Happy St. Patrick's Day

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Or Happy Ancient Roman Bacchus Festival. St Patrick's Day, as practiced in the US, is a lot older than St. Patrick.




March 17th is the day generally believed to be the death of St. Patrick, the British-born missionary who is credited with converting Ireland to Christianity. 3/17 is also the date of a Masonically-created holiday, St. Patrick’s Day. The story has it that the holiday was established by high level Freemason, George Washington, allegedly to reward Irish soldiers in the Continental Army. But "St. Paddy's" has traditionally been a very minor Saint’s day in Ireland. Considering that the day has become America's defacto Bacchanal (which takes us back to Osiris) it's worth noting some of the parallels of this day with Solar mythology.

1. Osiris was believed to be the source of barley, which was used for brewing beer in Egypt.

2. It’s customary to wear green on St. Patrick’s Day and Osiris was known as the "Green Man" (No, not the Ukrainian comedian)

3. The root word of Patrick is pater, the Latin word meaning father. Osiris is the father in the Egyptian Trinity.



4. This one might be a surprise to some - St. Patrick's Day was originally celebrated by Protestant Loyalists in the British Army:

The ritual of the St. Patrick’s Day parade, what later became a manifestation of Irish nationalism and Roman Catholic observance, was actually established in the American colonies by Protestant Irish from Ulster, among whom were British soldiers.

Their first meeting and dinner to honor St. Patrick was an expression of their Protestant faith as well as their intention to bond with fellow Irish émigrés. Their 1775 meeting included British soldiers of Irish extraction. All proceeded, or marched, to the King’s Chapel to hear a sermon devoted to the occasion, and then continued on to a dinner in King Street.

No meetings by the Irish Charitable Society were held after this meeting in 1775 until 1883, because of the interruption of the Revolutionary War. One may guess on the popularity of British soldiers appearing in American St. Patrick’s Day parades after this event.

British soldiers were still the big show of the first St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York City in 1762. The first celebration in New York City was in 1756, at the Crown and Thistle tavern. Philadelphia held its first St. Patrick’s Day parade in 1771.

General George Washington issued a proclamation during the Revolutionary War, declaring March 17, 1780 a holiday for the Continental Army, then stationed in Morristown, New Jersey, in honor of the many soldiers of Irish ancestry and those born in Ireland. It was reported that this was the first holiday granted the troops in two years. Washington’s remark that the proclamation was “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence,” was possibly the origins of St. Patrick’s Day in America as an expression of Irish nationalism as much as Irish heritage or of honoring a Christian saint.

America's Irish Holiday has Protestant and British Roots

Since many lodges in Revolutionary-era America were chartered under the Grand Lodge of Ireland, I wouldn't be surprised if those Irish soldiers were predominantly Freemasons (remember this is pre-Morgan Affair, when Freemasons were ultra hardcore). To show how much a Masonic enterprise the American Revolution was, here's a list of the Freemasonic Generals in the Continental Army.

5. Up until very recently, St. Patrick's Day was not a big deal in Ireland itself:

In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s, Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17.

Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the world. Last year, close to one million people took part in Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater productions, and fireworks shows.

The Cult of Dionysus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaAZzkRvaC0

6. Modern Saint Patrick's Day shares both a date and a mandate with a far older holiday:

St. Patrick's Day is also frequently a time for drinking. It used to be that this tradition was strung out for at least five days, the so-called seachtain na Gaeilage or "Irish week."

That may stem from Roman times, when March 17 started the festival of the Bacchanalia, a celebration to the deity Bacchus, to whom wine was sacred. In olden years long gone by, the Irish drank mead, made from fermented honey. You might do better today with a stout Guinness, preferably dyed green.

7. The Bacchanalia, a Greek Dionysian Mystery Cult in ancient Rome are well-documented in the historical record:

The bacchanalia were wild and mystic festivals of the Roman and Greek god Bacchus. Introduced into Rome from lower Italy by way of Etruria (c. 200 BC), the bacchanalia were originally held in secret and only attended by women.

The festivals occurred on three days of the year in the grove of Simila near the Aventine Hill, on March 16 and March 17.

Later, admission to the rites was extended to men and celebrations took place five times a month. According to Livy, the extension happened in an era when the leader of the Bacchus cult was Paculla Annia - though it is now believed that some men had participated before that.

8. Bacchus/Dionysus is just the Greco-Roman reinterpretation of Osiris. And drinking of beer was sacred to the followers of Osiris, the Green Man:

In Egypt, beer was regarded as food. In fact, the old Egyptian hieroglyph for "meal" was a compound of those for "bread" and "beer". This "bread-beer meal" plus a few onions and some dried fish was the standard diet of the common people along the Nile at the time.

