There is nothing new in the present battle for the soul of Ireland. Throughout its history, the struggle for the Irish soul has always been over its Druids. What is needed are fiery souls that will contest not just social issues, but all the neo-Druid falsehoods that undermine the Faith.
The abortion referendum in Ireland is over, and many are devastated by the tragic outcome. Some now conclude that Ireland has surrendered to the secular European agenda. It has lost its Catholic identity. The progressives are now giddy with joy, proclaiming a new modern Ireland that has left behind the old.
However, there is nothing new in the present battle for the soul of Ireland. Throughout its history, the struggle for the Irish soul has always been over its Druids. Ireland only abandons the ardor of the Faith when it allows its hidden Druids to return and dominate.
What the Druids Believed
This is what has happened now. The Druid label fits perfectly on the political caste that has imposed divorce, same-sex “marriage,” and now abortion on the Emerald Isle. The diviners, charmers, priest, magicians, astrologists, and wizards of old were amazingly similar to their neo-pagan counterparts today.
The Druids’ principal doctrine supported a life without moral consequences since they believed the soul did not die but passed at death from one person to another. Although these frequenters of sacred oak groves are viewed as a priestly sect, they were quite secular. Their influence was much more social than religious since their role was mostly administrative and ceremonial. The Druids had no god of their own nor did they introduce any new divinity. They merely lived with the local gods as they were.
Finally, as a part of their duties, the Druids performed human sacrifices. It was their custom to have large wickerwork structures that were filled with people and then burned as part of their offerings to appease local divinities.
The Rise of the Neo-Druids
To those who have observed modern Ireland, these and other similarities make the Druid appear quite familiar. With the approval of abortion, modern Irish progressives are fully neo-Druids. With the killing of the unborn, they will lead the nation back to its cruel and barbarous origins. Likewise, they will be the bitterest opponents of Christianity, not to be appeased until the light of Christ is snuffed out. That is how it was in the past and is again today.
The battle for the Irish soul is over this return of the Druids. Abortion, same-sex “marriage,” and divorce are the important issues that dominate the headlines, but the core debate is the titanic clash between two opposing irreconcilable worldviews.
The Way to Fight Neo-Druids
This helps explains the devastating loss of the abortion referendum. Neo-Druids are not moved by emotional pleas for the lives of innocent unborn babies. They promote their immolation. Barbarians only think about gratifying their unbridled passions; they care little for whom they hurt. They follow their radical urges and are unimpressed by those who defend their views weakly or who are mired in mediocrity.
The only way to fight Druids is with the bold audacity that so characterized Saint Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland, and which even today molds the fiery Celtic souls of those he brought into the Church. The dark passions and superstitions of the neo-Druids must be denounced and overturned. The liberating true Faith must be presented with zeal and daring.
The Example of Saint Patrick
Indeed, such was the scene on that fateful Easter vigil in 433 when a decree went forth over the kingdom of Erin that all fires were to be extinguished until the signal fire on the Hill of Tara was lit by the Druids at the royal palace. At the opposite end of the valley, atop the Hill of Slane, Saint Patrick kindled a massive Paschal fire in defiance. The Druids implored the king to take action for they claimed the “fire will blaze forever in this land unless it be this very night extinguished.”
By God’s protection, all efforts to put out this fire or harm the missionary archbishop failed, and the saint boldly led a procession with miter and crosier, arrayed in full episcopal attire, to the Hill of Tara, where he confronted the Druids and put them to flight. The evangelization of Ireland began with this confrontation. Many of the Druids were so astonished that they requested Baptism.
What Impresses Druids
The example of Saint Patrick is full of lessons on how to deal with Druids and today’s neo-Druids. Druids are impressed by faith-filled certainty and conviction. They are intimidated by a manly courage that despises and challenges their myths and superstitions. They are marveled by ceremonial beauty. Above all, God showers His graces upon those who dare to confront the evils of the day. He blesses their actions. Such is the stuff of the legends and song that are so much a part of the poetic Irish soul.
