OK, I got a little carried away online in the last few days. I have so many messages to answer I guess I must have been excessive, but it's fun. I'm dying to know what a golum is . . . I don't suppose it is religious at all? Are you saying the Irish suffer because of their religion? You know, the Irish were pagan until quite recently, historically speaking. They danced while fiddlers played and made merry! (and the women moved their upper bodies, not like the Irish dancers). The early Celtic crosses had quite a bit to do with worshipping the sun, and if you look at the folk festivals in Ireland, The Puck Fair with a goat at its center being just one example, the veneer of Catholicism is actually quite thin on the populace. There were absolutely no priests or nuns who starved to death during the Famine. The Catholic church basically beat the peasants into low self esteem, child abuse and alcoholism with the way they treated them in the churces and the schools--now the Irish have the highest rate of mental illness in Europe. In pagan Ireland divorce was legal and women owned property and everyone worshipped tree gods, etc.--there were plenty of goddesses. Women knew folk medicine and felt powerful. Now as the child abuse scandals are oozing out of the church, more people feel the hypocrisy. The rate of recruitment for nuns and priests has dropped dramatically. It will take awhile, but the influence of the Church on Ireland is starting to fade as the Catholics will not have enough people to staff the churches and schools, and many of them close. If you ever get a chance, you might really enjoy a Celtic Arts Festival. It's a travelling arts, crafts and music show of the whole British Isles cultures, pre-Christianity. There is actually a pagan revival going on among the Irish here, and this festival travels all over the United States. It's a really fun place to go. The musicians travel from Ireland to participate. I'm not saying that most of them are not still Catholic-identified--I believe they are. But it's very eye-opening to see how beautiful and sensual Irish life and art were before the Catholic influence.
Christine |
