All Snakes Day /Circa March 17

“Now it’s past fifteen centuries later,
The results now are clear for to see
Ireland was better off Pagan,
So bring back the snakes to me!”

“Bring back, bring back,
Bring back the snakes to me, to me;

Bring back, bring back,
O bring back the snakes to me!”

–Song by Isaac Bonewits

 

All Snakes Day (formerly, “Bring Back the Snakes” Day) parties have been celebrated by Pagans throughout Northern California and the practice has spread throughout North America via the internet. The Christian Saint Patrick (whose birthday is celebrated March 17) is alleged to have driven the snakes out of Ireland.

This legend has no basis in fact as snakes have never been indigenous to the island so what does this really mean? The snake has long been a symbol of the Druids, (“Serpents of Wisdom”), so in saying Patrick drove the snakes away they are saying that he drove out Paganism. All Snakes Day celebrations are thus protests which proclaim that Ireland and the world were better off with Paganism.

The general celebration is usually held around a Bardic circle where participants offer their poetry, songs, dances, and the like, to the general entertainment of all. Usually Irish folk costume is prevalent and usually artificial and real snakes are in attendance. Prizes are sometimes given for best costume, performance, snake, etc. Guiness is of course a hallowed beverage at these events, although honey mead is also very prominent.

Recently it has come to light that the story of St. Patrick and the snakes is a late addition to the Patrick legend. It seems that there is a French saint who was said to have driven out the snakes of France and that this story was later attached to the Irish St. Patrick. These same people therefore say that – All Snakes Day is therefore inappropriate – that we shouldn‘t be celebrating it. I say ―bullpucky! There are plenty of Christians around who believe the tale and who believe that the snakes are symbolic of the Druids. Therefore we should continue to observe this and continue to party hardy. If some reconstructionist Pagans have a cob up their colons over it, so be it! “If they don’t like It, they can’t have any!”

Mwfydnfud

 

In the RDG the first Sunday after the New Moon after the Vernal Equinox is called Mwfydnfud. It is alleged to be an ancient Welsh celebration whose name means “Messing With Forces We Do Not Fully Understand.” It was first celebrated in the 1990‘s by the RDNA Grove at Carleton College. Even today there is no set way to celebrate it, so this is a chance for Groves to be wholly creative – to make it up as we go.

Oestara / Alban Eiler / March 20

“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The Oak sleeps in the Acorn. The Bird waits in the Egg. And in the highest vision of a soul, a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”

~~James Allen

A Minor High Day, Oestara usually takes place around March 21st or so. On the night before, some Hasidic Druids stayed up until dawn, reading meditations about trees, eating the fruits of various trees, and singing hymns about trees. Among many Paleo pagan cultures in Southern Europe the Spring Equinox was the date of the New Year (instead of Samhain as it was among the Celts), and indeed, many Druids refer to this holiday as the New Year for Trees.

Adding a bit to the confusion is the fact that some Neopagan groups call this holiday Lady Day. It is interesting that when the church co-opted the holiday, they kept the name. It is also interesting the way the church derives when they will celebrate it. Easter Sunday is always the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox. Its timing has nothing to do with the Jewish Passover (though one would think it would). This comes down to the church using astrology to choose a date for the most important holiday in their calendar: the celebration of the resurrection of their G-d.

Separate the Christian stuff though, and you have a nice Pagan holiday. The bunnies, the chicks, the eggs, and all the other trappings are all symbols of the fertility cult that Oestara represents. It’s usual and customary for the Great Rite (not the symbolic version) to be a central part of a grove’s rites on this day. Even the Catholic Church does the Great Rite on Easter. It happens at midnight on the Saturday before Easter. During the mass, part of which takes place in a totally darkened church, the priest lights the Easter Candle, then dips it three times into the chalice.

So, Oestara is a sexual celebration, a time for
grove members to share and grow closer. It’s the
time to celebrate the re-greening of the Earth, for
planting crops and flowers, and for lots and lots of
sex. It’s not quite time for an orgy, however. We
save that kind of activity for…
(TO BE CONTINUED)

 

 

 

 

 

2025 Annual Fund Raiser for the Mother Grove

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1 January 2025 to 31 March 2025


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