Sometimes I have guilt over whatever sadness is attached to the culture for me, like I should just be happy to have anything at all (not to put that on native folks or anyone else). And I am. I'm really happy that we are at least at a point in history where over here in exile I can learn more about these things from ye...try to learn the language... I'm happy for Ireland that the spiritual and linguistic forests of heritage are growing back healthily. Long live that beautiful land and her lovely culture. I think it's funny...even if there are no surviving "royal bloodlines", it's almost like anyone from there is from the land, therefore somehow *royal* not in the way of being better or special in a gross way but just being of strong, resilient folk who belong to place which is a type of wealth beyond measure. Sovereign beings, all worthy. And those ancestors stand with you.
the life expectancy being merely 20s-30s and the fact there are no consistent sources of the indigenous culture is so gut-wrenching to hear. as an american with largest percentage genealogy tracing back to Ireland, the only records my family’s found was from British records that stated that when the family migrated our surname was altered and those that stayed were made to assimilate. obvi my branch ended up fleeing. Hearing about the forced erasure of many cultural practices now makes sense as to why I’ve had such a hard time trying to find information about Ireland before being invaded. I really hope modern archaeological research can help further our true understanding of the history, devoid of occupational forces or Christianity.
30k years would still be modern humans, possibly some Neanderthal, but they seem to disappear about 10k before that. Learning the pagan myths is a challenge because of how late they’re recorded, but I’ve wondered why the shift to Christianity seemed to be smoother than in other places (pre-English meddling anyway).
Irish Pagan Beliefs were defeated by Christanity as christanity was a of the written word, Most Pagan beliefs where not written down, they were passedvia word of mouth, by bards and druids. To also become a druid or bard, you had many many years of an apprenticeship, where christanity allowed people to become priest, cleric and pastors and feed those that were training to be. But most druids where hunted by the brits and romans. You are correct that there are no true hertiage or family root of druidism. The Tuatha Dé Danann died when paganism was killed off. I myself would hope our deities are still around, as I do pay honor to them when the calendar for each ritual comes around, it is much harder for me as I live in Austrlia. I am from Irish heritage and was born in Cork. I have a firm a belief, in nature, and to do none harm.
As someone whose family descends from the ancient horse lords, and that endured centuries of incursions - always working to help the children of Éire, even if that help meant death, and was scattered in 1919 after our last great patriarch was assassinated by the anti-Independence movement (probably black and tans, but it’s a bit murky)… this hits close to home. My family also has strong ties to the Celtic Christian church in Ireland - but only in so far as they offered a power structure to fight the imperial regime of England from the 1600s on. I am lucky to have such an intact family history in despite half of us engaging in diaspora, and several of us being martyred at various points. Imagine how rich and full all of our histories could be without these constant attempts to make the children of Éire extinct 😞 I believe the truth is still in our bones. Having native teachers to help discern that truth from the neo-pagan almost-truths is so helpful. Thank you for this!
This has been both inspiring and somewhat discouraging. I think what you have said about the values of ancient Irish pre Christian spirituality is very inspiring . But there is a lot of work that needs to be done to decolonize spirituality completely. My father came from an Irish background and he was a Teacher and principal who taught in a small indigenous community in the Western Arctic in Canada in the 1950s Nd early 1960s. This is relevant to his Irish background because he promoted indigenous culture at a time when that was very atypical. Most other educators at the time degraded indigenous culture and people horribly.He was the first day school principal in the town of Aklavik right after the residential schools run by the Anglican and Catholic Churches were closed. Those residential schools caused a lot of suffering and abuse to native students. People two and three generations later in the indigenous community are still traumatized. So many First Nations people in Canada are still being affected by the same colonization system that affected the Irish earlier This knowledge definitely affected my family and their quest for social justice. It is very frustrating to me to hear lecturers and writers from Ireland come to North America to teach us about their Irish Pagan traditions while claiming to have retained special ancient knowledge of Irish tradition while claiming to be descendants of the last Druid families or the last vestiges of pre Christian knowledge. To add insult to injury, the same scammers who supposedly come from the last druids proceed to teach us new age spirituality and shamanism that is actually culturally appropriated from North American indigenous people. They claim that balderdash is from Irish tradition. I grew up in an indigenous community and I am very sure that native people do not teach outsiders their sacred traditions. Why would they teach their colonizers their secrets? I did see a video of Non native North American so called shamans teaching Irish people so called shamanism recently that I found very offensive. The ceremonies they used mimicked indigenous ceremonies in a way that mocked indigenous culture here. I have also seen some evidence that Irish pagans have borrowed indigenous practices from other indigenous cultures. Why reinvent the wheel.? Ireland is already a master of cultural revival. Why borrow from other traditions? Why recolonize when we all have animistic roots that can be recreated as something much better than Christianity or any other form of conventional religion. We really need to connect with the natural world direcly to learn our real place in the greater living consciousness network if we are to survive in the future and be physically and psychologically healthy and balanced. The way we connect is fundamental to our future survival. We are not interpreters of nature as modern shamans teach, we are part of nature, because that is how we evolved. Ireland has a rich tradition and I would love to know more about it. I am glad to be a Scottish and Irish descendant.
