Corrine Shroud Tells Tales at Brigantia Firelight Tales

Corrine Shroud, Storyteller

   What a wondrous evening! Friends gathered around an open fire as day turns to dusk, a gentle breeze whipping across the lands and the smell of distant sea water faint in the air. And what makes it even more spectacular is that we have a wonderful new storyteller in our midst - Corrine Shroud. Tonight, she regaled us with a story about the FireKeeper, the Goddess Brigid.

The Gathering at Firelight Tales

Corrine Shroud: In the beginning, before there was a beginning, there was nothing. And in this nothing, was the mother goddess Brigid.

Corrine Shroud: The goddess—in this empty void—was unhappy, for there was nothing beautiful to rest her gaze on.

Corrine Shroud: Summoning ancient energy and breathing her fire of life, the goddess formed the earth and the skies, the oceans and the heavens.

Corrine Shroud: She was a lover of uniqueness and colors, so she created the plants that used the earth for sustenance, and mountains and plains to forever explore in her time of boredom's

Corrine Shroud: For a long while, this was enough for the goddess,

 Corrine Shroud: But soon she knew each plant’s colors and she’d explored all the mountains, stars, and seas.

Corrine Shroud: Brigid looked at the empty realms she ruled, overcome by the loneliness that accompanies being the only being in existence and thought:

Corrine Shroud: “This can be changed. I will create things to be loved and to be loathed. I will create love and chaos. I will breathe my fire of life and create creatures to live in the lands I have crafted.”

Corrine Shroud: So, Brigid spoke her words and breathed her breath of fire and of sea.

Corrine Shroud: She created kind creatures that consumed her beloved plants, and she created formidable creatures to keep the kind ones in control.

Corrine Shroud: She created lowly insects and enormous bears. And, for a time, she was content. She walked among her animals and watched their barbaric ways.

Corrine Shroud: One afternoon, Brigid was walking through one of many gardens. For once, her flowers did not make her smile. The animals no longer amused her.

Corrine Shroud: "There is something missing, "she thought. Her eyes roamed all that she had created in its unperfected perfection as she pondered in the silence.

Corrine Shroud: It was this silence that made her realize what she was missing. “There is no one,” she realized.

Corrine Shroud: No animal, no plant could speak to her—converse with her in such a way that she would respond.

Corrine Shroud: There was no art, no music, no stories. Her creatures and plants, as loved as they were, were merely ruled by laws of nature and chaos.

Corrine Shroud: For the final time, Brigid took a deep breath and blew her power over the lands, forming sentient minds.

Corrine Shroud: In these special creatures, she imbued thought and intelligence, a piece of herself.

Corrine Shroud: This was a long time ago, and we have honored the goddess’s gift by creating wondrous works of art, song, and stories.

Corrine Shroud: Brigid continues to wander her earth, tending her animals and plants, and conversing with her creations and has never been bored since.

Corrine Shroud: And that, dear companions, is the end of my tale.

Celeste Twigg Listens Intent