News and Notes From the Editor-March 2025: St. Patrick: Examining Myth, Fact and History
Hello friends, after taking a short hiatus from the more creative end of my writing, I decided what better day to start up again, than today, St. Patrick’s Day? Many Pagans, and rightfully so, are at the very least weary of St. Patrick; legend has it he rid Ireland of the snakes. The truth of course, is different; there are, and haven’t been snakes in Ireland since the last Ice Age, so where did the analogy come from? Many Pagans speculate that the snakes refer to Pagans and Druids, but the truth is, that is the propaganda from the Catholic church, wherein they made Patrick the face of conversion in Ireland.
While he was a missionary sent there by the Catholic Church, his backstory, and what he actually did there is a bit different from the the common myth surrounding this patron saint (whom is actually a folk saint, not officially canonized by the Catholic Church). This is a bit of a complex subject, crossing many different areas of academics: history, religion, religious history, folklore and folk belief. These areas often intertwine, and my avid interest in folk beliefs, world religion and the like have given me a wellspring of resources to work from, essentially working backwards in history, to uncover the actual truth behind St. Patrick. Without dragging this introductory paragraph out, let’s get started!
My Personal Journey Towards St. Patrick
Part of the reason I’ve been more absent in my creative and non-review writing is that I’ve been going on an inward journey, healing past wounds I’ve collected throughout this life, and the intergenerational ones that my ancestors collected, and were passed on to me for final healing. With certain Astrological transits occurring, and my personal path in life, I’ve been called to heal those wounds, once and for all, and tend to them so they don’t reappear, and hold me back. Without getting anymore into that, Catholicism, Christianity, and the oppression of Paganism, both then and now, needed to find reconciliation within my psyche and my soul. St. Patrick, admittedly received years of hate from me; for the longest time, I had a deep hatred towards anything that was to do with the conversion of Pagans to christianity out of force, and St. Patrick in my eyes, and to many others, was the poster Saint for that.
Of course, there were others, such as St. Benedict, who is said to have destroyed temples to Apollo and Zeus and had powers over the “Witches” of Italy, most likely of a Dianic, and therefore Pagan, faith. It’s no debate anymore that the Church, and mainly the Catholic church, throughout history, have suppressed Paganism, although that trend is now shifting to non-denominational, baptist, and evangelical branches. While I understand the anger felt by many modern-day pagans about St. Patrick, and the other facets of this complex subject, I think we need to stop living in the past, and make peace with one another. There is no “one true way”, even despite certain members of certain faiths (including within the Pagan community) who insist there is, and better yet, it’s their way! (Note my sarcasm here). Having some background into how this all came about in the first place helps, so below I’ll discuss how such an ardent polytheist as myself got into this rabbit hole with Saints and understanding Catholicism more.
How It All Started
Before 2024, I was under the impression that many of you could be right now- that St. Patrick essentially committed genocide of the Druids and those who would not convert to Catholicism. This is unequivocally false; the St. Patrick of legend is far different from the real Patrick. As stated before, the Catholic church through numerous centuries, created a narrative making Patrick the face of conversion in Ireland, but the truth is, he wasn’t the first missionary sent to Ireland, nor was he the last. To bust the myth wide open, frankly, St. Patrick did work on conversion in Ireland, but he didn’t wholly convert Ireland. He did, however, burn many Druid texts, sacred sites and temples, and I’m sure there was some death mixed in there, too.
Because Patrick is not officially canonized by the Catholic Church, this leaves his story to more myth and legend than factual information. To be clear, I’m not saying that I believe in the Catholic Church’s narratives about other saints, either, however I do believe they were magickal beings with a special gift to channel divinity directly and perform what we would consider to be “miracles”. Back to St. Patrick, the truth behind him is widely disputed and debated, with many claiming he was either Welsh, a Roman missionary for the Catholic Church actually named Patricius, as well as other supposed “facts” about the real St. Patrick.
Fast forward to about a month ago; I was dealing with circumstances in my life that would make most people’s heads spin. I felt like I was at my lowest point ever, and I was struggling. I didn’t even have the energy for a simple candle spell; even writing a petition on paper and burning it was too involved for me. I felt like I was at a standstill, a fork in the road. Of all the magicks I’ve studied and learned in my life, Saint Magick and Catholic Magick was an area I never went into, because I, like many Pagans, had scars surrounding christianity. Even now, hearing “Jesus” makes me cringe, I won’t lie. I was never really exposed to catholicism, much less raised in it. My paternal family, however, was catholic up until the sex abuse scandals started occurring, and the Vatican did nothing about it.