Alas, this dramatic example was not heeded in the referendum on abortion. It was judged “prudent” that the Church play a subdued part in the debate over the taking of innocent lives. There were no dramatic challenges on the part of churchmen to denounce the promiscuous neo-Druid lifestyles that are so much a part of the abortion culture. There was no fire lit to illuminate the darkness of the postmodern wasteland that makes abortion so prevalent.
And that is why the center of the struggle for the Irish soul must always be over the return of its Druids. It is the only way Ireland will again be Catholic.
What is needed are fiery souls that will contest not just social issues, necessary for sure, but all the neo-Druid falsehoods that undermine the Faith. There must be an unapologetic proclamation of the Faith that defies the diktats of modern secular society. Ireland must implore Saint Patrick to raise new disciples who can rekindle the embers of Christianity that remain, so that the Pascal fire may yet continue to “blaze forever” on the Hill of Slane, and put the neo-Druids to flight.
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“The Druid label fits perfectly on the political caste that has imposed divorce, same-sex ‘marriage,’ and now abortion on the Emerald Isle.”
Unfortunately this is not quite accurate. Unlike other countries in which such travesties have been simply imposed by minority power elites – especially by judical fiat – the Irish people did this to themselves by positively voting for them. Nothing was “imposed” upon them by some “political caste”; they chose to embrace such unmitigated evils through the ballot box.
Exactly and that is what portends real darkness. Like the Children of Israel who agreed to raise up idols, the people of Ireland have raised up the snake instead of the Cross
A way of life has passed away, but that is also true of other nations. Think of it as a trade, one now and one as memory.
It’s difficult to articulate the grief being experienced by ireland’s pro life group after the truly devastating result. We’re being mocked, scorned, ridiculed and bullied by politicians, media and a large portion of the ‘sophisticated’ public. If I had no ties I would flee from the land of my birth, a place that has become as alien to me as the dark side of the moon.
I don’t know how to engage with old friends and family members who voted for this barbaric bill, and I feel nothing but shame that I belong to the only country in the world that voted for unrestricted abortion by popular demand . The chasm this has created between people will endure deep divisions for a very long time. God forgive those who brought this slaughter to the shores of a country I once loved
Quite a lot of license is being taken here in the characterization of Druids. We actually know very little about their religious practices and doctrines (their primary legacy being as developers and custodians of Brehon law). The claim that they “supported a life without moral consequences” is completely unsubstantiated, and if true would be odd indeed since the larger society with its emphasis on natural justice, hospitality, loyalty and martial courage certainly didn’t get the memo. The wicker man trope is historically dubious as well, coming as it does from Roman accounts of Gaul (not Ireland) which frequently sensationalized the alleged barbarity of Rome’s enemies.
Whatever the Druids may have been, they certainly were nothing like today’s materialistic postmodernists (or even the hippies who play dress-up at Stonehenge on the Solstice); in any case they’re too long gone to be blamed for the catastrophic failure of Christianity in Europe. It’d be better strategy to understand one’s current, imminent opponents as they present themselves than to imagine that they’re the old ones for the apparent sake of drama.
Replying to Muriel. I, for one, have been physically ill since this diabolical vote. Something dreadful has happened and I cannot look at Irish people the same way. Apropos your comment, I do not have ties here and have transferrable skills, perhaps you could give me some pointers on where I could go?
When you’re sick of what they’ve done to your beloved country and you’ve been backed into a corner and made an outcast by the traitors among us, don’t seek refuge in some yonder retreat. Stand Up and Fight like men! (EPHESIANS 6) With God’s help, raise up an “Army of God” that will defend the Church, teach the Faith in Christ’s name, restore to the nation its sacred principles, and resist our enemies until the end of time!!!! This is no time for tolerance!! Saint Patrick drove the “snakes” out of Ireland!!! As Christians, this is our duty and it really is the only path to victory. ERIN GO BRAGH!!!
I am sponsoring a young seminarian in Nigeria. They are under constant attack right now but are determined because they have not forgotten the sacrifices of the Irish Priests who brought Christ to them and transformed their culture. THESE mighty Evangelists will return the great favor and come to Ireland to boldly, lovingly re-present Christ to the broken land. Pray for these seminarians as the enemy is on the march in an effort to stop them.