Good morning to all our precious family & friends! I hope you are having a very blessed day. For those of you confused about “Irish Heritage Day,” it is simple. We don’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. I believe after you read the following you will understand why…..
In legend, Patrick is given credit for driving the snakes out of Ireland. In reality, the ‘snakes’ may well refer to the Druids, who were discredited and finally driven underground with the coming of Christianity. Patrick is credited with establishing Christianity in Ireland, and in the following centuries it either ousted or assimilated the old, pagan beliefs. Pagan festivals and holidays were adapted into Christian holy days, and many of the local god and goddess stories converted into tales of Irish saints. The most famous example is the Celtic goddess Brigit, or Bride, who is now known in the Christian Church as St. Brigit, Ireland’s premier female saint.
The basic facts are this:
1) He’s legendary for driving the snakes out of Ireland. The fact is, there never were any snakes in Ireland. The fossil record supports this. It’s an island that seperated from the continent during the ice age. Snakes, unlike other species, have a difficult time migrating to islands (Hawaii being another good example). A simple web search will present you with hundreds of references that will confirm that “snakes” was just a euphemism for Druids/Pagans, since the snake was often used as a symbol in Pagan art.
2) The Druids held political power in Ireland before he arrived. All the Druid priests/priestesses who refused to convert disappeared. The Catholic church assumed power shortly thereafter.
3) In any military conflict, the victor always gets to write the history. There is no “other side” to this story. The Druids dared to challenge the Holy Roman Church. They were silenced.
St. Patrick committed genocide against the Druids and Pagans of Ireland. Out of respect to our Druid brothers and sisters, we do not observe St. Patrick’s Day.
We celebrate the day as “Irish Heritage Day.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.