sparse, we can look to the Gaelic Goddess Brigid and her Christianized counterpart, St.Brigid of Kildare, to better support our understanding of her as a hearth goddess.



J.A. Macculloch suggests that Brigid, like Belisama and Sul, was a goddess associated with feminine craft, domesticity and the cult of fire, which calls to mind the earlier, Greco-Roman roles attributed to Hestia and Vesta.



“The Celtic Minerva, or the goddesses equated with her, “taught the elements of industry and the arts,” and is thus the equivalent of the Irish Brigit. Her functions are in keeping with the position of woman as the first civiliser—discovering agriculture, spinning, the art of pottery, etc. During this period goddesses were chiefly worshipped, and though the Celts had long outgrown this primitive stage, such culture-goddesses still retained their importance. A goddess equated with Minerva in Southern France and Britain is Belisama, perhaps from qval, “to burn” or “shine.” Hence she may have been associated with a cult of fire, like Brigit and like another goddess Sul, equated with Minerva at Bath and in Hesse, and in whose temple perpetual fires burned. She was also a goddess of hot springs. Belisama gave her name to the Mersey, and many goddesses in Celtic myth are associated with rivers.” [32]



The cult of St.Brigid shared similar characteristics with that of Vesta and Hestia, in that we are presented with a cult centred around a perpetual, undying flame tended by virgins.



“At Kildare, in Leinster, celebrated for the glorious Brigit, many miracles have been wrought worthy of memory. Among these, the first that occurs is the fire of St. Brigit, which is reported never to go out. Not that it cannot be extinguished, but the nuns and holy women tend and feed it, adding fuel, with such watchful and diligent care, that from the time of the Virgin, it has continued burning through a long course of years ; and although such heaps of wood have been consumed during this long period, there has been no accumulation of ashes.” [33]



While Gerald of Wales’ account is clearly hagiographical, it is difficult to ignore the obvious, pre-Christian flavour of this particular cult. In his writings, he also provides us with a brief, physical description of the fire and area immediately surrounding it. Once again, we are presented with a sacred space that utilizes circular boundaries and is tended by women – a motif which might draw its inspiration from the same ancient paradigm as the Aedes Vestae.



“This fire is surrounded by a hedge, made of stakes and brushwood, and forming a circle, within which no male can enter ; and if any one should presume to enter, which has been sometimes attempted by rash men, he will not escape the divine vengeance. Moreover, it is only lawful for women to blow the fire, fanning it or using bellows only, and not with their breath. Moreover, by virtue of a curse pronounced by the virgin, goats here never have any young. In this neighbourhood there are some very beautiful meadows called St.Brigit’s pastures, in which no plough is ever suffered to turn a furrow.” [34]



The hearth and fire appear prominently in folk customs associated with St.Brigid and her feast day, a celebration which coincides with the Gaelic festival of Imbolc. Máire MacNeill tells us that these folk traditions were largely practiced near the dwelling-place, where “The social unit taking part is the household or, at most, the youth of a townland.” [35] On the eve of the feast, the household was prepared for the Saint’s arrival, with most goings ons centred around the locality of the hearth. In some cases, a spot was left vacant at the dinner table for the visiting saint, in others, a bed of straw was left beside the hearth so that she might stay the night [36].



In Scotland, a form of divination using the hearth’s coals was performed during the early morning of St. Brigid’s Feast.



“The Women then level the ashes on the hearth, smoothing and dusting them over carefully. Occasionally, the ashes surrounded by a roll of cloth, are placed on a board to safeguard them against disturbance from draughts or other contingencies. In the early morning the family closely scan the ashes. If they find the marks of the wand of Bride they rejoice, but if they find ‘lorg Bride,’ the footprint of Bride their joy very great, for this is a sign that Bride was present with them during the night, and is favourable to them, and that there is increase in family, in flock, and in field during the coming year. Should there be no marks in the ashes, and no trace of Bride’s presence, the family are dejected. It is to them a sign that she is offended, and will not hear their call. To propitiate her and gain her the family offer oblations and burn incense. The oblation generally is a cockerel, some say a pullet, buried alive near the junction of three streams, and the incense is burnt on the hearth when the family retire for the night.” [37]



In this propitiatory sacrifice we see a very clear pagan act, one which is very much centred on the hearth and its dealings with divinity.



In Ireland, the tradition of ‘raking the fire’ was practiced, wherein the fire was raked so that the coals would remain hot until morning, while avoiding nocturnal conflagration. The hot coals would then be used to reignite the mháthair tine, or ‘mother fire,’ the next day and a special prayer would be recited during the act of re-ignition.



“I rake this fire like everyone else,

Brigid below it with Mary on top;

Twelve angels of the angels of graces,

Protecting my house till dawn.” [38][39]



Catháin notes the connection between ashes and embers relating to fertility rituals in Celtic cultures, claiming that the ashes taken from Midsummer bonfires were ritually deposited in fields to encourage crop fertility and growth. The belief that fire was able to encourage fertility and ward against impurity is exemplified by the following excerpt from Rawson’s Early History of Sexual Art.



