Happy Maewyn's Day!
(AKA Another Welshman Makes Good!)
Saint Patrick is the Patron Saint of Ireland, but around 385 CE he was born in my ancestral homeland, Cymru (Wales) and named Maewyn. If this universes is God's Garden as I say in my poem, then Wales is surely his Sacred Grove!
Saint Patrick wasn't known for his scholarship, indeed he almost didn't become bishop of Ireland because he was considered undereducated!
Maewyn was a good Cymru Pagan until events beyond his control led him into the Church. When Maewyn was 16 years young his village was raided by Irish marauders and he was sold into slavery. After six years however he escaped and fled to Gaul. There he studied in the monastery under Saint Germain (the bishop of Auxerre) for twelve years. During his training Maewyn embraced the Roman Catholic faith and began converting other Pagans to his new found religion.
He requested a transfer to Ireland so as to convert to the Pagans there to the Church (arguably in revenge for his having been enslaved by them). His request was declined however and Saint Palladius was appointed instead. Two years later Palladius was transferred to Scotland however and Patrick, as Maewyn was now known (the Church often renamed people whose names hinted of their non-Catholic past), was appointed the second bishop to Ireland.
Saint Patrick was very successful as a bishop and had silver tongue. He managed to convince many Pagans that Jesus had actually been prophesied by their ancient traditions; thus as good Celtics they were honor bound to embrace his Church! Sheer genius! Many Celts still believe this and hold it as a matter ethnic pride.
The Pagans of the Misty Isles had many ancient legions about the "Once and Future King" that predated the Church and its Sangreal mysteries but these had nothing to do with the coming of Master Y'shua nor the re-defined Catholic Jesus. These traditions were effectively utilized however and Ireland fell to the Papal Church will relative ease.
This doesn't mean there was not opposition however! The Druids were convinced that Patrick was deceiving the Irish by citing these traditions out of context and they opposed him doggedly. On several occasions they placed the missionary cleric in prison, but each time he managed to escape and his fame grew among the populace. As the victors write the histories, many of Maewyn's exploits and escapes are coated with myth and legions that those who are interested in the Mysteries of the Sangreal and the coming Merovingian (or Meroving) King are Wise to consider. The Grail traditions hold much truth.
In time of course "Saint Patrick" established churches, chapels, schools and monasteries throughout the country and squelched the indigenous faith of the people to the point that today the Old Religion of the Misty Isles appears to be virtually non-existent.
As the Pagans of the Isles fell before the onslaught of the Roman Church amazing stories arose about Bishop Patrick. In many of these stories one can see glimpses of the earlier Pagan beliefs as if the tellers, believing the Old Religion would one day arise from the ashes of the Church, embedded pointers and hints to aid in the reemergence of the Old Ways. The Churches and traditions of the Isles are replete with examples of this underground Pagan conviction. This can be a most fascinating and surprisingly relevant study!
We are told for instance that Patrick raised the dead, that once he gave a sermon on a hilltop so powerful that it drove all the snakes from Ireland... his life spawned many such stories. But... what do such tales conceal? Who or what are these "dead" whom he raised? What can we learn from "the hill" and "the snakes?" There is much grist for the mill in Maewyn's mythologies for those with patience and informed/intuitive determination!
Likewise the Shamrock. It is commonly believed that Saint Patrick used a three leafed shamrock to explain the notion of the Holy Trinity to the astonishment of the people, however the significance of the shamrock, the emerald color and the triune mysteries are not lost on mystically informed Pagans! They utilized this universal symbol long before the Church embraced the Pagan teaching and symbolism of the three-fold unity!
While most people today don't understand the mystical significances of the Law of the Three arguably portrayed by the Three Leafed Clover, many still do and when the Pagans publicly display this image on Maewyn's feast day they are not referencing the Christian Trinity! The Old Ways remain concealed to our day, but they have never died. Indeed, through a series of unfortunate recastings the Old Ways will soon witness the demise of the Church and again reign supreme, even as the old Celtic Seers foretold. Sadly, the form of many of these Old Ways are being restored among the Illuminati, the Masonic lodges, the Society of Saint George, Skull and Bones, etc. and represent a perversion of these once noble Ways.
After 3o years of effective ministry Maewyn retired to County Down and on March 17th, the day known as Saint Patrick's Day, he left his body and continued his sojourn as must we all.
In 1762 New Yorkers celebrated the first Saint Patrick's Day Parade. Originally it was observed by Irish veterans in the English army, however soon other New World Irish folk joined in and eventually it was declared that on this day "Everyone is at least a wee bit Irish!" and today, on this one day, it common to see African Irish, Asian Irish, even English Irish swilling pints of green ale and eating corned beef. It is ironic that a man who so fiercely opposed Paganism and insisted on Christian propriety should be the father of a holiday dedicated to drunken revelry that would make any Welsh or Irish Pagan proud, a hedonist celebration that is second only to another Roman Catholic holiday for its spirit of hedonistic abandon, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), only without the bothersome Ash Wednesday!
In Ireland the feast is honored, but historically the pubs were ordered closed on this day and there was no green beer or ale available! Saint Patrick's Day was a day for pious reflection and re-dedication of oneself to Christian purity and piety!
This has been changing since 1970's however and around 1995 the Irish government began pushing the holiday for the tourist dollar. Today over a million people party hardy in Dublin each year in honor of the pious, tea totaling Welsh Saint!
It seems that Catholic Irish piety isn't what it once was!
It appears the Snakes are again finding a welcoming environment in Ireland! Hehe
The "official" color for Saint Patrick is blue by the way, not green, however due to the amount of rainfall (said to symbolize God's blessings on the land) Ireland is green year round and hence (in part) is known as the Emerald Isle. It is for this reason that those "who wear the green" are said to be blessed, especially on Saint Patrick's Day. Green has long been the national color of the Irish of course.
But beware you who don't Wear the Green on this day! If the children don't pinch your bum for this horrific offense, the Green Man may do that and more!
So, however you honor the day...May you have a safe and joyous Maewyn's Day!
from Cadifor ap Colwyn (John of AllFaith!)
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