He became a Christian missionary and had another vision that it was his duty to Christianize Ireland and to save the entire island. Pretty noble sort of guy I mean he wants to go back and help all of the heathens that enslaved him for all those years. No joke though, it is always barbaric to kidnap and turn Innocent people into slaves! In 432 he traveled back to Ireland to begin the process of 'Saving the island', with many people from Britain in tow (just for moral support I'm sure). On the Eve of Easter he lit a fire in Tara, which was interfering in Pagan practices of that time and place, they believed all fire needed to be extinguished before the sacred fire of Tara was lit. Knowing this he lit it to help with his converting. That made Tara his headquarters.
Druids at this time in Ireland were of huge influence over everyone. Their symbol was the Snake of Wisdom. They were the keepers of The Old Religion.
A Bard is a storyteller, songwriter, history keeper. They wrote songs to sing to the people telling of stories past. The Celts did not rely on written language, so the Bards were the key to their history as well as their future. They believed for you can't have a future without a history.
The Brehons were keepers of the laws in Ireland. They delegated punishments for crimes and were the peacemakers.
Then there were the Druid Priests, they were the keepers of the knowledge of Earth and Spirits. They were the elders, the healers. It was their responsibility to commune with the Spirit world and keep people in harmony with the Earth.
So the Druids were real happy with the way things were going in Ireland and weren't so keen on Patrick changing everything and they didn't co-operate so well. Patrick realizing this knew that he had to convert the Druids for the rest of the island to follow. Well that didn't work so Patrick with the help of the British began destroying Druid influence by destroying Pagan sites, places of ritual and Druids homes and began building monasteries and churches in their place.
Now Druids aren't dumb. Do you think that they just sat back while their entire history was torn down and destroyed for ideals? I don't. I believe they converted... to keep and salvage their own heritage. Which is why so many churches built back then are riddled with Pagan symbols and directions. Who built all of the Christian Churches? All of the reformed and converted Druids to ensure that their people, even though no longer their followers, could still worship what they wanted and not what they were made to.
in 444 or 445 most of Ireland was converted. Patrick also changed laws to weed out Pagan influences or to "Harmonize with Christian Practices" In 457 he retired in Saul, where he later died. He was buried in DownPatrick. Also enshrined to him is Croaghpatrick. He was said to have an usually winning personality. There are huge Parades on this day in Dublin and Chicago.
Now some believe that all the Druids were dead and their influence destroyed... I don't believe that at all. I believe that they understood the workings of the world and that this is what needed to be done. Later there were Freemasons and societies that gave new breath to the Druids way of life... Dead? No, just waiting.
As a side note... There are no snakes in Ireland because after an icy period scientist call the Pleistocene a series of ice caps covered Ireland. Snakes also can't swim to Ireland because the water is too cold and the distance too great. So no there truly are no Snakes in Ireland. Animal and or otherwise. So this image never happened...
But it has inspired Irish Pagans to take Ireland back one gif at a time
And it has also inspired Pagans to celebrate Irish Heritage Day as opposed to St. Patrick's Day.
)O(
AnnaStacia
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