I have a long history of ancestry in the Catholic church, including a knight who fought alongside Richard the Lionheart in the crusades, as a member of the Knights Templar. His castle in Germany still stands to this day (he was however of English and Welsh heritage, settling in Germany after Richard the Lionheart granted him a castle in Germany after the crusades). Luckily for him, he didn’t live to see the end and ultimate demise of the Templars. I have a lot of Irish ancestry, and some is undoubtedly Catholic, even if it was forgotten when they came to the New World, and eventually fought in the American Revolution. Catholicism was introduced to me when I was beginning my journey as a Pagan, and Magickal Person. Many of my earliest rituals were inspired from what I saw at masses for different occasions (funerals, weddings, communion, etc).
Hitting that low point not only brought me to a point where I was willing to try working with the Saints in a magickal and even potentially a devotional fashion. I soon found comfort and protection in St. Ignatius, patron saint of hard times, St. Dymphna, patron saint of stress, anxiety and mental illness, and a host of others. St. Patrick inevitably came about in my research, and I had quite the conundrum to resolve within myself, and this is what prompted me to find the truth behind St. Patrick. Hours of research, time spent in meditation, gaining gnosis, and intuition have backed up facts, and how the Saints can fit into a pagan practice. Without getting into all that, let’s get back to the topic at hand. Now that I’ve filled you in on just exactly how I came to this subject, I think we can move forward to discussing St. Patrick as the man, the myth and the legend, and finally distinguish what is fact, or most likely fact, as we don’t know much about him other than myth and what the Catholic Church tells us, from the fiction that so frequently circulates in the Pagan community, especially on social media.
The Truth About St. Patrick
According to Morgan Daimler, whose article I will link here to give credit to her large part in dispelling the myths surrounding Patrick, St. Patrick couldn’t have driven any physical snakes out of Ireland, as there haven’t been any snakes in Ireland since the last Ice Age. Also, the idea that the “snakes” being referred to were pagan, is also incorrect; Patrick was not the first missionary or bishop to make their way to Ireland; that part of history belongs to Palladius, likely from Gaul (modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg). Palladius was sent by the Pope to be bishop to the “Irish who believe in Christ”. It’s also noted that Patrick believed Palladius’ mission to be a failure, which was his motivation to attempt converting Ireland from its vastly animistic and pagan beliefs to Catholicism and Christianity.
So just what do the snakes symbolize? Well, that’s the thing, I don’t think anyone is really sure what it’s meant to refer to, but many cling to the assumption that the snakes referred to are Pagans. I personally believe this idea to be false, and it can be backed up by facts. According to Morgan Daimler, the Druids were in Ireland still into the 7th and 8th centuries, 200+ years after Patrick’s circa 500 CE lifetime. So, the myth that the Druids were driven out by Patrick is false, according to legal documents and royal court records listing Druids as a class hundreds of years after the time of Patrick. The snakes could symbolize evil in general, as well as the Catholic perception of the Devil/Satan taking on reptilian form.
Further complicating our deep-dive with St. Patrick is that he lived before the Catholic Church had laws for canonization. That’s right, one of the most popular and well-known Saints in the United States, and possibly the world, isn’t actually a Saint in the Catholic Church. He is a widely recognized folk saint, however, much like La Santa Muerte (although her reasons for being a folk saint are much different, as is the culture she hails from). As for patronage, he is the Patron Saint of Ireland, along with St. Brigid of Kildare and others. In some magickal traditions, he’s known to drive out one’s enemies, offer protection to those who fear snakes, as well as those of Irish descent; he’s known to bestow financial and material blessings as well. These traits of Patrick are mostly known in the New Orleans Voodoo magical tradition, which I’ve received training in and still practice to this day (I choose not to write on it, as it’s not my culture to disclose), but those in Catholic and Folk Magic circles seem to agree with these general qualities as well.
So, was St. Patrick this horrible person that so many believe him to be today? The answer most likely lies in a grey area, somewhere between yes, and no. While many Saints who were missionaries destroyed pagan temples and sacred sites, and some did in fact kill those who would not convert from their native religion to Christianity/Catholicism, there’s little to no proof that I’ve found to prove that Patrick committed the mass atrocities he’s accused of. He probably did kill some people, and I’m sure he destroyed any texts and sacred sites he could find; but he wasn’t the Hitler of Pagans that so many make him out to be today.
While there are so many other Saints, many of whom have an extremely sad story, like St. Dymphna or St. Lucy, St. Patrick offers the opportunity to heal the wounds we may have from Christianity, as Pagans. Because St. Patrick has no official story, and we only have small pieces of his story from the historical record, we can begin to infer that perhaps he isn’t this horrid, genocidal monster so many modern Neo-Pagans claim he is. Let’s put that to rest right now.
