Wisdom from the Faerie Godsmother Rainbows, Leprechauns, and that Other Guy

by Faerie Godsmother (continued)

There are tales of St Patrick murdering druids, pagans, and pygmies from Central Africa who found themselves in Ireland. So, the pygmy tale obviously didn’t happen because there were never pygmies from Central Africa actually in Ireland. But there is evidence to suggest that the other tales may have happened. There are also tales of him being kind and gentle to the people he was converting. So, he was an evangelist at the very best and a murderer at the very worst. No one knows for sure just how peaceful or violent his conversions were, seeing as it was over 1600 years ago and the records were written nearly a century after his death. Either way, in my opinion, this is not really a holiday for anyone except Irish Catholics.

According to scientists, there have only been 1 or 2 types of reptiles in Ireland and neither of which is a snake. So, it seems that St Patrick never did drive the snakes out but he did drive the Pagans/Druids out, either by death or conversion (the jury is still out on that). The people of Crom Cruiche had a snake as their symbol and according to the Dinnshenchas (text from the 6th century) they were killed by St Patrick his band of wellarmed missionaries. This story is most likely where the idea that St Patrick drove all of the snakes out of Ireland came from. This is also the story that makes me believe that St. Patrick wasn’t so kind and gentle with his conversion tactics. The story was written almost 100 years after St Patrick was alive. A lot can change in that time, including the details of a story, so we are not 100% sure of what happened to the people of Crom Cruiche.

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Rainbows, Leprechauns, and that Other Guy

by Faerie Godsmother (continued)

Also, leprechauns are a part of the fae and the fae are not technically Catholic. The Irish have adapted their version of Catholicism to include many Druid/Pagan beliefs, and traditions but it still does not feel appropriate to capture and tease a part of the Tuatha De Danann as a part of a Catholic holiday celebration. Tuatha De Danann are a race of supernatural beings i.e., Gods and Goddesses, that the people of Ireland believed in long before Catholicism was a thing The fae (fairies), such as leprechauns belong to that race.

Leprechauns are thought to be introverts. They like to be by themselves, fixing and making shoes. They don’t like being bothered. They are also thought to be very unhappy tricksters. My thinking is that I would be an unhappy trickster if someone tried capturing me in a box filled with glitter and cookies too. Furthermore, they never had anything to do with St Patrick. They weren’t introduced to the holiday until about 60 years ago. So, maybe, just maybe we don’t teach our children to try and capture ancient gods in a box. Maybe, just maybe we treat each other’s Gods and Goddesses with some respect and leave them out of holidays that they have no business being a part of.

If you want to celebrate and go wild then do it, but please leave the leprechauns alone and do what you can to understand what you are actually celebrating before pouring the green beer.