You don't know what you're saying. PreChristian paganism is replete with animal and human sacrifices, dark witchcraft intending evil on others, slavery, tribal warfare, and clearly male dominance, and might makes right. The Brehon Law he mentions here specifically allows husbands to discipline their wives with beatings, and strict social hierarchy. You naively romanticize dark practices, but being a modern person I'm sure you would want to modify the old laws and customs to fit your modern sensibilities. The sensibilities which derive precisely from the Judeo-Christian world view in which all people are made in the image of God and therefore equals.
Mothodothy is always better than a dogma anyways and I think it's the struggle till survive and thrive that is the true method we should embrace and in that struggle we can create new and maybe better traditions from our ancient tradition of resistance.
I wonder if our pre flood ancestors started builing the Sidh. We can build a new Golden age it has already started . Honest hard work to promote our Pagen Druud past that has just as much relivence today as it was to our ancestors ,
Does this mean that re-constructionist is an adequate lable be to used for this or does that mean something else ? is there even really a term used for going through the old text digging in the schools collection and giving a educated guess as well as going on inspiration as a non native speaker of english I don´t really feel i´m fully understanding the categorisations people are using
Of all the invaders ,our DnA says we come from the sons of Mil .South of Spain . If you feel this island is part if you ,then you are Irish, you don't need a passport
Mr. Jon glad to see you back.
hope your feeling better
Sometimes I have guilt over whatever sadness is attached to the culture for me, like I should just be happy to have anything at all (not to put that on native folks or anyone else). And I am. I'm really happy that we are at least at a point in history where over here in exile I can learn more about these things from ye...try to learn the language... I'm happy for Ireland that the spiritual and linguistic forests of heritage are growing back healthily. Long live that beautiful land and her lovely culture. I think it's funny...even if there are no surviving "royal bloodlines", it's almost like anyone from there is from the land, therefore somehow *royal* not in the way of being better or special in a gross way but just being of strong, resilient folk who belong to place which is a type of wealth beyond measure. Sovereign beings, all worthy. And those ancestors stand with you.
Thank you for this. I come from O’Connor and Patrick grandparents. it’s always something I grow up with.. but nothing I’ve ever known truly.
Thank you for your honesty and integrity.
excellent. one of my favorite talks that you've put out.
Ach Toicfaidh ár lá! Is fáda an Bóthar go ár saorise ach tá sé an bóthar fearr!
Thank you Jon!! Hope you’re feeling better!
the life expectancy being merely 20s-30s and the fact there are no consistent sources of the indigenous culture is so gut-wrenching to hear. as an american with largest percentage genealogy tracing back to Ireland, the only records my family’s found was from British records that stated that when the family migrated our surname was altered and those that stayed were made to assimilate. obvi my branch ended up fleeing. Hearing about the forced erasure of many cultural practices now makes sense as to why I’ve had such a hard time trying to find information about Ireland before being invaded. I really hope modern archaeological research can help further our true understanding of the history, devoid of occupational forces or Christianity.
30k years would still be modern humans, possibly some Neanderthal, but they seem to disappear about 10k before that.
Learning the pagan myths is a challenge because of how late they’re recorded, but I’ve wondered why the shift to Christianity seemed to be smoother than in other places (pre-English meddling anyway).
I would have to agree the Pagan community still exist to this day and people should be happy with that
Great video Jon
Irish Pagan Beliefs were defeated by Christanity as christanity was a of the written word, Most Pagan beliefs where not written down, they were passedvia word of mouth, by bards and druids. To also become a druid or bard, you had many many years of an apprenticeship, where christanity allowed people to become priest, cleric and pastors and feed those that were training to be.
But most druids where hunted by the brits and romans. You are correct that there are no true hertiage or family root of druidism. The Tuatha Dé Danann died when paganism was killed off. I myself would hope our deities are still around, as I do pay honor to them when the calendar for each ritual comes around, it is much harder for me as I live in Austrlia. I am from Irish heritage and was born in Cork. I have a firm a belief, in nature, and to do none harm.
