A fantastic article Stephen, out of I guess disillusionment I had to take my faith inside and not attach it to dogma around me , without sounding corny or worse new fucking age my faith is quite simple, my soul is of this land with ten's of thousands of years of of soul's that came before me ,some pagan and some Christian so I respect both , I guess my soul is tied to Eriú and also to God . A bit incoherent sorry but I am not well read enough to articulate what I am trying to express.
You did well Richard! No elaboration needed here 💚
Delaney has brought into the light a much needed elephant in the room topic as a lot of us feel the same way I suspect. He has given a voice to clamouring thoughts here that needed a release from the minds of many an Irish man woman.A window has opened to let the breeze in. Well done again Stephen.
I agree Dream scribe , I have an excellent short read from Michael Millarman that I will put up in a fresh comment and hope that Stephen and others will listen to and consider.
I am a Christian and truly believe that what we are going through now within our beloved country is spiritual warfare. We have politicians and religious men<excluding muslims> who have no balls or are not real men. They are sissy men. When and if they ever figure out their role is to protect the family we will have solved 50% of our problems. They go to soccer games all over the world and wave our flag, but do not and will not stand up against the demonic forces destroying OUR LAND. Our idiotic pols. do not mandate Irish history be taught in our schools.If you have no past what do you have? Our Catholic faith gave us courage and love of neighbour and love of country. It gave us love of our patriots and gtatefullness
to have a tiny island, beautiful and abundant, what more would a normal human want? It isn't easy being Catholic. We are fallen humans and yet we are called to be kind and gentle to others, easier said than done. Trying to be a good human and failing makes a human try harder to be good. So I say with a weary heart where are the real IRISH MEN? Will they stand up for Family Country and History? I try not to comtemplate it too much because I don't want to accept the conclusions I reach. Please God give us men like our 1916 Heroes. Irish Catholic monks saved western civilization. They gave us magnificent works of art and beautiful buildings. Nature does not like vacuums, so you will believe in something inspiring or something dark. Look at Soros a thing that is barely recognisable as a human. His evilness is his demonic face.
You can be a Folk Catholic and ignore the clergy/vatican. Visit holy wells and early monsatic sites. Most Catholic observances are Pagan in origin to begin with.
If I wasn't Pagan I would be very contented as Folk Catholic.
There may have been some sort of hybrid Christianity/Paganism popular at one time in parts of Ireland (outside the Pale). Based on the little I have read this would correspond more or less to Thomas' Folk Catholicism.
When Rome decided that Ireland needed to be brought into line about a thousand years ago, this marked the beginning of the end of this form of religious practice. But it persists even today in the Holy Wells, etc.
Reviving it today is a great idea, especially if people like Thomas Sheridan and John Waters were leading it.
I truly believe in the Doctrines and tenets of Catholicism. I also believe that people have free will. They have the freedom to believe whatever they like, but they do not have the right to behead another human, or to demand that females wear black plastic bags as cover. This is truly alien to our culture and history. It should never be allowed to grow roots in our country. I consider our island as a Perfect Emerald in a vast ocean and you or I did not creat it, but a Power more powerful and must have had great love for us. But no matter our differences we still have to teach our history and get Irish men to stand and defend our Paradise. If we loose it is gone forever.
Been this about 1916 for years. An incredible military sucess and magical working. That is also a lie they told us in school about the people hating on them. It was the same RTE types today who did it. They had the support and admiration of the working class.
I am only relearning this history myself. I suffer with memory issues so I have to be fresh with a topic to know it and fucked if I’m asked to recite or quote from memory. I do however remember the gist of things and this gist is what I try to out into words. Great response that has inspired me in return.
This is such an important article and one for the ages. If people want proof magic was central to the Rising look no further than actor Sean Connolly. He last lines spoken at The Abbey and how died hoisting the Tricolour during the start of the Rising a few days later.
Hi Stephen, very much blown away by this article, It's absolutely fantastic., great observations. The most powerful allegiances made were from opposite belief systems working together. I often think back to the early Christianity in Ireland and and the melding pot of ideas and exchange of knowledge that took place which by default preserved the stories we still are able to tell today, and we're telling them!
