Tragedy Abounds. Brigid Asks Us to Become Visionaries in 2026.

Fáilte, a chairde, welcome dear friends to 2026. This inaugural pull from the Brigid deck actually flew out of my hands during the shuffle. Hence, there are two cards: Visionary and Ritual. Considering the warmongering that does not abate even for the holidays, I feel strongly this message was not just for me, but for all of us as we enter the Spring.

Brigid is not just a saint, but also a Celtic goddess. There are many legends surrounding this. Some believe that the Catholic Saint Brigid was a reincarnation of the goddess’s aspects; some say the saint is simply a grafting of the goddess onto a Christian context. One thing is certain: No matter how you honor her, she was a true visionary and community leader. Her very name “Brigit” comes from the Proto-Celtic meaning “the exalted one,” suggesting that her name itself was more title than a given name in her pre-Christian lore.

Water is cleansing, removing the grime of every day routine and stagnation with its flow. Water blessings offer us a chance to receive Brigid’s power directly, opening us up to our intuition and granting us clear-eyed action. As we begin to walk nearer to Imbolc, how can we allow the holy blessing of water into the dark corners left behind by the winter? If you have access, you might consider visiting a holy well, spring, or river of significance in your area. (Writer's note: If anyone is willing to send me holy water from Brigid's Well, I am tragically low.)

These two cards together may invoke a feeling that you are coming into your own as a leader, but that a renewal is needed to achieve that. Shake off the imposter syndrome. Cleanse yourself of hopelessness by finding little rituals to empower you to act. It’s all well and good to put a little gorse in your morning coffee to combat the hopelessness surrounding us, but what do we do with the power that gives us in our daily lives? Striking a balance between action and needed rest is key lest we overindulge in capitalist self-care culture that keeps us complacent.

My favorite ritual and antidote for despair is listening to the podcast Movement Memos by my good friend and organizer Kelly Hayes. Her on-the-ground reporting from Chicago as Trump's militarized forces kidnapped and menaced immigrants in their communities during the so-called "Midway Blitz," showed me just how fallible the administration can be in the midst of even the smallest amount of pushback. No outcome is inevitable when we recognize the power we have together. As of this writing, the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a legal observer in her community, in Minneapolis at the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement has shook us all to our core.

Meanwhile, the U.S.'s new year began with the kidnapping of a foreign head of state, a move that surely dampens the hopes of many that this year might begin brighter, but is also being met with large amounts of resistance across this country and Venezuela.

From an early age, Saint Brigid saw the disparity between her mother’s lot as a slave and her father (an Irish chief) and worked to rectify that disparity by giving away her father’s riches at every opportunity. No one was left behind at Brigid’s monastery, where she dwelled with the sick to heal them. As the world plunges into chaos and aggression, we will need visionaries like her to help lead us to liberation. You do not have to reinvent the wheel. There are many places within your community that have been working for many years. Find your place and offer whatever you can.