Green Goddess, Snakes and a Holy Trinity

Pagan's green beer toast to their Green Goddess

It’s the day of the year when many countries celebrate the wearing of green in celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day when it was said that Patrick drove the “snakes” out of Ireland. The snake was a symbolic term for Pagans.

There’s more to the story, and Pagans certainly don’t celebrate Saint Patrick, although we certainly do enjoy the green beer.

Originally the color associated with Saint Patrick was blue. Irish folklore tells that one of Patrick’s teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity, so eventually the color changed to green.

But what of the shamrock’s Holy Trinity and the wearing of green? What’s that mean to Pagans?

Older than the Christian Father, Son and Holy Ghost trinity is the sacred feminine Goddess trinity of the Maiden, Mother, Crone aspects celebrated thought the world in antiquity. The Holy Trinity originated with the feminine aspects and when the warring desert religion of Christianity came into existence, the trinity was changed into the male aspects we now know today. For Pagans, the holy Trinity continues to be the Goddess aspects and so it is that the shamrock for them is a female symbol of all life and thus, their wearing of the green. There are also those who wear orange on this day to show that they are not Christian.

Triple Goddess Shamrock

When Saint Patrick returned to Ireland in 432 A.D., he did so because he wanted Christianity to be the dominant religion in Ireland, which meant it had to replace Paganism. This process of conversion is what is called “driving out the snakes.”

Patrick was fairly successful in his ministry, but Paganism continued to thrive amongst the country people and still exists to this day. We even see a blending of beliefs between the two theologies through some Irish mythologies that have a mix of both Christian and Pagan parts.

So upon this day, we Pagans are apt to down our tankard of green ale and give thanks to the Goddess aspect of the Holy Trinity right alongside our friends who do the same in honor of their patron saint because if there’s one thing we both can agree upon, it’s that the drinking of green beer is cause for many a celebration and not so much a church festival.

Everyone’s Irish on March 17th! And if your tongue turns green, there’s a little Green Goddess Pagan in you too!