bridging the gap

With St Paddys day coming up I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. Over the past few years, I have been protesting the holiday and treating it as a day of remembrance for the burning times (that black mark in history when so called witches were burned at the stake) stemming from the myth of St Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland and the belief that this was about him eradicating paganism from the island. But this year with my new found connection to my Celtic heritage I’m struggling with the idea. To much of the world (or at least from my very American perspective) St Pats seems to be more about celebrating all things Irish (or supposedly Irish) and I want to get in on that…lol.

Another struggle I have is that in Heathenry, giving honor to our ancestors and venerated dead is very important and my protest of the holiday has given me another chance to do that. The other day I was reading “The Apple Branch” by Alexei Kondratiev  ( http://amzn.com/0806525029 ) 

and came across the Idea he put forth about celebrating the Saint Days as a way of honoring our heritage. He even put forth some ritual ideas for each of the Celtic Saints.

Now while I love his Ideas they just don’t work for me as I don’t have a group too celebrate with…and I’m getting less and less into be production rituals. But this got me to thinking, why not just light a candle for the ancestors of said country on that Saint Day? Whether at home or in a church. (I know most of my pagan/heathen followers just gasped..) but seriously take a moment and think it over. If you have a large amount of Irish ancestry chances are most (if not all) of them were Catholic (ok possibly protestant) and might feel honored by a simple prayer to St Patrick on their behalf.

Ok yes I know I’m delving into slippery slope territory of mixing religious traditions that maybe shouldn’t be blended. And I’ve been trying so hard for so long to not do that… and no I am not advocating a conversion to any belief system…nor am I converting myself. But just think about it for a min. many of us pray to (or at least give honor to) our ancestors in a religious setting that is foreign to them and expect them to just understand…well why can’t it go the other way from time to time. You know bridge the great divide and find some common ground? Or is this asking too much? Personally I think it just may work out after all, what better way to honor someone then with their own traditions?

So this year, I will pray to Patrick in the name of my ancestors and celebrate his day with as much gusto as I can muster knowing that it’s a new way to connect with my Irish blood. And hopefully I find a new connection to my past and my future.   

Sláinte 

The Kilted Viking