Beer came in eight different types in Egypt. Most were made from barley, some from emmer, and many were flavored with ginger or honey. The best beers were brewed to a color as red as human blood. The Egyptians distinguished between the different beers by their alcoholic strength and dominant flavor.

None other than the god of the dead, Osiris, was hailed as the guardian of beer, because to him grain - both emmer and barley - were sacred. The Egyptians believed that grain had sprung spontaneously from Osiris' mummy, as a gift to mankind and as a symbol of life after death.

This was sufficient justification for the god-like pharaohs to turn brewing into a state monopoly and strictly license brewing rights to entrepreneurs and priests. Many temples eventually opened their own breweries and pubs, all in the service of the gods. The port of Pelusium at the mouth of the Nile became a large brewing center, and trading in beer became big business.

Egyptian Beer for the Living, the Dead ... and the Gods

9. Beer wasn't simply a beverage in Egypt, it was also a sacrament. This arose from a myth in which the goddess Sekhmet decided to do away with humankind, but was mollified with mandrake-infused beer by the supreme god Ra:

Ra now realized that Hathor-Sekhmet would destroy the human race completely. Angry as he was he wished to rule mankind, not see it destroyed. There was only one way to stop Hathor-Sekhmet, he had to trick her. He ordered his attendants to brew seven thousand jars of beer and color it red using mandrakes and the blood of those who had been slain. In the morning Ra had his servants take the beer to the place where Hathor would viciously slaughter the remnant of mankind. Ra’s servants poured the beer mixture on the fields. And so, Hathor-Sekhmet came to this place where the beer flooded the fields. Looking down, her gaze was caught by her own reflection, and it pleased her. She drank deeply of the beer, became drunk, fell asleep, and abandoned her blood thirsty quest.
The Legend of Ra and Hathor

10. This admixture of Egyptian festivities, Irish nationalism and Freemasonry might seem outrageous to some, but in fact it was part and parcel of Celtic culture before the rise of the Roman Church. Namely in the...

The religion of the Druids, as before said, was the same as the religion of the ancient Egyptians. The priests of Egypt were the professors and teachers of science, and were styled priests of Heliopolis, that is, of the City of the Sun. The Druids in Europe, who were the same order of men, have their name from the Teutonic or ancient German language; the German being anciently called Teutones. The word Druid signifies a wise man. In Persia they were called Magi, which signifies the same thing.
- Thomas Paine, Origin of Freemasonry

11. St. Patrick himself was believed to have driven the Druids of out of Ireland, but in fact druidry was merely incorporated into Celtic Christianity, which was distinct from other varieties and would remain so until forcibly changed on orders from Rome...

“The Celtic Church in Ireland and in Scotland owed its origin not to Rome, but to Egypt and the East; its customs, traditions, methods, government came from Egypt through Athanasius of Alexandria, Hilary, Martin of Tours, Ninian, and through that religious channel, more than a little independent of Rome. The religious ideas of Egypt came to Scotland and Ireland and were absorbed easily into the tribal life of these countries.. There is no doubt that the Celtic Church owed its ritual, its architecture, its worship and its law to Syria, Egypt and Palestine, and that its allegiance to Rome was slight.”

12. Apparently, the festival of the death of Osiris shares much in common with another holiday that the Irish brought to America:

This universal illumination of the houses on one night of the year suggests that the festival may have been a commemoration not merely of the dead Osiris but of the dead in general, in other words, that it may have been a night of All Souls.

For it is a widespread belief that the souls of the dead revisit their old homes on one night of the year; and on that solemn occasion people prepare for the reception of the ghosts by laying out food for them to eat, and lighting lamps to guide them on their dark road from and to the grave.

Herodotus, who briefly describes the festival, omits to mention its date, but we can determine it with some probability from other sources. Thus Plutarch tells us that Osiris was murdered on the seventeenth of the month Athyr, and that the Egyptians accordingly observed mournful rites for four days from the seventeenth of Athyr.

13. What about corned beef & cabbage? In late antiquity the Apis bull was identified with Osiris. The Apis bull would be sacrificed and eaten in ritual feasts. Cabbage is grown in the winter months in Egypt and was used to control intoxication at feasts.

So, I think it's official: all of our modern holidays in America are simply covert repackaging's of ancient pagan festivals and the increasingly popular St. Patrick's Day is no different.

The CIA is/was known to consult with Druid high priestess's in some of their black magick MKULTRA programs. (That's a fact)

Bonus vid:: Young Queen Elizabeth II dressed in a Elus coen green dress was initiated as an ovate member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids in 1946.