The relationship between the politics and poetry of the early 20th century and before created one hell of a charge that was conveyed through all belief systems, those of the old world and Christianity.
There's a Yeats Poem, I think would accompany your thoughts here well. It's Called 'Are You Content' - Though much of Yeats life was influenced by the esoteric, there was an acceptance of the Christianity, but he recognised and I believe was frustrated that this probably may not be a two way thing. He acknowledges himself in the poem as the ancestral legacy belonging to both belief systems, and this is the legacy lefty to most of us in Ireland today.
Are You Content - W.B Yeats
I CALL on those that call me son,
Grandson, or great-grandson,
On uncles, aunts, great-uncles or great-aunts,
To judge what I have done.
Have I, that put it into words,
Spoilt what old loins have sent?
Eyes spiritualised by death can judge,
I cannot, but I am not content.
He that in Sligo at Drumcliff
Set up the old stone Cross,
That red-headed rector in County Down,
A good man on a horse,
Sandymount Corbets, that notable man
Old William pollexfen,
The smuggler Middleton, Butlers far back,
Half legendary men.
Infirm and aged I might stay
In some good company,
I who have always hated work,
Smiling at the sea,
Or demonstrate in my own life
What Robert Browning meant
By an old hunter talking with Gods;
But I am not content.
I spend most of my time in Drumcliffe next to that old stone cross, I'm writing to you from here now, I never fully understood that poem until your brilliant article. Thank you Stephen.
It would be great if Christians could understand Pagans without defaulting to how ungodly they are - obviously that couldn't be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, Christians would need to become scholars for that, which for the most is not going to happen due to the dogma.
As an older, eternal scholar in the pagan camp, I also know that should the two join forces, the need to conquer "the Devil" from within the Christian camp would result in them turning on Pagans in the end.
History will always repeat itself due to ignorance and human nature.
I wish it wasn't so, but it is.
I'm not being defeatist, I have just accepted what I know, but would welcome with both arms wholeheartedly, any scholastic Christian that has studied what scholastic Pagans do - problem you have there is, the Christian scholar would then become a 'Pagan' of sorts due to knowledge, understanding and knowing.
And this is why Paganism as a whole is vilified.
Obviously I'm not talking about the new agers here with their heads in lala land, but the Christians have their own version of this in the scourge of Evangelists.
I live in an area where there are many Wells. Christians have now taken them over and hold open air services around them where obviously pagans are really not welcome! It's astounding.
What I'm trying to say is, first of all the 'enemy' within has to be defeated, as in also the ignorance within your own 'commuity' or religion, and that is done by the pen not the sword 😉
And one last thing lol, without wanting to be lambasted 😅 Merlin was not English
He is Myrddin Emrys. Brython, Briton and old Welsh.
I've just scan read this so far but it feels inspired. Like something mighty is beginning to break through. Thanks for the effort. I grew up within the Catholic world and spent many years of my adult life deep within its confines. I have great memories and many good friends from that time but covid has been the final nail in the coffin of my connection with organised religion. In particular the statement by pope Francis encouraging people to inject a deadly poison into their arm and describing it as an 'act of love'. How many have been killed or injured from that one sentence we shall never know.
There are centuries of work ahead of us in unraveling the damage which the millennial old cabal has done to our heads in convincing us arrant nonsense to be the truth. The relationship between Pagans and Christians will be a key part of that movement. Although I'm probably closer to paganism than Catholicism intellectually I can't bring myself to quite identify as a pagan just yet. I still feel much more at home in a catholic setting ironically. There's often a beautifully lived humanity to be found at grassroots within the Catholic world. My desire right now would be to 'hang out' with some pagans and pick up the vibe. To quote from Yeats above
Hi Stephen, fantastic piece. You are weaving together very important strands here. I am a committed Christian and find that it gives me strength in this spiritual and temporal battle. I share your reservations about the clergy but on the other hand I know more than a handful of clergy who defied their bishops and tended to their flocks during the lockdowns in people's front rooms and converted milking parlours etc. These men are also strong and lead by example. We can look to the Bible and the examples of Gideon or the Maccabees. These stories can only put fire in people's blood. Jesus is the perfect example "No greater love hath man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friend." There are "white" and "red" martyrs. Us Christians have countless examples of both.
