I prefer to celebrate the life of Boudica, the Celtic warrior Queen. Most of my life, I have celebrated my Irish roots. My middle name is Morgaine. An alternative name for Morgan le Fay in original legends and some modern adaptations such as The Mists of Avalon. Of course, those who have followed my blog know that my first name was derived from the 60’s hit The Avengers and the character Mrs. Peel, played by Diana Rigg. I used to love watching that show and even got the seasons with Emma Peel in it on DVD.

Getting back to this guy Patrick. I have always had a hard time celebrating this day. I never saw Patrick as a hero to the Irish. The farce of him driving the snakes out of Ireland is pure malarkey. The snakes referred to the Druids. The Druid priests and priestesses would tattoo serpents on their arms. It was the Druids that he drove out.

When I left the Catholic Church, one of the first spiritual paths I tried to learn was the Druidic path. I learned that they were poets and story tellers, bards, healers. There were many levels to Druidry.

Primus Lapidem Miliarium – The First Milestone, the way of the Aspirant

Secundus Lapidem Milarium – The Second Milestone, from Novice to Bard

Tertius Lapidem Milarium – The Third Milestone, Ovate, Master and beyond

But to those who believe they have passed the last milestone, hold on a moment.  We have only reached the end of the beginning. And those who are truly meant to be on the druidic path will again be overjoyed at this revelation. The horizon that we were chasing has mysteriously moved farther away.  What new discovery, what amazing knowledge awaits?

I have always been a spiritual person. I am not religious. I was involved with the Roman Catholic Church. I spent two years as a Youth Minister, ministering to young people out of a center in Middletown, RI. I had even tried going into the seminary and becoming a priest. I was always seen as a spiritual person, so many  thought because I was raised Roman Catholic that it was my destiny. Fortunately not!

I walked away from the Roman Catholic Church, and decided to follow my own path. My first venture was to learn Druidry since I am Irish. I felt that was more the native spiritual path of the Celts than Catholicism. From there, I learned Shamanism. I continued to learn and grow. I learned to expand my mind and accept all paths. This was reinforced when I read a book, Seven Masters One Path, which brought together the teachings of many masters, Lao Tzu, Patanjali, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed, Gurdjieff, and Krishnamurti. What this did was to open my mind to the realization of the Hindu Koan, “There are many paths up the mountain and the only one not getting to the top is the one who runs around and around telling everyone else they are on the wrong path!” Another saying I embraced was

“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.” ― Buddha Siddhartha Guatama Shakyamuni

I continued to learn and grow. I continue to study Shamanism, but have added Curanderismo and Native American healing ways. I have also dabbled into Quantum Physics as there are aspects of that that ties into a lot of my studies and shows the interconnectedness of us all.

Now, I did mention my aversion to St. Patrick. As part of my learning all of these healing ways, I learned to open myself to things. During one of these times, I had what felt like a flashback. In it, Patrick had reached out to the Druids in order to bring the two together. Or rather, that was what he said. He scheduled a meeting between the Druids and Roman Catholics. The Druids were punctual and arrived early. They gathered in the building and were waiting on the Roman Catholics. At that time, someone shut and barred the doors to the building. The building was then set on fire. The Druids were murdered, burned alive. To this day, anything to do with Irish Green ruffles me. I was told by a Past Life Regressionist that it was a stored memory from a previous life. They say that a lot of our phobias and fears can be due to previous life issues as well as current PTSDs. Who knows. The world is a fascinating place.

So there you have it. My spirituality is not religious but one of heart. That is why I sign off with the thought, my heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit.

That sparked another thought. I was rewatching the movie Celestine Prophesy. In it, they learned that if we project love and return that which we receive, it redoubles on itself and grows in power. I really think we need to spread more love in this world. Our hearts need to be open to each other. There is too much darkness, hate, and violence. I hope more people will be a light to others. Imlak’esh, “within you another me, & within me another you”.

My heart to your heart, one heart, one spirit

Emma