17.3.24 - Today

Today I will do all the cleaning and physical things that need to be done. And then tomorrow I will do all the computery work. Maybe that will come today AFTER I have done the cleaning. But FIRST I will go to the club. I've already done the kitchen and the washing. And my bedroom. So it is mostly tidying up and the hoovering. That's all.

It feels good. It feels like things have gone full circle. I'm going to make some coffee, unload the dishwasher and then do the laundry. I think I will also try and put up the curtain rail and the curtain in this room and get rid of these ones here.

Confessions of St Patrick is an autobiographical thing he wrote because he said himself people are going to make up a lot of nonsense about me.

And he was right. We totally have.

Patrick was used by the Roman Church to promote their particularl brand of Christianity here. What do we know about Christ's teachings? Well, if the gospels are to be believed Christ was all about forgiveness and love. He literally died for it.

Yesterday in the Christian Community, there was this reading about the woman who committed adultery and Jesus. In it a bunch of Pharisees, these lovely people, brought this woman - the woman, not the man who she committed it with - to Jesus for judgement. They were trying to catch him out saying, Moses said she should be stoned, what do you think? (Moses also gets the blame for lots of strange things btw.) Jesus, after some delay - he writes something on the ground, what this is we do not know, maybe this new law - and they ask him again, he says, Let they who are without sin cast the first stone. And guess what, no one does. They all walk away, probably exasperated and very pissed off.

Jesus then says to the woman, Who is it who has condemned you sister? She replies, No one. Then neither I condemn you either.

And they both leave. (So much for the fire and brimstone version of Christianity which humiliates and shames.)

What do we know about Patrick? From his own hand that he was a slave, he ran away, he came back and he did NOT bring Christianity to Ireland - who already had a large enough Christian church there to merit a bishop's seat. He also says I'm really bad at writing as he is writing. He has a very bad temper and gets angry with people who are doing stupid things.

Patrick's most famous prayer is also merged at the start with the Song of Amergin, which is a pagan prayer invoked by the bard of the Milesians. I don't know if he made this prayer up or if it was made up for him btw. However that it was merged with Amhairghin's Song says something.

The Celtic brand of Christianity was a distinct one. Ireland was one of the only places in Europe, if not the only place, where Christianity took hold within a generation and apparently, without a single violent conversion. Christ replaced, Lugh the Sun God, and was called Lord of the Elements. That Patrick's Day falls on the equinox, smack in the middle of Lent tells you everything you need to know about what the Irish think about these Roman observations.

Celtic Christianity took its inspiration from the monastic communities of the Egyptian Coptic church. It was tribal. It was non-celibate. Jesus was known as the Lord of the Elements. It was a Christianity which advocated equality, individuality and freedom. Patrick's hardline character was only written into the story 400 years after he died.

There are druidic elements as well with Patrick. Like how he and his companions turn into a herd of deer to evade the bandits. He was a relentless anti-slavery campaigner. Was he the MOST IMPORTANT figure in Ireland at the time? It does seem unlikely.

The echoes of Celtic Christianity and the connection with the land and the builders of megaliths and the gods of old are still remain. From the ancient monastic communities and holy sites which were probably places of deep spiritual significance, in places like Skellig Michael and Lough Derg, even Armagh, to saints who have a deep connection to nature like Kevin and Mahee... saints who are warriors, scholars and shamans. Columcille probably embodies this best. He was the son of a king, probably destined for the cheifdom of his tribe, he was named Wolf after all when he was born. In the tradition of Lugh, Cuchulainn and the Fianna, he was warrior, scholar, musician and builder.

Of course there is Brigid, who has taken her name straight from the Goddess herself and who, like the goddess, is in charge of everything you can think of.

I love how this esoteric brand of Christianity still lives in the land, even though it has been paved over by the tarmac of Rome. I see it has part of the evolution which we can all be a part of, the reclaiming and in the spirit of the gods and naomh of old, create a spirituality for this new age - one which is loving, inclusive, generous, respectful and wondrous.

This is Slemish mountain, one of the many places around Ireland associated with Patrick.