Wonderfully written piece. I hope it inspires the Irish people in this time of tyranny against all the countries of the West. I will pass this on to my American friends to hope it inspires them as well.
You comment "Post-modern Pagans are almost exclusively middle class larpers" struck me as that is what I have seen, too. The Sunday morning Christians are as well. They have relegated themselves to NPCs = Non Playing Characters in their own B movies.
I've been grappling myself with this "Pagan" moniker for years now. Many many people are simply not happy with the word itself anymore, as it has possibly, no, probably, become dilute, or possibly even inaccurate in its associativity however, it still, seems to be the only way to describe my overall filter and connection to that which is truly awesome, with any kind of success with regard a given nomenclature.
Life, death, being and the fathomless mysteries. My own beliefs have certainly guided me but in reality, have little or nothing to do with my own love of this country and our people. This seems to me organic, primal, primary. I have always seen and felt how unique it is, this beautiful land of ours and I just don't consider anyone else's "filter" (Gods, religion, beliefs, however different to my own) of this awesome experience, which is life itself... and, in this country, an impediment or barrier.
To love this land and her people truly, to understand why, transcends any petty differences one's religious filter could ever present in my view and I don't want you or anyone else believing what I believe and that brings me back to why I would describe myself as Pagan, because I accept everyone else's filter, and I wish them luck.
Thomas Sheridan wrote an intro of his own to your article from his own Substack Stephen he said:
"You can be a Folk Catholic and ignore the clergy/vatican. Visit holy wells and early monsatic sites. Most Catholic observances are Pagan in origin to begin with.
If I wasn't Pagan I would be very contented as Folk Catholic."
I don't know about that for myself now, but I certainly understand why he would say it.
At the end of the day, I feel just as comfortable (if not more so in many cases, as many of the people I love, would consider themselves so) sitting down for a drink and a chat with a "Christian" as I would with a "Pagan".
Excellent, Stephen, as expected. Yeshua or Jesus or Christ or The Lord or whatever he is to you, exposed the infiltration of the money power in to the priesthood when he whipped the money changers out of the temple. The book, The Babylonian Woe by David Askell is an essential read on the international money power. A global conference on debt is necessary, to be held in Ireland of course. He is the best example of a critique against the international money power, the central banking cabal and the esoteric aspect that guides their crimes against the entire human race. He spoke truth to power best, in his last public speech before he was arrested, Mathew 23. Our national movement must become Christ like, for pagans and Christians, sober, virtuous and competent. I rarely go to Church, more often when it is empty, the traditional Mass in Waterford has a proper Irish priest. The priesthood has mostly become a management tool of the oligarchy but the mystical body remains, alive and kicking. I find the Didache to be the most useful, the earliest Christian text from the first century, that is all they had. No Pagan deity spoke truth to power and exposed the head of the snake like Christ did, so grab your pagan friends, sober them up and give them a bath and we all come together. This is the year of years. Do not forget to make Irish babies, prepare and have graceful fun...........oh, and vote for me, an independent candidate, in Lismore, Co. Waterford. www.mccarthyplan.com with love, TRUTH and better ideas for the sake of our Irish People and nation and all nations of the world. It would be silly not to. But please read the book by Dr. John Coleman, One world government socialist dictatorship. It explains how we got here. This stuff was known in 1916, all civil wars are bankers wars. Our heroes are ghosts. Wakey wakey, may the God of reason and creation be with us all.
A fantastic article Stephen, out of I guess disillusionment I had to take my faith inside and not attach it to dogma around me , without sounding corny or worse new fucking age my faith is quite simple, my soul is of this land with ten's of thousands of years of of soul's that came before me ,some pagan and some Christian so I respect both , I guess my soul is tied to Eriú and also to God . A bit incoherent sorry but I am not well read enough to articulate what I am trying to express.
