Happy Beer and Clover Day!

Good afternoon everyone and welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.

Today is St.Patrick’s day, a day of drinking, celebration, and having fun. As we drink to the Irish culture and follow through with the festivities, we often forget the meaning behind them, let alone the holiday.

St.Patrick’s Day celebrates the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. Now here comes the shocking part: he wasn’t even Irish. Rather, he was born as a Roman Britain and kidnapped by means of slavery and brought to Ireland. For seventeen years he remained in Ireland until he escaped to a monastery in Gaul, France, and converted to Christianity. He later returned to Ireland in 432 as a missionary and abolished the Druids at Tara, eliminating their pagan rites, and making Christianity more widespread through Ireland. To also rid Ireland of its old pagan ways, St. Patrick drove the snakes out of the land. Serpents and snakes were often worshipped in paganism. By ridding Ireland of snakes, this was noted as a symbolic gesture of ending their pagan practice. He also baptized and converted many at his “Holy Wells” scattered throughout the land.

St.Patrick died in Ireland on March 17th, completing his mission, and leaving behind his two famous works: The Confessio (a spiritual autobiography) and Epistola (a denunciation of British cruelty towards Irish Christians). To this day, we celebrate his life and the Irish culture through the traditions of this particular holiday.

• We honor the three leaf clover (aka shamrock) because it’s what St.Patrick used to explain the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). At the end of St.Patrick’s Day, people “drown the shamrock” by placing the shamrock in a glass of whiskey and drinking it.

• Some people eat corned beef and cabbage, an Irish American dish. In the 19^th century, Irish immigrants were poor and could only afford this meal on St.Patrick’s Day.

• States all over America have St.Patrick’s Day parades. Originally, the holiday was celebrated as a religious day in Ireland, but as Ireland immigrants came over to America, they made it quite a celebratory event. New York held the first St.Patrick’s Day parade in 1762; by the 19^th century, the parades were a ritual.

• Some St.Patrick’s Day décor includes little mythical creatures called leprechauns. Leprechauns are a part of Irish folklore and come from the word ‘luchorpan’ which means ‘little bodies’.

What do you like to do for St.Patrick’s Day? Feel free to comment and reblog, and as always feedback and followers are welcomed.