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St. Patrick's Day began as a Christian feast day to honor St. Patrick and his accomplishments. The first St. Patrick's Day parade was held in Boston in 1737, and the holiday became an official Irish holiday in 1903. Despite its Christian origins, many of the traditions associated with St. Patrick's Day have pagan roots. A Guest Post by Morgan Daimler. Every March the pagan community, without fail, sees a surge in conversations and diatribes on saint Patrick, usually rooted in the ideas that Patrick was a maniac who wiped out the druids (represented by snakes), destroyed Irish paganism, and singlehandedly converted the entire island. The first St. Patrick's Day Parade actually took place in Boston, Massachusetts, back in 1737; the city is known for its high percentage of residents who claim an Irish ancestry. However, some modern Pagans refuse to observe a day which honors the elimination of an old religion in favor of a new one. And while the 17th of March was pegged as the day for celebrating the apostle of Ireland, the Church does occasionally move the date (like it did in 1940 and 2008 when St. Patrick’s Day fell during Holy Week and was thus shifted to April 3rd and March 15th respectively). So yeah, bottom line: the Church sets the date of St. Patrick’s Day. Like many traditional holidays, St Patrick’s Day has roots in Paganism. Paganism today goes by many names and is still a practised around the world, with roughly 250,000 neopagans in the United What are the origins of St. Patrick’s Day? The history of St. Patrick’s Day begins with the man himself. Though many of the stories about him are shrouded in legend, there are some generally agreed upon facts. According to History.com, Patrick was born in Britain, but when he was 16, he was kidnapped from his home by Irish raiders. As a young pagan, I believed this myth and would don a temporary snake tattoo every St. Patrick’s Day. Or, I’d wear all black in an anti-St. Patrick’s Day statement. Because, the idea that Saint Patrick drove out the pagans is an easy belief to get behind. The problem is that it’s not true. Scholars believe the snake story functions as an allegory for St. Patrick’s eradication of pagan ideology. 5. Green has historically been associated with St. Patrick’s Day. Seven or eight years ago, I shocked a large group of my Pagan friends. I was at a small festival in Oklahoma that happened to take place during St. Patrick’s Day weekend. I was vending and teaching at this festival (as well as performing my first song) and knew most of the attendees very well. According to Wikipedia, “Saint Patrick’s Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland.” This doesn’t really give much information! All Snakes Day emerges as a compelling counter-narrative to St. Patrick’s Day. The earliest found mention of it was by Isaac Bonewits, a Druid and founder of Ár nDraíocht Féin. This day reinterprets the “snakes” in St. Patrick’s lore as symbols of ancient pagan traditions rather than literal serpents. Celebrated concurrently with St What’s St. Patrick’s Day really about? St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more countries than any other Christian holiday. It has more to do with the Irish diaspora and the Irish international influence than with any religious Planned Parenthood deciding what Arizona abortion restrictions to target next How could a good Pagan celebrate St. Patrick driving the “snakes” (i.e. “Druids”) out of Ireland? Why would a Pagan celebrate a day to honor a Christian Saint? I assured everyone that I had not turned my back on my heritage and that I had created a simple Pagan ritual to appropriately celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. What’s St. Patrick’s Day really about? St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated in more countries than any other Christian holiday. It has more to do with the Irish diaspora and the Irish international influence than with any religious Dennis Hanzel is a winner in my book. Judy Stone. Lucy Lynch. Sun City West ambulance program keeping rates St. Patrick’s Day usually conjures images of partying, Catholicism, Irish nationalism and, perhaps most famously, the color green: green clothes, green shamrocks, green beer and green rivers. So But not all is fun and games. According to some Pagans, St Patrick’s Day has a dark side. One of the most popular legends about St Patrick is that he drove out all the snakes from Ireland. However, according to The National Museum of Ireland in Dublin, there is no evidence that snakes ever lived in Ireland. Most scholars agree: the “snakes” Patrick drove out were not animals—but ancient beliefs. In pre-Christian Ireland, the serpent was a symbol of spiritual power—used by druids, pagans, and mystics of the old ways. The myth of Patrick banishing snakes likely represents his mission to displace paganism and convert Ireland to Christianity. If you visit Rome today, its Jewish citizens say that they survived for centuries because they were not part of any Jewish or Christian groups that tried to convert pagans or each other. Were pagans trying to hide Liberalia behind a St. Patrick, or the Catholic church trying to destroy Liberalia with St. Patrick? Modern Christianity will tell you that St Patrick was a runaway slave, a mystic, a miracle worker who drove the snakes out of Ireland and saved us all from the dirty Pagans. Modern Paganism will tell you that St Patrick was evil, established patriarchy, and that the 'snakes' represent the innocent Pagan Druids he had murdered and driven away. I'm Irish and pagan. I hate St Patrick's Day. I don't see the introduction of Catholicism to our beautiful island as anything worth celebrating. Very few people here celebrate it for religious reasons, its all an excuse to get drunk. Most Irish people I know (even non-pagans) don't celebrate it at all and are just happy to get a long weekend
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