A Mystery Called Patrick

Any Catholic saints book can tell you about Saint Patrick. There are many articles about him on the Internet. This is about the iconography of him, the idea of him. For the Craft, and indeed all real traditions, deal in visions as much or more than in words. Iconographically he is the doppelganger of Saint Nicholas. They swap bodies. They are reflections of each other. Part of this is because Christian iconography was by intent limited, Colors and vestments denoted if one was a bishop, a virgin, a married woman, what have you. In a time when writing was not widespread, an easy way to identify saints was needed, but still, the iconography of Saint Patrick and that of Saint Nicholas are almost identical. There is another thing. Patrick’s color was originally red, but in time was swapped to green while the reverse was done with Nicholas. Along with Saint Valentine these saints are the only Christian bishops to become famous far outside of their original place as men of the church. We know them now, not for what they did in the Church, but what they symbolize to the greater world.

Nicholas (December 6^th ) is the herald of Christmas, of the Yule Tide. He is the harbinger of the light born in the darkness, Powers of magic and insight are his, and we will come to him later, but Saint Patrick is the herald of spring, and the death and resurrection of Christ and so, of us. In their old age, in their white beards, these men are Odin figures, but one must remember that the Romans saw Odin not as cognizant with their Jupiter/Zeus, but with Mercury, Hermes. Hermes is, in Classical stories, a mischievous scamp. But in his most ancient portraits, wrought from rock, he is bearded, neither old nor young, and messenger of new things. Hermes carries the caduceus, the staff entwined by the serpent of healing and the serpent of death to and through the Underworld. Hermes is the psychopomp who leads people in and out of the realms of life and death. Nicholas and Patrick are, among other things, two sides of him. Nicholas carries the bag of coins often identified with Mercury as a god of giving and of merchants. Patrick is surrounded by his serpents.

In Voudoo Patrick is the symbol for Damballah Wedo, the Serpent Father of the Gods, the mighty one from Dahomey. Now, he and his wife (wives) Ayeda Wedo return from the East, bringing life and power in the form of the serpents.  The Old Testament sign of Damballah is Moses, the white haired and horned Lawgiver, the Deliver of the Israelites from bondage into a difficult freedom with a steep learning curve. According to the Torah, when fiery (seraph) serpents were sent to punish the Israelites who were not ready to be free, Moses made a serpent of bronze that healed the people when they simply looked upon it. There is evidence that whatever may have actually happened, ancient Israelites identified this serpent with God, and what is more, in the New Testament, Jesus identified himself crucified as the Serpent on the Pole. The very story of Easter, the Sacrifice needed for rebirth which is central in this time of the year, is an ancient tale of the serpent.
 Perhaps, but perhaps not coincidentally, the Jewish Passover, when this deliverance is commemorated, is also taking place in this season. Though, in AFW, the Stone Bowl and the Glass Orb are hidden symbols of the Serpents, they are in the lake of fire that surrounds the Golden Castle as well. Springtime, in fact, is a season full of serpents.