As above, so below, as in ancient past, so the present, Druids rule the world. (Maybe, I have no idea, but some Order has certainly been casting spells on humanity as of late.)


PPS: As you enjoy your green beer and boiled dinner tonight, know that St. Paddy's is a Day of Mourning for some folx.



Stranger Things...If you're unfamiliar with (real) Damien Echols, look up "West Memphis Three"...preferably after dinner.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Ah, very enlightening. I was just wondering today what St. Patrick's day was about besides St. Patrick eradicating all the snakes in Ireland.

Would Osiris and the Celtic "Green Man" be the same? What of the "Jack in the Green"?

Also, just got my order of 48lbs of 2-Row Spring barley for some planting and to brew up some beer this fall when the hops are ripe for the plucking.

I had done a little research on leprechauns and found that they originally wore red and had tri-cornered hats. They are cobblers by trade and are terrible drunks that will invade your cellar and drink all your booze. They were supposed to be the offspring of fairies and house spirits and there are no female leprechauns, only males. Also, they had no real need of gold unless they wanted to trick greedy humans for some reason and if you caught one, they would grant you wishes if you release them, not a pot of gold, although they might do that I suppose if they thought you'd believe them.

When I was 8 or 9 years old, on the day before St. Patrick's day, I had been riding my bicycle and had gotten home. I jumped off my bike and let it "ghost ride" into the back yard along the driveway where the natural gas meter was attached to the side of the house. When I did that, as clear as day I saw a leprechaun standing behind the meter with his head just above the top of it. It was of normal human proportions, but just a couple feet tall. I saw it just as I turned away and when I looked back it was gone. I saw it for only a second, but I was in a hurry and didn't realize what I saw, otherwise I might have stared for a few minutes when I first saw it. Actually, when I think about it, it was wearing brown and wore a more pointed hat, perhaps it was a pixie or brownie I saw, not a leprechaun.

[BIAD]

Ah, very enlightening. I was just wondering today what St. Patrick's day was about besides St. Patrick eradicating all the snakes in Ireland.

Would Osiris and the Celtic "Green Man" be the same? What of the "Jack in the Green"?

Like most legends and folklore celebrations, there's always a direct connection with death and an imagined concept
of afterlife. None of us like to think that we spend our time here on Earth as just another species, a shaven-ape who
believes he rules the planet because he has thumbs!

So we make up stories to allay that horrible question our children will ask one day, am I going to die?
Osirus, Hades, Kali, Anubis, all parts of a contrived narrative to promote ourselves as part of something bigger and
a comfort blanket to imply that beyond this limited existence, there is a system that guarantees perpetuation of those
adhere to a selected belief.

But at the beginning of any creed that promises immortality of one's soul, there must an acceptance of trust and it's
this dependency that needs constant support if the religious doctrine is to continue. Information is created to reinforce
and to feed the commitment that a follower has willingly given and from that, the bursar of such 'knowledge' accrues
power of an individual who wants to believe.

Those who are pragmatically aware of this social fear of death can often abuse such influence for their own ends and
even today, we can see instances where two-or-more parties of certain dogmas fight to acquire sole possession of the
public's faith and attention. One trick to draw a congregation from one opinion to another is to align similar information
that creates doubt in an originally accepted belief.

From the eras when Egypt, Persia, Rome and Greece were powerful influences, doctrines have appeared, spurred-off,
diluted and adjusted to deal with the times they prospered. But one aspect has always remained, the eternal yearning
for the reins of controlling those who desire such faiths.

An example of such avarice for power can be seen in the legends of the Jack O' The Green and The Green Man. It isn't
simple because like many acts of persuasion, it takes a particular announcer and must have the right flavour.
............................................

During the better times of Rome, when lavish celebrations were undertaken for their Gods and other reasons, many of
those partaking enjoyed the slightly-voyeuristic trend of mask-wearing. The need for one-upmanship in such festivities
meant that these facial disguises became more and more elaborate. Laurel wreaths were incorporated into the masks
and hinting towards certain deities of Rome, foliage became a standard aspect when creating such headwear.

But as we know, an act performed regularly can become a custom, a 'traditional' facet and in some cases, a ritual. If
a contemporary routine is endorsed enough, it can also be immersed in the world of art and the Roman masks became
just that, an art form.

As Roman influences in Britain were slowly absorbed by the lesser-developed residents of those rainy isles, the opulent
villas and classical temples of the invaders were ostentatiously decorated with brightly-hued murals of deities and unusual
depictions of traditional Roman values. One of these standards represented on the often-tiled floors of the buildings were
renderings of the foliated masks of their festivities.

