So, how did the Catholic Church get such a strangle hold on the Irish people? It’s an important question, one we explore at some length in our Sacred Ireland journeys. For it wasn’t always this way. From his research, Jack suggests it was the Druids that first invited and welcomed the monks to Ireland. And while, when viewed through the lens of our current knowing of the church, this may seem surprising, it makes sense.

At that time the church was more closely aligned with it’s Coptic and mystic heritage. The first monks to make their way to Ireland were preaching the teachings of St. John – that the divine is present in everyone and all things, and that we can each have a personal relationship with the sacred. This resonated with the spiritual teachings and traditions of the Irish people and so there was a harmonic weaving of sacred doctrines. 

In this beginning, the Catholic Church in Ireland was rooted in the belief that the Earth is sacred. In this beginning, there was an honoring of all life. And in this beginning are the roots of wisdom for these times.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com