In the pre-Christian religion of the Irish Celts, the goddess Brigit is patroness of
poets and prophets. Brigit has traded physical eyesight for poetic insight; she is
typically portrayed as partially blind or possessing only one eye. Brigit is the
bestower of poetic gifts: the fire in the head (that is at once perspicacity,
acuity, and "associative mania"), mnemonic skills, the knowledge of mythology,
and the ability of Dark Tongue. Her feast day, Imbolc (forty days after the
winter solstice), celebrates gestation and birth, her poetic gifts, and a return of
light and vision.
The prophets and priests of the pagan Irish were thus associated with Brigit,
who shared with her votaries the gifts in her possession. Occasionally Brigit
selected a special emissary, marking him through the same sacrifice she
underwent: eyesight for inner vision. Brigit's chosen prophet is mystically
identified with her and with the rites of gestation and birth performed on her
feast day. James Joyce, mythographer extraordinaire, exhibitor of astounding
mnemonic skills, speaker of the Dark Tongue, possessor of associative mania,
became partially blind from the years of sacrifice required for Finnegans Wake.
Brigit's holy day of birth, Imbolc, is February 2—the birthday of James Joyce
himself. James Joyce sincerely believed he was a prophet and priest assigned
the enormous task of introducing a new religion to the West. According to Joyce,
Finnegans Wake, in its most fundamental sense, is the sacred canon of this religion.
from: Wake Rites: the Ancient Irish Rituals of Finnegans Wake, by George Cinclair Gibson
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