March 20, 2005

• I guess its Irish week. This article (snagged from Tika4) discusses a slightly different history of St. Patrick than the one I learned. Definitely worth the read if you’ve an interest in Irish history.

  Actually, many of the pivotal points are the same, so it may be more a difference in interpretation. The points that are in accordance are:

  * St Patrick was born as a Pagan in Scotland.
  * He was captured and made a slave
  * In slavery, he became inspired by Christianity and escaped
  * He went into serious study of Christianity
  * He came back to Ireland and worked on spreading Christianity to Ireland.
  * He is credited for “Driving the serpents from Ireland”
  * He is credited for explaining the trinity with the shamrock

  As to driving the serpents from Ireland, this has always been explained to me as a metaphor for pushing paganism back by introducing christianity. In most nature based religions, including druidic, the serpent is an important symbol of wisdom.

  The main place this version of the history differs from what I’ve been told in the past is it implies a great deal more conflict between Patrick and the pagan Kings. My understanding has always been more or less that he explained to one of the kings what he was about and they more or less said “sure, go ahead, knock yourself out”, gave him permission to build a church, set a couple limits, and let him go about his business.

  I think I still tend to subscribe to that belief for a couple reasons:

  * The Irish still hold a great deal more of their paganism than any other Catholics I’ve met.
  * It would not have been very hard for the Kings to kill patrick at that time if they wished.

  But I’ll certainly pay attention to any future evidence I encounter in support of either view.

  • 5:12 pm
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