“Evil spirits could be repelled by both men and women exposing their genitals to them; and at the famous Celtic solstice bonfire festivals women used to stride over the fire, exposing their vulvas to the beneficial influence of the flame, and blessing it with their own power…” [40]



The sexual aspect of Brigid’s cult is reminiscent of Vesta’s role as phallic, fertility goddess and may speak to a shared conception of fire as the seat of both passion and of creation. According to Nagy, ancient peoples considered the friction caused when lighting fire to resemble the friction created during sexual intercourse. This procreative property was extended to lightning bolts, which were believed to impregnate trees and rocks with fire when struck [41].



Gabija/Matka Gabia



In Baltic nations, we are presented with a similar hearth goddess to those listed above. In Lithuania, she is called Gabija, in Latvia she is known as Uguns Māte, or “mother of the fire,” and in Poland she is recognized as Matka Gabia. In all cases she is recognized as the keeper of the home and the provider of prosperity and fertility. Each day a small portion of each meal was sprinkled into the flames as offering to the Goddess – with her favoured offerings being salt or bread. Until recently, it was customary for the woman of the household to prepare a small prefatory loaf of bread for Gabija when baking [42]. In this act we see a common motif concerning the obvious associations between the hearth and baking. We also witness the same act of “first offerings” being afforded the hearth goddess, much in the same vein as both Vesta and Hestia.



Though Gabija was largely represented anthropomorphically as a woman clothed in red, she could also manifest as a stork, cockerel or cat. If a stork nested on the roof of a house, it was believed to be a manifestation of the Goddess who had come to ward against fire and lightning strike, and protect the hearth, family unit and village community. This connection is unsurprising given the stork’s propensity for building their nests precariously on rooftops and on chimneys [43].



If angered, Gabija would “go for a walk,” and burn down the dwelling. It was for this reason that people were wary of stomping, spitting, or urinating on a fire to extinguish it [44] and why Baltic peoples practiced a similar ritual to that of Gaelic peoples in gently covering the coals at night [45][46]. A prayer was then recited, which calls to mind the earlier account associated with Brigid.



“sleep fire, Gabija come close to the fire.”



Like Brigid, Gabija’s cult was subsumed into that of a saint, albeit less obviously and less fully. St. Agnes is a particularly popular saint among Lithuanians and is the protectress and guardian of fires. It is common practice in recent times to ask both Gabija and St.Agnes for their protective services in the same prayer, showing a clear syncretism of the two characters. Agnes is often depicted holding a roll of bread and during her feast day, salt, bread and water are consecrated in all Lithuanian churches. Pieces of this consecrated bread were shared amongst family with the remainder being placed in “honourable spots” in the home. In Southern Lithuania, salt is used in the place of bread and is sprinkled as offering into the hearth’s fire. Consecrated breads and salts were thought to provide luck to those who possessed it and it is for this reason that pieces were given to sons and husbands as they left home for war [47].



The Fyrnsidu Hearth-Mother



Now that we have explored Greek, Roman, Celtic and Baltic hearth goddesses, we are better equipped to extrapolate a corresponding Old English deity.



If we are to choose an Anglo-Saxon deity best suited to a hearth-centric role, Frīg springs readily to mind. Her Norse counterpart, Frigg, is commonly associated with the distaff, weaving and other crafts related to domesticity [48] and she possesses an obvious fertility aspect, which the etymology of her name alone implies [49]. If we are to follow that the split between Frigg and Freyja was a later development, one that the Anglo-Saxons did not recognize, then Frīg may well have seen the same virginal-mother contradiction in her character as Roman Vesta.



If we are to provide an epithet for Frīg which might distinguish her as being directly related to the hearth, we might use an Old English compound such as, Heorþmōdor (Hearth-Mother), Heorþweard (Hearth-Ward), or Hlǣfdige (Mistress of the Household).



Placing Frīg in a liminal, threshold capacity similar to that of Vesta and Hestia would require offerings be made to her at the beginning and/or the end of all rites and prayers and require she be afforded a proprietary role over the sacred space in the home. Considering most modern homes do not contain a literal hearth, worship of Frīg-Heorþmōdor may be conducted at the family wīgbed (altar), in conjunction with one’s household Gods. Candles or an oil lamp might serve as a suitable substitute to a large, open flame.



In terms of iconography, we are provided with a variety of options. We know that the cults of Hestia and Vesta were largely aniconic and that anthropomorphic representations of the Goddess were added later. The Fyrnsidu practitioner may opt for an aniconic cult,or one that simply utilizes fire imagery. They might also depict Her zoomorphically in the guise of a stork, boar, or pig. If represented anthropomorphically, Frīg might be depicted holding a loaf of bread, a distaff, or other accoutrements associated with domesticity and abundance. Frīg might also be clothed in red, much like her parallel, Matka Gabia.



