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DRUIDISM >>
PAGANISM
Paganism as a religion and Celtic Druidism as a spiritual path are not recognised on the Irish census form, the Registrars Office, Hospital forms or on any other state information documents in Ireland. St Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and he is famous for driving the snakes from Ireland and abolishing all Pagan Rights. Zero tolerance then and now. In Ireland today we have the Church and the State in bed together, with the church always on top... Pagan Rights do not actually exist in Ireland unless we stand up and demand that we have our rights restored.
The Catholic calendar that is used in Ireland today reflects the old pagan Eightfolds of the Solar Year. But this Catholic calendar has twisted the dating of the old festivals and also renamed each event to suit the Roman Catholic Church agenda. Our native Pagan Calendar is fixed to the Passage of the Sun around the Stars in the Belt of the Zodiac and this is called Sidereal Time, but the Catholic Calendar is fixed to set dates and lets keep quiet about the extra day every four years - this is called False Time (see essay above)...
Samhain is when the Sun is at 10* Scorpio but
All Saints' Day is Nov 1st
Winter Sun Standing is at 0* Capricorn but
Christmas is Dec 25th
Imbolg is when the Sun is at 10* Aquarius but
Brigit's Day is February 1st
Spring Equinox is Sun is at 0* of Aries but
Virgin Mary day is March 25th
Beltine is when the Sun is at 10* of Taurus but
St George's day is April 23rd
Summer Sun Standing is Sun at 0* of Cancer but
St Johns day is June 24
Lughnasa is Sun at 10* of Leo but
The Transfiguration is Aug 6th
Autumn Equinox is Sun at 0* of Libra but
Archangel Michael's day is Sept 29th
There has been a determined focused and many faceted effort to destroy the native Gaelic Pagan Culture by the Catholic Church. It nearly worked, but because you are reading this short essay - you are being informed of the old ways - "na sean nosanna" and our Celtic Ancestral ways can be restored, respected and Pagan Rights honoured once again.
The problem however, is still there - the Church has taken and destroyed all reference to your Pagan Rights. But you can as a European Citizen (Pagan) invoke rights of freedom of association and assembly and access to our ancestral scared sites under -
(i) BUNREACHT NA hEIREANN, the Constitution of Ireland to visit and preserve the National Monuments of Ireland (- but the writing of this Bunreacht was overseen by Bishops and it does not give Pagans any rights but you must invoke it first)
BUNREACHT NA hEIREANN, Article 44 says -
1. The State acknowledges that the homage of public worship is due to Almighty God. It shall hold His Name in reverence, and shall respect and honour religion.
2. 1° Freedom of conscience and the free profession and practice of religion are, subject to public order and morality, guaranteed to every citizen.
2° The State guarantees not to endow any religion.
3° The State shall not impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of religious profession, belief or status.
4° Legislation providing State aid for schools shall not discriminate between schools under the management of different religious denominations, nor be such as to affect prejudicially the right of any child to attend a school receiving public money without attending religious instruction at that school.
5° Every religious denomination shall have the right to manage its own affairs, own, acquire and administer property, movable and immovable, and maintain institutions for religious or charitable purposes.
6° The property of any religious denomination or any educational institution shall not be diverted save for necessary works of public utility and on payment of compensation.
end
(ii) The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms as ratified by the Government of Ireland -
Article 9 - Freedom of thought, conscience and religion
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.
2. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 10 - Freedom of expression
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.
2. The exercise of these freedoms, since it carries with it duties and responsibilities, may be subject to such formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society, in the interests of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary.
Article 11 - Freedom of assembly and association
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and to freedom of association with others, including the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
2. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of these rights other than such as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. This article shall not prevent the imposition of lawful restrictions on the exercise of these rights by members of the armed forces, of the police or of the administration of the State.
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(iii) Article 9 of The European Convention on Human Rights
1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.
2. Freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
end
The main problem with BUNREACHT NA hEIREANN is that it opens with the following qualifying statement -
In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred, We, the people of Éire, Humbly acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, Who sustained our fathers through centuries of trial, Gratefully remembering their heroic and unremitting struggle to regain the rightful independence of our Nation, And seeking to promote the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity, so that the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured, true social order attained, the unity of our country restored, and concord established with other nations, Do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.
end
A Celtic Pagan Rights qualifying statement might read as follows -
With true and full connection to the Three Realms; the Sky above, the Sea below and the Land we stand upon, as honoured and respected by our Celtic Ancestors, we, the people of Éire, seek full connection to the temples of the Gods and Goddesses of the oldest spiritual tradition of this sacred land and hereby declare and lay claim to full rights and independence for the Pagan people of our Nation seeking to declare truth before the world, to promote the common good, with due observance of Prudence, Justice and Charity, so that the dignity and freedom of the individual may be assured, true social order attained, the unity of our country restored, and concord established with all other nations and religions, do hereby adopt, enact, and give to ourselves this Constitution.
end
But it isn't like that is it? - "Acknowledging all our obligations to our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ," excludes all women, ladies and goddesses and maybe more importantly all other religions and spiritual paths except for the Catholic (which means 'universal path' and universal means = single curve). Constantine the Great made the Christian Path Catholic at his Council of Nicea in AD325. They did not and do not have any tolerance for other religions or spiritual paths because the Catholic (single curve) religion was to be (and is) used as a weapon to control the souls of men and women to the agenda of the Roman Empire. This was the dark shadow that hung over Michael Collins and later over Eamon DeValera when they sat down to write the constitution of Ireland. They knew that if they did not bow on bended knees to the Church - then the Bishops and Priests would denounce them from the pulpit of every small church putting the fear of their almighty savage god into the ordinary people and the fight for freedom from the British Empire would collapse. That shadow is still there enshrined in the constitution of Eire.
Just talking about Pagan Rights is not enough - we have to exercise our freedom of expression by visiting our ancestral temples at the appropriate time honouring and respecting the guardians, ancestors, past, present and future.
Maybe sometime in the future, some proud pagans will take on the blessed work of correcting the introduction to BUNREACHT NA hEIREANN to be fair to all religions and spiritual paths. In Article 44, 2, it states "The State guarantees not to endow any religion". But the state does constantly give income to the Catholic Church and has permanent organisational linkages for this one-way exchange of monies - maybe some one will research and find out exactly how much money has been given to Opus Dei by state and semi-state bodies since it has been set up in Tara Valley. Endow also means - invest with powers / qualities and by the state using the Opus Dei premises at Lismullin Institute at Tara Valley for public lectures on archaeology, farming and cooking schools - the state has given special respect to the world's most extreme fundamentalist fascist movement that seeks to control higher education for the supremacist.
This is the dark side to the coin, hidden fascism embedded with government, the bright side of the coin is the grass roots ecological earth based spiritual pagan movement that is growing stronger every year. This is the return of the Goddess to the people and of the people to the Goddess. Be proud to be Pagan.
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