Brighid was one of the most prominent Celtic goddesses in the pre-Christian era. Fundamentally a fire-and-sun goddess, she was also associated with springtime and fertility; with poetry, healing, and smithery; and with water, nature, and the land itself. She was so important that rather than abolish her, the Church simply incorporated her as Saint Brigid.
Modern depictions of Brighid typically show her with red hair, wearing green medieval-looking garb and carrying a flame or other symbol. The pieces we suggest, from left to right:
1. Green velvet cloak. This gorgeous cloak from Artemisia Designs gives a very goddessy feel.
2. Full-length chemise in white, cream, or yellow. The early Irish leine (chemise or tunic) was pretty simple. It could have straight sleeves, like this, or it could be a sleeveless unsewn chiton pinned at the shoulders, like the Greeks wore. By the 1500s the Irish were famous for dying their leines with saffron, but it’s not clear when this preference for yellow developed.
3. Optional white flat sheet. If you want to skip buying a chemise altogether, you can just use a white or light-colored bedsheet and do a Greek-style chiton (instructions below).
4. Red wig.
5. Celtic circlet.
6. Torch. This is a battery-operated Halloween torch you can carry around with you, set up as a bowl, hang on the wall, whatever. It might be available in your local party/Halloween store.
How to make a chiton: The simplest ancient tunic for costuming purposes is the Doric chiton, which consists of a single rectangle of fabric folded around the body. This became the jeans-and-T-shirt of the classical world, and was worn from northern Europe to the Mediterranean. All you need is a flat sheet, some safety pins, and a belt or cord. (You can get a rope belt here in white, natural, or gold.) Here are your chiton instructions: