Reflections on Brigit’s Power

How did Brigit change the landowner? In her book, The Moon in the Well (Peru, Illinois: Open Court/Carus, 2001), Erica Helm Meade provides commentary on the story “How Brigit Got Lands for the Poor,” which reads, in part:

The landholder in this tale seems a greedy sort, and we'd like to think we're nothing at all like him, but the truth is, most of us at one time or another have been lulled by complacency. It is easy for the fortunate, absorbed in the business of increasing wealth, to be oblivious to poverty and hunger in their own communities.

Brigit on the other hand, stands for a less complacent side of humanity. Something keeps her fierce and focused—perhaps her faith, perhaps her love of children, perhaps her innate fiery nature, perhaps her vision of something better... [Acting] in accord with the fire in our hearts nourishes others in need, and that in turn, nourishes our integrity. Brigit's flame ignites the heart of the landholder. His smugness transfigures into awe, his self-certainty into faith, his arrogance into humility, and his stinginess into generosity.

Brigit, St. Brigit, and Imbolc

Read more about Brigit in The Moon in the Well or visit the Shrine of the Forgotten Goddesses website, which also offers information about the Celtic/pagan spring festival, Imbolc.

Magic Math: Flexagons

Flexagons were discovered accidentally by mathematics graduate student Arthur Stone in 1939. Find a brief version of their story here.

Robin Moseley’s Flexagon website offers more flexagon templates. Some are designed so that the faces have colorful, contrasting patterns. You will also find information about the history of these shape forms and support for working with them; see “Tips for Cutting, Folding, & Pasting.”

The website, Puzzles, also offers multiple, interesting flexagon templates, including one that pays homage to Martin Gardner. Gardner popularized math games, including flexagon-making, through a recreational mathematics column he wrote for Scientific American magazine between 1956 and the 1980s.

Changing a Bully

The Nemours Kids Health website offers articles about bullying for parents, children, and youth. Look for the tabs with material for “Parents,” “Kids,” and “Teens.”

On the Video Jug website, find short clips offering help in identifying bullying behavior and advice for adult intervention.