Was he perfect? No, no one ever is. Was he a nice guy? The jury is still out, but I believe that life after death neutralizes a lot of the human crap we carry while on this planet. In spirit, like many other spirits of the deceased I’ve encountered in my practices as a Necromancer and Deathwalker, all is equalized once we cross the threshold between this world and the next. The energy I’ve felt from St. Patrick, and some other Saints, of which I will be writing more in other column submissions, has been supportive, regardless of religion or spirituality. In fact, it’s allowed me to perform magick in a different way, and has helped heal some wounds in my ancestral bloodlines, as well as from this life from Christianity. I hope that this St. Patrick’s day, maybe more Pagans reading this will embark on a similar journey.
Closing Thoughts: Healing Christian Wounds, Making Way for Interfaith Relationships
I want to close this piece with some closing thoughts and remarks. This past weekend, I presented a seminar in my area titled Themis Rising, which covered the current political landscape, and what we can do as Pagans and Magickal Folks. During that seminar it was mentioned that before extending olive branches to other faiths, we as Pagans need to be more cohesive internally. While I don’t disagree, we don’t have that kind of time; the Pagan community is at best disorganized right now, and there’s too much internal division to get “Our House” so to speak, in order. We’re facing a potential for our spirituality and religious beliefs to become outlawed, or at least persecuted, let’s be clear. This isn’t meant to be prophetic, nor monger fear among any of you. To truly prepare for the years ahead, I think we should prepare for the worst, and do what we can in the here and now to make it the best possible outcome. Part of that preparation includes extending our alliances to other faiths, including Christianity.
Let me be clear, I’m not condoning the actions of Christian Nationalists, those who use religion to cause harm or hoard wealth and resources. However, there are good christians out there, and there are bad ones, too. The bad ones, unfortunately, are the loudest, and the good ones, the quietest. I assure you, they are there. We need to find those folks, and start building bridges. Only when common understanding and interfaith relationships are built, can we dispel some of the toxic rhetoric going around right now.
So, while yes, our house, so to speak, as pagans is in need of some work, we unfortunately don’t have that time in my opinion. Part of the work I’ve been doing here has to do with healing those wounds, not only for myself, but so I can begin to build bridges and help the cause. Besides, it enriches your life and nourishes your soul to have friends with differing beliefs (so long as you can be cool about it). Let’s start bridging that gap, shall we? And let’s start by spreading the truth about St. Patrick far and wide; what you’re seeing on social media is not factual, and only furthers the divide.
Below are my sources used to write this article, other than the Morgan Daimler article already linked previously. Some hecklers apparently think I just pull stuff out of my a$!, so I’m gonna be a smart aleck and provide my sources. Do I need to provide copies of my College Degrees, too? In all seriousness, I provide these links for those looking to dive deeper as I did. I hope you find what you’re looking for, like I did.
https://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/christianity.html#:~:text=The%20first%20recorded%20missionary%20to,Palladius’%20mission%20was%20a%20failure.
https://www.history.com/news/st-patricks-day-myths-debunked
https://www.celticdruidtemple.com/thetruestoryofstpatrick.html
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Author Bio:
The Modern Merlin has been a Polytheist and Animist Pagan, Witch, Sorcerer, Poison Witch, Wizard, Druid, Mystic, Ceremonial Magician, Occultist, Shaman, Seer and Soothsayer for over 15 years, venerating and casting magick with deities and spirits from many cultures, including those from Ancient Greece, Rome, Norse & Germanic, Celtic, Slavic, Egyptian, Sumerian, as well as many Faeries, Nymphs, Dryads, Ancestors and other nature and land spirits and spirits of place, even Saints, Angels and Demons! He is a Priest of Hecate, Diana, Hades, Lilith and Persephone, among others. He has experience in the Left and Right Hand Paths, working with both hands as needed. He currently practices Necromancy and Deathwalking, as well as Traditional Witchcraft, Druidry, Hellenism, Ceremonial Magick and Occultism, incorporating all of them into a cohesive practice, with some shamanic touches. He studies and practices Astrology as well as Tarot and other forms of divination such as Runes, Palmistry and Ogham. He has also been investigating the paranormal for over 10 years and has a keen interest in researching various mythologies, cosmologies and folklore from around the world. He is the Co-Editor of PaganPages.Org and the author of multiple columns, including The Modern Merlin’s Corner, Entheogens for the New Gen, Stellium, and Scary, Strange and Mythical Encounters. He also has a personal blog where he shares Astrological, Pagan, and other magickal wisdom for free! He gives readings and other spiritual services on his Facebook Page, The Modern Merlin, as well other free informational posts for everyone to see!