Great opening up if your thoughts Richard. I am glad that my writing is landing true with people
You did well Richard! No elaboration needed here 💚
Delaney has brought into the light a much needed elephant in the room topic as a lot of us feel the same way I suspect. He has given a voice to clamouring thoughts here that needed a release from the minds of many an Irish man woman.A window has opened to let the breeze in. Well done again Stephen.
I agree Dream scribe , I have an excellent short read from Michael Millarman that I will put up in a fresh comment and hope that Stephen and others will listen to and consider.
You are not incoherent, you articulated perfectly! 😁
thanks Carol
Very well put.
I am a Christian and truly believe that what we are going through now within our beloved country is spiritual warfare. We have politicians and religious men<excluding muslims> who have no balls or are not real men. They are sissy men. When and if they ever figure out their role is to protect the family we will have solved 50% of our problems. They go to soccer games all over the world and wave our flag, but do not and will not stand up against the demonic forces destroying OUR LAND. Our idiotic pols. do not mandate Irish history be taught in our schools.If you have no past what do you have? Our Catholic faith gave us courage and love of neighbour and love of country. It gave us love of our patriots and gtatefullness
to have a tiny island, beautiful and abundant, what more would a normal human want? It isn't easy being Catholic. We are fallen humans and yet we are called to be kind and gentle to others, easier said than done. Trying to be a good human and failing makes a human try harder to be good. So I say with a weary heart where are the real IRISH MEN? Will they stand up for Family Country and History? I try not to comtemplate it too much because I don't want to accept the conclusions I reach. Please God give us men like our 1916 Heroes. Irish Catholic monks saved western civilization. They gave us magnificent works of art and beautiful buildings. Nature does not like vacuums, so you will believe in something inspiring or something dark. Look at Soros a thing that is barely recognisable as a human. His evilness is his demonic face.
You can be a Folk Catholic and ignore the clergy/vatican. Visit holy wells and early monsatic sites. Most Catholic observances are Pagan in origin to begin with.
If I wasn't Pagan I would be very contented as Folk Catholic.
There may have been some sort of hybrid Christianity/Paganism popular at one time in parts of Ireland (outside the Pale). Based on the little I have read this would correspond more or less to Thomas' Folk Catholicism.
When Rome decided that Ireland needed to be brought into line about a thousand years ago, this marked the beginning of the end of this form of religious practice. But it persists even today in the Holy Wells, etc.
Reviving it today is a great idea, especially if people like Thomas Sheridan and John Waters were leading it.
I truly believe in the Doctrines and tenets of Catholicism. I also believe that people have free will. They have the freedom to believe whatever they like, but they do not have the right to behead another human, or to demand that females wear black plastic bags as cover. This is truly alien to our culture and history. It should never be allowed to grow roots in our country. I consider our island as a Perfect Emerald in a vast ocean and you or I did not creat it, but a Power more powerful and must have had great love for us. But no matter our differences we still have to teach our history and get Irish men to stand and defend our Paradise. If we loose it is gone forever.
I'd be that way inclined. ☘️🧚♂️🇮🇪
Beautifully spoken 💯🙏🏻
Been this about 1916 for years. An incredible military sucess and magical working. That is also a lie they told us in school about the people hating on them. It was the same RTE types today who did it. They had the support and admiration of the working class.
I am only relearning this history myself. I suffer with memory issues so I have to be fresh with a topic to know it and fucked if I’m asked to recite or quote from memory. I do however remember the gist of things and this gist is what I try to out into words. Great response that has inspired me in return.
This is such an important article and one for the ages. If people want proof magic was central to the Rising look no further than actor Sean Connolly. He last lines spoken at The Abbey and how died hoisting the Tricolour during the start of the Rising a few days later.
I go over that part of our story this evening
Hi Stephen, very much blown away by this article, It's absolutely fantastic., great observations. The most powerful allegiances made were from opposite belief systems working together. I often think back to the early Christianity in Ireland and and the melding pot of ideas and exchange of knowledge that took place which by default preserved the stories we still are able to tell today, and we're telling them!
The relationship between the politics and poetry of the early 20th century and before created one hell of a charge that was conveyed through all belief systems, those of the old world and Christianity.