As someone whose family descends from the ancient horse lords, and that endured centuries of incursions - always working to help the children of Éire, even if that help meant death, and was scattered in 1919 after our last great patriarch was assassinated by the anti-Independence movement (probably black and tans, but it’s a bit murky)… this hits close to home. My family also has strong ties to the Celtic Christian church in Ireland - but only in so far as they offered a power structure to fight the imperial regime of England from the 1600s on. I am lucky to have such an intact family history in despite half of us engaging in diaspora, and several of us being martyred at various points. Imagine how rich and full all of our histories could be without these constant attempts to make the children of Éire extinct 😞 I believe the truth is still in our bones. Having native teachers to help discern that truth from the neo-pagan almost-truths is so helpful. Thank you for this!
This has been both inspiring and somewhat discouraging. I think what you have said about the values of ancient Irish pre Christian spirituality is very inspiring . But there is a lot of work that needs to be done to decolonize spirituality completely. My father came from an Irish background and he was a Teacher and principal who taught in a small indigenous community in the Western Arctic in Canada in the 1950s Nd early 1960s. This is relevant to his Irish background because he promoted indigenous culture at a time when that was very atypical. Most other educators at the time degraded indigenous culture and people horribly.He was the first day school principal in the town of Aklavik right after the residential schools run by the Anglican and Catholic Churches were closed. Those residential schools caused a lot of suffering and abuse to native students. People two and three generations later in the indigenous community are still traumatized. So many First Nations people in Canada are still being affected by the same colonization system that affected the Irish earlier This knowledge definitely affected my family and their quest for social justice. It is very frustrating to me to hear lecturers and writers from Ireland come to North America to teach us about their Irish Pagan traditions while claiming to have retained special ancient knowledge of Irish tradition while claiming to be descendants of the last Druid families or the last vestiges of pre Christian knowledge. To add insult to injury, the same scammers who supposedly come from the last druids proceed to teach us new age spirituality and shamanism that is actually culturally appropriated from North American indigenous people. They claim that balderdash is from Irish tradition. I grew up in an indigenous community and I am very sure that native people do not teach outsiders their sacred traditions. Why would they teach their colonizers their secrets? I did see a video of Non native North American so called shamans teaching Irish people so called shamanism recently that I found very offensive. The ceremonies they used mimicked indigenous ceremonies in a way that mocked indigenous culture here. I have also seen some evidence that Irish pagans have borrowed indigenous practices from other indigenous cultures. Why reinvent the wheel.? Ireland is already a master of cultural revival. Why borrow from other traditions? Why recolonize when we all have animistic roots that can be recreated as something much better than Christianity or any other form of conventional religion. We really need to connect with the natural world direcly to learn our real place in the greater living consciousness network if we are to survive in the future and be physically and psychologically healthy and balanced. The way we connect is fundamental to our future survival. We are not interpreters of nature as modern shamans teach, we are part of nature, because that is how we evolved. Ireland has a rich tradition and I would love to know more about it. I am glad to be a Scottish and Irish descendant.
You don't know what you're saying. PreChristian paganism is replete with animal and human sacrifices, dark witchcraft intending evil on others, slavery, tribal warfare, and clearly male dominance, and might makes right. The Brehon Law he mentions here specifically allows husbands to discipline their wives with beatings, and strict social hierarchy. You naively romanticize dark practices, but being a modern person I'm sure you would want to modify the old laws and customs to fit your modern sensibilities. The sensibilities which derive precisely from the Judeo-Christian world view in which all people are made in the image of God and therefore equals.
Mothodothy is always better than a dogma anyways and I think it's the struggle till survive and thrive that is the true method we should embrace and in that struggle we can create new and maybe better traditions from our ancient tradition of resistance.
I wonder if our pre flood ancestors started builing the Sidh.
We can build a new Golden age it has already started .
Honest hard work to promote our Pagen Druud past that has just as much relivence today as it was to our ancestors ,
Does this mean that re-constructionist is an adequate lable be to used for this or does that mean something else ? is there even really a term used for going through the old text digging in the schools collection and giving a educated guess as well as going on inspiration as a non native speaker of english I don´t really feel i´m fully understanding the categorisations people are using
Thank God for St. Patrick
Now can we disspell the idea that America welcomed the Irish with open arms..
Who are the ‘indigenous’ people of Ireland?
The Irish. There have been waves of migrations and all assimilated into the Irish population.
Of all the invaders ,our DnA says we come from the sons of Mil .South of Spain .
If you feel this island is part if you ,then you are Irish, you don't need a passport
Celts. Ie. White people who descended form the celts who settled in ireland