Okay, how to make a St. Brigid's Cross.
Usually they are made using reeds (not great weather today and I had to go vote, so a drawing tutorial, rather than a real reeds one
xd ) but can be made using pipe cleaners, straws, strips of coloured paper etc.
You will need:
4 small elastics (or strings)
~16 reeds
scissors
Method:
Cut all reeds to be the same length. If using actual reeds, find the midpoint and press gently there, squish it a little. It softens that point so it can bend easier and not break.
Step 1: Hold one of the reeds vertically, and bend/fold the second reed in half
Step 2: Place the folded 2nd reed in the centre of the vertical reed
Step 3: Hold the centre overlapping bit tightly (between thumb and finger) and rotate your reeds 90° left (or anticlockwise)
Step 4: Fold a 3rd reed and place it in the centre over both bits of the 2nd reed. Hold tightly
Step 5: Rotate 90° left again.
Step 6: Fold the 4th reed in half and over the 3rd and 1st reed. (basically fold it in the centre above the horizontal reed and over all the vertical reeds)
Continue until you have used all your reeds or you are happy with the size of the centre bit. Use elastics or string to tie each of the 4 ends, and trim the ends to be even.
Taa-dah you have made a st. Brigids cross! Typically hung in the kitchen/above a doorway or window as a protection against fire. Also tied into the pagan goddess Brigid which she either might be a christianized version of or the mythos got tied together. (The story of how/why St. Brigid made the cross doesn't match the meaning and use of the cross). Several farmers will often also put them in cowsheds/barns, even if they don't believe it, but as a just in case.... I heard this somewhere, since I'm not a farmer, no idea how true it is.
Her feast day is Imbolc or February 1st, and most churches will have a bunch of volunteers making these crosses to give away to parishioners during mass. Most schools will also make them in class.
A cross is made for one year, the old one is burnt and the new one put up. It could involve being blessed with holy water when the new one is made, and a prayer being said when the old one is burnt.
