I know, I know, I'm a little slow on the uptake this week but the late night from the Muse concert (oh so worth it) and the time change (oh so not) have really played havoc with my internal clock. When I got home yesterday from my grueling job of giving tests, I just crashed and burned. Therefore, what should have been yesterday's posts have been moved to today.
So, who was St. Patrick and why does he have a day? Patrick was born about 1600 years ago in Britain, back at a time when the area wasn't really "kingdoms" but more like "chiefdoms." Ireland was a Celtic area much separate from the Roman influenced Britain and the two areas were often at odds with each other. As a teen, Patrick was captured by a group of Irish. He ultimately managed to get away from his captors and made his way to Gaul (modern-day France) where he became a Catholic priest. But Ireland drew him back- he felt a divinely inspired calling to bring Jesus Christ to the pagan Celts there. We associate the shamrock with him because he used the 3 leaf clover to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish- one leaf each for the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Patrick spent the last 30 years of his life spreading Christianity in Ireland and for this is remembered as their patron saint. Within 500ish years, the Irish were celebrating a day in St. Patrick's honor as one of their sacred religious feast days. As Irish immigrants spread into Europe and America, St. Patrick's Day came with them. Of course in Ireland it's a huge deal, from a religious and social perspective but here in the US, there are big celebrations too. All over the country, there are parades and festivals. Many places dye their waterways green. In 2009 and 2010, the fountain on the North Lawn of the White House got the green treatment too.
You might ask, if St. Patrick's Day is religously based, why do we put up cardboard cutouts of leprechauns? What do surly little gold-hoarders have to do with St. Patrick? Well...actually nothing. I did a lot of net digging on this and all I can find discusses how the Irish Celts believed in all sorts of fairies and other nature sprites. Leprechauns were gruff little buggers (think Grumpy from Snow White, just dressed in green) who earned their gold by repairing fairy shoes. They kept this gold in a pot hidden at the end of the rainbow. On St. Patrick's Day, if you were lucky enough to see the elusive little leprechaun and keep him in your sights, he might just lead you to a big payoff. Sounds like a get rich quick scheme to me and nobody has jumped up waving the pot or the gold.
Well, then, why do you get pinched if you don't wear green on St. Patrick's Day? This seems to be a primarily American thing. From what I can find, Irish people don't do this. But there are two schools of thought on the pinching. First, if you are wearing green, you'll blend in better with the leprechauns, therefore making it easier for you to find their gold. You don't wear green, you don't blend in, you get pinched. Or, and I like this one better, green is the traditional color of Ireland and by wearing green on the day, you are honoring St. Patrick's work. If you don't wear green, you need punishment. I always try to wear green of some sort because if you pinch me, I punch back!
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