Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th every year in honor of a guy called St. Patrick who died on the day in 461. 

This holiday has been celebrated by the Irish for over 1000 years! 

Born in Britain to a Roman Christian family around 390 A.D., his given name was Maewyn Succat. Aged 16, he was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a shepherd in Ireland for 7 years. He escaped and sailed back home on a pirate ship. After being ordained a priest and changing his name to Patrick, he traveled back to Ireland to to spread Christianity. After his death, he was largely forgotten until centuries later he was honored as the patron saint of Ireland. 

St. Patrick's Day parades actually began in America with the first St. Patrick's Day parade taking place in New York. The yearly St. Patrick's Day parade in New York is the world's oldest civilian parade. 

So why wear green?? Well there are two versions - the first is that the color represents the Emerald Isle or Ireland and Spring and shamrocks. Legend has it that the shamrock came about when St. Patrick was teaching the Irish about the Holy Trinity and used this three-leafed plant.

The second is that the wearing of the green traces back to when Ireland was a country divided and Catholics lived on the “green side” and Protestants lived on the “orange side.” The Irish flag is green, orange and white representing the catholic side of Ireland, the Protestants and neutrality.

Happy Paddys (not Pattys!!!!) Day! ;-)

An Irish Wake

A wake is the process of laying out the body of a departed relative in the house and watching over them from the time of death until the body is conveyed to the care of the church. The body will usually be laid out in the parlour or living room of the deceased’s home. Family, friends and neighbours attend. Typically a large amount of food and drink is consumed over the period of mourning.

So where did it all come about? Well the true origins of the wake are foggy but it appears to date back to an ancient Jewish custom of leaving the sepulchre (burial chamber, vault, tomb, or grave) of the deceased open for three days before finally closing it up. This time allows family members to visit, which they typically did in the hope of seeing signs of a return to life.

Of course the Irish have to throw their own slant on it and it usually involves drink. A story that is more than likely a myth is also doing the rounds as to the origins of the Irish wake. Often drinkers who drank from pewter tankards would suffer (frequently) from lead poisoning and a symptom of this poisoning would be a catatonic state causing the person to appear dead only for them to recover or awaken a few hours or days later!

Typically a wake is a time for celebration of the deceased’s time on earth and an opportunity to say farewell to loved ones. It can be a sad affair but also an uplifting service marking the deceased, their life and sending them onto their next journey with goodwill and love.

Goddess of Death

Ever heard the name Libitina? No? Well I have to be honest before I googled death and mythology, I hadn’t either but she makes for an interesting read, and a belated/very early Halloween costume too.

In Roman mythology, Libitina was the goddess of death, corpses and funerals. Image wise, there was not much to inspire as her face was seldom portrayed. As a reigning personification of death she was manifested as a black robed winged figure who hovered above her ‘prey’.

I’m deeply fascinated by the story and delighted I came upon it. As we have said before it is a slow burner that women get involved in the funeral industry and yet here we are with the lady that started it all.

She often had temples set up in her honour that would house all the necessities for funerals, including gravediggers. It is also worth noting that the great Colosseum apparently housed one gate dedicated to Libitina in honour of all the fallen gladiators who fought and lost their lives within the Colosseums great walls.