Hmmm... All Snakes Day!!!...

Happy All Snakes Day 💚🐍💚 Each year this day provokes a little contention, especially in the Pagan community. Everything from blaming St Patrick for the decimation of pagan culture in Ireland to the academic viewpoint that his missionary work had only minimal impact. I think it cannot be approached either with anger or intellect, rather a more esoteric and spiritual approach. But let's start with something... why do witches celebrate of even greet with "Happy St Patrick's Day" at all when clearly the reason for this day is celebrating a historical figure who contributed to cultural suppression, integration by coercion and yes, in some places actual destruction. Many of us steadfast pagans often turned the blame to the Church and rightly so, for its uncontrolled power and wealth, we became angry, but obviously this doesn't belong to just one missionary in Ireland alone. And a lot of the grand feats attributed to St Patrick are said not to be true. However, we can still triumphantly proclaim "Hey St Patrick, you missed one!" because we endured, and we earned it! Most importantly, from what I understood and researched, the story of St Patrick driving the Snakes from Ireland was both true and symbolic in a spiritual sense, a story about the Church's commitment to suppressing and/or removing the ancient primordial spirit of Ireland, the one to whom the pagans honoured in its various forms. At the very heart of this was the soul's connection with the land. Many forgot the land was sacred, they forgot the land had its own energies and personal deities, many of which were Serpent gods. And so the people became disconnected with nature which has led to disasters of all kinds. We can see this among other indigenous cultures throughout the world, particularly those in the Americas and Australia. Sadly here in the British Isles, time and historical propaganda has taken its toll on our pagan heritage, but slowly it has begun to return. Christian missionaries have never shown much, if any, tolerance for the faiths and beliefs of other people in other lands. And once you harm or destroy a people's harmony with the land they become disenchanted and alienated. They lose their innate power, the land is stolen and/or violated, and they then become easier to control and dominate. One example is the ancient sacred wells of Ireland, of which there are thousands, and they continue to be desecrated to this day with many christian artifacts littered around and ruining the sites. "Irish holy wells were, in many cases, pre-Christian, pagan sacred sites repurposed for Christian worship. Known as tobars, these natural springs were associated with Celtic deities, wisdom, and the Otherworld, and were later blessed (desecrated?) and named after saints". Literally hundreds of sacred pagan wells in Ireland are associated with St Patrick. https://www.irishcentral.com/.../best.../ireland-holy-well The focus on 'blessing' the water might actually be a clue in connection with those Snakes since it's likely we could also be missing a vital element in the story... an 'Otherworldly' element. Some state "outlandish" claims are connected to St Patrick's story such as battling monsters, which may not be so outlandish after all. Ireland's serpents were described as a "dangerous legendary personifications of the Old Order – linked strongly to its religious beliefs connecting water with the underworld or otherworld". According to legend, "when the Oilliphéist, (a massive, primordial sea serpent or dragon that inhabits Irish rivers and lakes), heard Saint Patrick was coming to drive out all snakes/serpents, it fled toward the Atlantic Ocean. Its desperate, twisting flight path carved out the River Shannon, Ireland’s longest river". There are numerous depictions and mentions of St Patrick driving the snakes out into the sea with the power of his staff. So it would seem there is indeed a lot more to these snakes, or serpents, than we really understand. https://atlanticreligion.com/.../serpents-and-dragons-in.../ "In pre-Christian Ireland, certain trees were legally protected and damaging them carried heavy penalties. The decline of these protections during Christianisation likely contributed to a change in how the landscape was managed". Another otherworldly element to consider is how Ireland was a very different place nearly 2000 years ago. This is in respect to how the realms "beyond the veil" interacted with the human populations back then. The folklore of the time would suggest the veil was more thin with the very real presence of otherworldly creatures. Often this was with the faeries and their close relationship with our world, and particularly in the British Isles when it was somewhat more tangible than it is now. The lands of the British Isles were also more heavily forested in St Patrick's time and the trees offered a 'support network' for faeries (who created a 'field of resonance'), for the otherworldly to thrive. And the Church did play a role in the destruction of many sacred trees and groves, especially sacred to the Druids. "In the theory of critical mass, sometimes called the "99th Monkey Effect" - based on Jung's theory of Collective Consciousness working through Rupert Sheldrake's 'Field of Morphic Resonance' - the collective mind of a race creates a spiritual and cultural Archetype whose field of resonance can be felt in the material world. In the case of the Elves that Archetype was manifest in the Age of Magic. Simply put, when the Elves lived they created a field of magic around them whose power arose from the very sovereignty of the earth itself. However, when the Church killed the Elves, the Earth was silenced and the magic largely died." ~ Nicholas De Vere. There are also some curiosities to be found on medieval maps, the presence of sea serpents in the Atlantic for one (embellishments or actual I really don't know) and also worthy to note on these maps is the fabled island of Hy Brasil west of Ireland. This island was witnessed and documented by sailors and legend states it becomes visible every seven years. https://thedruidscauldron.org/.../the-legend-of-the-lost.../ --- The M ale Witch. ;) ********* He used a cane staff he thought to rule, The religious order tried to move, While many converted, some did not, He tried to drive the snakes, his loss, No empire can reign on country folk, No church or institute erase, they provoke, They voice up and still cast their spells, A Pooka chased a priest to the shore, A fae kind one turned them as a boar, Bridget with fire and armor soars, These Celtics, Druids say no more, No more (no more) No more (no more) They tried to exile, But the Pagans defile, They tried to banish them, But the Witches punish them, They tried to spread the word, But Druids don't follow their book, To drive the snakes out of Ireland? The Pagans, Witches, and Druids mock them. === Cleveland Good Shield.