For an imaginative person, the leering foliage-garnished faces could be possibly attached to paganistic beliefs and Druidic
ritual. For someone who didn't have to plough a field or sell their wares in a market, they could spend their time conjuring
up a connection between the painted masks and the fanciful rustic peasant who lived an imaginary life of happiness in a
quaint cottage surrounded by rosy-cheeked children with the sun shining down on everyone.

Enter Lady Raglan, the wife of Baron Raglan. In a Folklore journal of 1939, the well-to-do aristocrat used the term 'Green
Man' to associate the grotesques sported on many European and British churches to the Roman images found in early
excavations. But the Lady didn't just stop there, she also connected her self-created assumption that The Green Man of
the wild woods to Jack-in-the-Green and added that this odd character took part in spring fertility rituals in the days of
yore!

Others leapt onto the bandwagon and The Green Man became the offspring of Pan, the leaf-face morphed into being a
spirit of a felled tree and other semi-pagan ideas with no definable attestation to these suggestions. The true origins of
both characters became muffled, dumbed-down in favour of this more-idealistic beliefs. But... one can logically see the
connection and that's the trick.

............................................

It's fashionable today to talk about the many divisions we have in our societies and the fallout we supposedly endure as if
it is abominable and traumatic. The truth is, we've never had it so good! But whenever folklore, legends and mythology are
discussed, we will always repurpose the narrative to suit the audience. This is what happened to Jack O' the Green.

You're a farmer, you till the soil, feed your cows and then tomorrow do the same. Seasons mean a lot in your line of work
and if it's not pissing down or snowing, you'll feel that there's a greater chance that you and your family will see the winter
out if your crops and livestock are not effected by such inclement weather.

So when summer comes around and you've had your nose to the agricultural-grindstone, it's a time of abundance and dare
we suggest, even an opportunity for a little merriment. Hence the May Day celebrations, where social conviviality and cheer
could be acquired in a community instead of walking in cow dung and sweating cobs in the kitchen. For one bright sunny day,
garlands of flowers can worn, ale can be gulped and the children can dance around a ribbon-bound wooden pole. They had
all made it through the winter and hats-over-the-windmill if they weren't happy to do so.

It was during these festivities that collecting garlands became a fad, a trend that demanded any woman adorned with such
flowery decorations -traditionally milkmaids, would make sure that next year her ornaments would out-do anyone else's in
the village. These neck-worn wreaths became more and more elaborate and when chimney sweeps introduced themselves
into the unformulated competition, men would be seen shuffling into the village square on May Day head-to-toe in foliage.
Jack of The Green had been born.

But how does one remove from a narrative the lewdness that drunken men and women enjoyed during that rare warm day
of celebration? How can a picturesque story that bridges class-structure be displayed that doesn't taint the teller with hints
of countrified, boozy, uncultivated, salaciousness? Lady Raglan had an app for that.

With a smattering of aloof word-smithing, the unsophisticated aspects of May Day were removed and with it, a bridge was
formed to shroud any societal-standings and a rustic record created to give it mystery that endorsed the notion that Britain
held a semi-religious history that preceded the Roman invasion. It had the flavour and came from a person of note.

The fact it was all a load of bollocks never came into it because Lady Raglan had a title and this equates to high education
and power. The arithmetic has always been the same and forgive me for writing the next part, but this how it was and in
some areas of the elite, still is. Barons and Baronets believe they don't have to dig culverts because  the unenlightened rubes
do it for them. They take one's labour and when they can, they'll take history too.

[Michigan Swamp Buck]

Holy crap BIAD!



I guess I asked the right person. Thanks.

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Oh my, thanks BIAD for taking it above & beyond!! In my little understanding of all these beliefs, lore, & wild conspiracies I do find it quite fascinating. At the end of the day I really don't know what to believe anymore, but as the old saying goes, every myth has bits of truth and I suppose that is what keeps me engaged with it across its very broad spectrum.

[BIAD]

Oh my, thanks BIAD for taking it above & beyond!! In my little understanding of all these beliefs, lore, & wild conspiracies I do find it quite fascinating. At the end of the day I really don't know what to believe anymore, but as the old saying goes, every myth has bits of truth and I suppose that is what keeps me engaged with it across its very broad spectrum.

You're welcome ETHMN and Michigan Swamp Buck!


Sadly, these days the tale often takes second-fiddle to the teller and those who dabble with generational
beliefs know how to manipulate the buried wisdom within them for their own ends.