This is a prayer that was first published by William Mackenzie, who said it meant to be performed each morning as the person praying washed themselves.
The prayer asks for a blessing upon the ‘eye,’ which shows the purpose here is to protect oneself from inadvertantly casting the Evil Eye on other people you might encounter throughout your day. In doing so, not only is the prayer meant to help in making sure you won’t harm others – unintentionally or otherwise – but that others won’t be able to harm you either.
The act of saying this prayer while you’re washing shows an implicit element of cleansing is involved here, to make sure you start the day with a clean slate, so to speak. As you wash your face, then, you can simply say:
| Gu’m beannaicheadh Brìde mo shùil, ’S beannaichidh mo shùil na chì; Beannaichidh mise mo nàbaidh, ’S beannaichidh mo nàbaidh mi. | May Brigit bless my eye, And my eye will bless all I see; I will bless my neighbour, And my neighbour will bless me. |
Notes
The original version addresses God (Gu’m beannaicheadh Dia mo shùil) but otherwise the prayer is as the original; some spellings have been altered to reflect modern orthographical conventions.
I’ve chosen to address Brigit here as a matter of personal preference but the wording can be changed to address whoever seems most appropriate.
Eòlas 