There's a Yeats Poem, I think would accompany your thoughts here well. It's Called 'Are You Content' - Though much of Yeats life was influenced by the esoteric, there was an acceptance of the Christianity, but he recognised and I believe was frustrated that this probably may not be a two way thing. He acknowledges himself in the poem as the ancestral legacy belonging to both belief systems, and this is the legacy lefty to most of us in Ireland today.
Are You Content - W.B Yeats
I CALL on those that call me son,
Grandson, or great-grandson,
On uncles, aunts, great-uncles or great-aunts,
To judge what I have done.
Have I, that put it into words,
Spoilt what old loins have sent?
Eyes spiritualised by death can judge,
I cannot, but I am not content.
He that in Sligo at Drumcliff
Set up the old stone Cross,
That red-headed rector in County Down,
A good man on a horse,
Sandymount Corbets, that notable man
Old William pollexfen,
The smuggler Middleton, Butlers far back,
Half legendary men.
Infirm and aged I might stay
In some good company,
I who have always hated work,
Smiling at the sea,
Or demonstrate in my own life
What Robert Browning meant
By an old hunter talking with Gods;
But I am not content.
I spend most of my time in Drumcliffe next to that old stone cross, I'm writing to you from here now, I never fully understood that poem until your brilliant article. Thank you Stephen.
3
It would be great if Christians could understand Pagans without defaulting to how ungodly they are - obviously that couldn't be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, Christians would need to become scholars for that, which for the most is not going to happen due to the dogma.
As an older, eternal scholar in the pagan camp, I also know that should the two join forces, the need to conquer "the Devil" from within the Christian camp would result in them turning on Pagans in the end.
History will always repeat itself due to ignorance and human nature.
I wish it wasn't so, but it is.
I'm not being defeatist, I have just accepted what I know, but would welcome with both arms wholeheartedly, any scholastic Christian that has studied what scholastic Pagans do - problem you have there is, the Christian scholar would then become a 'Pagan' of sorts due to knowledge, understanding and knowing.
And this is why Paganism as a whole is vilified.
Obviously I'm not talking about the new agers here with their heads in lala land, but the Christians have their own version of this in the scourge of Evangelists.
I live in an area where there are many Wells. Christians have now taken them over and hold open air services around them where obviously pagans are really not welcome! It's astounding.
What I'm trying to say is, first of all the 'enemy' within has to be defeated, as in also the ignorance within your own 'commuity' or religion, and that is done by the pen not the sword 😉
And one last thing lol, without wanting to be lambasted 😅 Merlin was not English
He is Myrddin Emrys. Brython, Briton and old Welsh.
This is a spectacular piece Stephen, well done 👏🏻
I've just scan read this so far but it feels inspired. Like something mighty is beginning to break through. Thanks for the effort. I grew up within the Catholic world and spent many years of my adult life deep within its confines. I have great memories and many good friends from that time but covid has been the final nail in the coffin of my connection with organised religion. In particular the statement by pope Francis encouraging people to inject a deadly poison into their arm and describing it as an 'act of love'. How many have been killed or injured from that one sentence we shall never know.
There are centuries of work ahead of us in unraveling the damage which the millennial old cabal has done to our heads in convincing us arrant nonsense to be the truth. The relationship between Pagans and Christians will be a key part of that movement. Although I'm probably closer to paganism than Catholicism intellectually I can't bring myself to quite identify as a pagan just yet. I still feel much more at home in a catholic setting ironically. There's often a beautifully lived humanity to be found at grassroots within the Catholic world. My desire right now would be to 'hang out' with some pagans and pick up the vibe. To quote from Yeats above
'What do we know but that we face.
One another in this place?'
Hi Stephen, fantastic piece. You are weaving together very important strands here. I am a committed Christian and find that it gives me strength in this spiritual and temporal battle. I share your reservations about the clergy but on the other hand I know more than a handful of clergy who defied their bishops and tended to their flocks during the lockdowns in people's front rooms and converted milking parlours etc. These men are also strong and lead by example. We can look to the Bible and the examples of Gideon or the Maccabees. These stories can only put fire in people's blood. Jesus is the perfect example "No greater love hath man than this, that he should lay down his life for his friend." There are "white" and "red" martyrs. Us Christians have countless examples of both.