Imbolc/ The Feast of Saint Brigid and the Feast of Saint Agnes fall at the beginning of February and coincide with the beginning of Spring, while Vestalia took place in June, so an offering exclusive to the Hearth-Mother might be well-suited to one, or both or these dates. Appropriate sacrifices to the Goddess might include bread, water, salt, pork, votive pigs/boars, various grains and incense.

Sources

[1]R. S. P. Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 471

[2]https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hestia

[3]Davies, J.K. Society and Economy. In Lewis, D.M.; Boardman, John; Davies, J.K.; et al. The Cambridge Ancient History Volume V: The Fifth Century B.C. p. 290.

[4]http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Hestia.html

[5] Evelyn-White, Hugh G. Homeric Hymn 29

[6]Homeric Hymn 24

[7]Bremmer, Jan. N., in Ogden, D. A Companion to Greek Religion. 2010

[8]Burkert, Walter . Greek Religion. 1985

[9]http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Hestia.html

[10]Cicero, De Natura Deorum II. (trans. Rackham)

[11]Archaeologia, Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, Volume 49, Issue 2

[12]Valpay, A.J. The Classical Journal, Volume 15 .1817

[13]Ovid, Fasti VI

[14]Eliade, Mircea. The Sacred and the Profane pp.43

[15]Ovid. Fasti

[16]Cicero. De Natura Deorum II

[17]Pliny the Elder, Natural History

[18]Schroeder, Jeanne Lorraine. The Vestal and the Fasces: Hegel, Lacan, Property, and the Feminine.1998

[19]Plautus. Casina

[20]Servius. Eclogues

[21]Catullus. Carmina

[22]Theodor Mommsen. History of Rome, Vol.1

[23]E.M. Berens. A Hand-book of Mythology

[24]Brulé, Pierre. La Fille d’Athènes : la religion des filles à l’époque classique : mythes, cultes et société

[24]Ovid. Fasti VI

[25]Ovid. Fasti VI

[26]Ovid. Fasti VI

[27]Marouzeau, Jules. Revue des études latines. 2006

[28]https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/b%CA%B0%C3%A9r%C7%B5%CA%B0onts

[29]Green, Miranda. Celtic Goddesses: Warriors, Virgins, and Mothers New York, pp 195–202. 1996

[30]Olmstead, Garret. The Gods of the Celts and Indo-Europeans. 1994

[31]Anwyl, Edward. Celtic Religion in Pre-Christian Times

[32]Macculloch, J.A., Religion of the Ancient Celts.

[33]Gerald of Wales. The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis XXXIV. Revised and edited with additional notes, by Thomas Wright M.A., F.S.A. & c.

[34]Gerald of Wales. The Historical Works of Giraldus Cambrensis XXXVI. Revised and edited with additional notes, by Thomas Wright M.A., F.S.A. & c.

[35]MacNeill, Máire. The Festival of Lughnasa: A Study of the Survival of the Celtic Festival of the Beginning of Harvest. 1962

[36]Catháin, Séamas Ó. Hearth-Prayers and Other Traditions of Brigit: Celtic Goddess and Holy Woman. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 122

[37]Carmichael, Alexander. vol. I, Carmina Gadelica. Hymns and Incantations. 1928

[38]Carmichael, Alexander. vol. I, Carmina Gadelica. Hymns and Incantations. 1928

[39]Catháin, Séamas Ó. Hearth-Prayers and Other Traditions of Brigit: Celtic Goddess and Holy Woman. The Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland, vol. 122

[40]Rawson, Phillip. Early History of Sexual Art, in Rawson, P. (ed.) Primitive Erotic Art, 1-76.London. 1973

[41]Nagy, Gregory. Perkunas and Permit. In Antiquitates Indogermanicae. Studien zur Indogermanischen Altertumskunde und zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der indogermanischen Volker

[42]Gimbutas, Marija. The Living Goddess pp.203

[43]https://phys.org/news/2013-08-poland-stork-friend.html

[44]Trikūnas,Jonas. Of Gods & Holidays: The Baltic Heritage. Tvermė. pp. 85–87. 1999

[45]Gimbutas, Marija. The Living Goddess pp.203

[46]Johnson, Cait. Earth, Water, Fire, and Air: Essential Ways of Connecting to Spirit

[47]The Feast of St.Agnes. Ðv. Agota III,5

[48]Enright, M.J. The Goddess Who Weaves: Some Iconographic Aspects of Bracteates of the Fürstenberg Type

[49]Bosworth, Joseph. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online. Frig. Ed. Thomas Northcote Toller and Others. Comp. Sean Christ and Ondřej Tichý. Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague, 21 Mar. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2017.

A Special thanks to Marc Beneduci and Selgowiros Caranticnos for helping me scrounge up information on Vesta and Brigantiâ, respectively.