St. Patty’s Google Doodle is Pagan

This St. Patrick’s Day, the Google Doodle features a triskele, an ancient Irish symbol.

The triskele is a simple triple spiral that has been in use for thousands of years. While many today consider it Celtic, it is much older than the ancient Celts. However, today it is widely associated with the ancient Irish thanks to their wide use of it in artwork and metal crafts.

The more interesting part of the Google Doodle is the second image. It is a triskele decorated at each of its three ends by a tree branch, a fish, and a bird. These represent the pagan Celtic belief in the three realms of Land, Sea, and Sky.

Sacredness to the Ancient Celts

The ancients saw a sacredness in these three elements that surrounded them. The physical world was the foundation for all life and all things spiritual. The land below was them, the sky was above them, and the sea was around them.

The the “worlds” or “realms” were intertwined and impacted each other. A more detailed summary can be found on the OBOD page “The Pillars of Celtic Cosmology,” but here is a short list:

The Land was home to humans, animals, and worldly spirits.
The Sea was home to the Sidhe or Fairies, who lived in pools of water, and home to the dead, who lived out west, past “the ninth wave.”
And the Sky was home to many of the gods and goddesses, as well as the sun, moon, and stars.

This trifold worldview is also recorded in literature. The Patheos blog From a Common Well notes the use of Land, Sea, and Sky iconography in old Irish texts. The iconography was used for swearing oaths and giving blessings, among other things.

In Druid Neopaganism, these hold important symbolism. Particularly in ADF, they are part of how we start ritual through “(Re)Creating the Cosmos.” For those who don’t know this lingo, this practice establishes the sacredness of the Land, Sea, and Sky and acknowledges the physical and spiritual connections between the three worlds.

Do Pagans Like St. Patrick’s Day?

I found the Google Doodle particularly interesting since many pagans don’t like St. Patrick’s Day. Generally, St. Patrick is known for throwing the snakes out of Ireland and bringing Christianity to the people. And throughout time, the “snakes” have been equated to Druids and pagans.

However, an article from The Wild Hunt, shows there’s evidence that St. Patrick wasn’t all that important to the conversion of Pagan Ireland. And the symbolism of the “snakes” seems to stem from after the country converted to Christianity. St. Patrick is a mythic Christian hero, and that is why his story is told a certain way.

What’s true is that St. Patrick was a Christian missionary in a land that already had a missionary footing. And it’s also true that the conversion of Ireland took around 1,000 years.

So St. Patrick was one of many missionaries over a long period time.

The Google Doodle is, perhaps inadvertently, showing that today, March 17th, is basically just “Irish Day.” The pagan and the Christian symbols are all part of Irish culture and hertiage. And it should all be celebrated today.

Blessing By Land, Sea, and Sky

I leave you with a Three Worlds Blessing by a prominent member of ADF: Ceisiwr Serith. It is called “Blessings, Honor and Worship to the Holy Ones.”

The waters support and surround us
The land extends about us
The sky stretches out above us:
At the center burns a living flame.
May all the Kindreds bless us.
May our worship be true
May our actions be just
May our love be pure.
Blessings, honor, and worship to the holy ones.