You can feel the revival
Wonderfully written piece. I hope it inspires the Irish people in this time of tyranny against all the countries of the West. I will pass this on to my American friends to hope it inspires them as well.
You comment "Post-modern Pagans are almost exclusively middle class larpers" struck me as that is what I have seen, too. The Sunday morning Christians are as well. They have relegated themselves to NPCs = Non Playing Characters in their own B movies.
Sheeple be sheepling
I've been grappling myself with this "Pagan" moniker for years now. Many many people are simply not happy with the word itself anymore, as it has possibly, no, probably, become dilute, or possibly even inaccurate in its associativity however, it still, seems to be the only way to describe my overall filter and connection to that which is truly awesome, with any kind of success with regard a given nomenclature.
Life, death, being and the fathomless mysteries. My own beliefs have certainly guided me but in reality, have little or nothing to do with my own love of this country and our people. This seems to me organic, primal, primary. I have always seen and felt how unique it is, this beautiful land of ours and I just don't consider anyone else's "filter" (Gods, religion, beliefs, however different to my own) of this awesome experience, which is life itself... and, in this country, an impediment or barrier.
To love this land and her people truly, to understand why, transcends any petty differences one's religious filter could ever present in my view and I don't want you or anyone else believing what I believe and that brings me back to why I would describe myself as Pagan, because I accept everyone else's filter, and I wish them luck.
Thomas Sheridan wrote an intro of his own to your article from his own Substack Stephen he said:
"You can be a Folk Catholic and ignore the clergy/vatican. Visit holy wells and early monsatic sites. Most Catholic observances are Pagan in origin to begin with.
If I wasn't Pagan I would be very contented as Folk Catholic."
I don't know about that for myself now, but I certainly understand why he would say it.
At the end of the day, I feel just as comfortable (if not more so in many cases, as many of the people I love, would consider themselves so) sitting down for a drink and a chat with a "Christian" as I would with a "Pagan".
Brilliant article Stephen, thank you.
Ireland married the two very well despite differences. All of the folk tales I was told growing up came from devout catholics
Ya, it's just not an issue for me anyway Stephen, just a filter, just another means of translation of the idea of God.
Very well put
https://youtu.be/4rVZGv_q2Tg?si=Mltv-ix2C2M9PGcZ
Wow, I needed that to help sort my thoughts on the issue. Thanks!
Excellent, Stephen, as expected. Yeshua or Jesus or Christ or The Lord or whatever he is to you, exposed the infiltration of the money power in to the priesthood when he whipped the money changers out of the temple. The book, The Babylonian Woe by David Askell is an essential read on the international money power. A global conference on debt is necessary, to be held in Ireland of course. He is the best example of a critique against the international money power, the central banking cabal and the esoteric aspect that guides their crimes against the entire human race. He spoke truth to power best, in his last public speech before he was arrested, Mathew 23. Our national movement must become Christ like, for pagans and Christians, sober, virtuous and competent. I rarely go to Church, more often when it is empty, the traditional Mass in Waterford has a proper Irish priest. The priesthood has mostly become a management tool of the oligarchy but the mystical body remains, alive and kicking. I find the Didache to be the most useful, the earliest Christian text from the first century, that is all they had. No Pagan deity spoke truth to power and exposed the head of the snake like Christ did, so grab your pagan friends, sober them up and give them a bath and we all come together. This is the year of years. Do not forget to make Irish babies, prepare and have graceful fun...........oh, and vote for me, an independent candidate, in Lismore, Co. Waterford. www.mccarthyplan.com with love, TRUTH and better ideas for the sake of our Irish People and nation and all nations of the world. It would be silly not to. But please read the book by Dr. John Coleman, One world government socialist dictatorship. It explains how we got here. This stuff was known in 1916, all civil wars are bankers wars. Our heroes are ghosts. Wakey wakey, may the God of reason and creation be with us all.