Today, my forward planning has paid off as I’ve been trying out my Bratog bride. I did contemplate, given that St Chad was fond of a little naturism, striding around with no strides on today, but as I had to leave the house for a meeting in Northampton, I thought it probably not the best idea. So, the Bratog bride. Remember back on St Brigid’s Eve when I hung a ribbon outside my bedroom window for St Brigid to bless as she sashayed by? Well that ribbon became a Bratog bride, a piece of material imbued with the healing powers of St Brigid. And a Bratog bride is particularly useful if you have a headache or a sore throat, and I have the former, a bad former, a bad former that no drug seems to be touching.
So I did all the things I usually do in this situation, even eating celery when the last thing I wanted to do was eat celery. My Dad swears by celery. Celery and (legal) drugs. Well, celery and drugs weren’t helping and neither was napping, so with nothing to lose, I reached for my ribbon.
To activate the ribbon, you have to rub it around your head three times, each time saying ‘in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, Amen’ and then you tie it bandana style around your head.
The first time I rubbed, I forgot the prayer bit, so I had to re-rub. The ribbon was a lovely satiny cool across my forehead which was indeed lush. The tying felt a bit counterproductive though, but probably because I tied the ribbon too tight. Within a couple of minutes I wanted to vom and my head felt worse. But after about 15 minutes, everything started to subside, the ribbon feeling pleasant and reassuring.
So for the last hour, I’ve now been sitting on my sofa looking like a cross between Rambo and Linda Hamilton in Children Of The Corn. And I have to say that the pain is now considerably less throbby. However, my neck is stiffer and my photosensitivity is worse. But my head is less throbby, so I’m calling this a win for St Brigid. Especially as I really don’t want to be looking at this screen any more.
Happy St Chad’s Day.
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