[Vision2020] Joan and the Celtic Goddess

[Joan Opyr]

On 10 Nov 2005, at 10:04, Michael wrote:

> Joan Opyr writes:
>
> "Doug and Doug – and you, Michael -- are skating perilously close to 
> idolatry in the claims you make regarding the Trinity. This was 
> especially evident in the Trinity Fest this summer in the Feast of St. 
> Brigid. Do you know who Brigid was? Maiden, mother, and crone. She was 
> a Celtic goddess; she made the crops grow, she was called upon to aid 
> in childbirth; the Irish still put out bowls of milk on St. Brigid’s 
> Day. Why? Because Brigid the Goddess had a bit of a nasty streak – she 
> needed to be appeased.
>
> Incorporating Brigid into your worship (or your Trinity Fest) is 
> syncretic, Michael, but it’s bad Christian theology. It’s heresy. As 
> long as you Celt-ify your worship with eyes wide open, fine, but I 
> don’t think your eyes are wide open. I believe that you view Doug 
> Wilson with your eyes squinted up and your head tilted to one side 
> (the right). You are theologically inconsistent, and, as a Christian, 
> this puts you in peril. Know this; think about this; be clear about 
> this. You believe the God I worship is “sexless” and “masturbatory.” I 
> believe the God you worship is a confused mess, an unsavory mixture of 
> rank Anglophilia, sophomoric bigotry, and sexist convenience."
>
> Aaron corrects her:
>
>  Just a quick correction for you. I'm sure there was a Brigid who was 
> a Celtic goddess, but if you recall the name of the feast at Trinity 
> Fest was *Saint* Brigid's Feast. That's because we were not naming our 
> feast after Brigid the Celtic goddess, but after a Christian medieval 
> nun who was known for her hospitality and looked forward to serving 
> beer to King Jesus in heaven. In fact, she probably heard St. Patrick 
> preach at least one sermon, and she was also known for giving away 
> milk to the poor. You should ask Rose, I gave her a copy of the poem 
> written by St. Brigid where some of this is mentioned.
>
> So, no, Michael doesn't need to worry about syncretism or heresy. St. 
> Brigid is just one of our sisters in the historic Christian faith, and 
> a good example of what it means to be hospitable. No nasty streak 
> here.


No, Michael, Aaron Rench has not "corrected" me; he has again displayed 
his ignorance of syncretism and of Celtic history and Catholic history. 
  Bride, or Brigid, was triple goddess of the Irish Celts.  As part of 
the Christianization of Ireland, her worship was transmogrified (I was 
about to say "replaced by," but that would be incorrect) into worship 
of St. Brigid, but most syncretic elements of the Brigid cult remained, 
including calling upon "St. Brigid" in childbirth, and her patronage of 
milk and beer production.

Until the 10th century, veneration of saints was local; it was not 
controlled by the central authority of the Catholic Church.  There was 
a woman named Brigid who was consecrated as a bishop by the Irish 
Church, and as Abbess of Kildare, she held authority over a double 
monastery until the 1150s.  This is not the same Brigid as either our 
triple goddess or the Catholic saint.  Actually, make that ex-Catholic 
saint.  Brigid was decanonized by the Church in 1960, along with a load 
of other dubious local saints.  If Aaron knew nothing else about 
"Saint" Brigid, he should have known that.

Now, as I have advised you boys before, don't try to teach your 
grandmother to suck eggs.  You don't know medieval history; you don't 
know Celtic history; and you are hopeless on the Anglo-Saxons, the 
Vikings, and the early Catholic Church.  Stick with John Calvin and 
John Knox.  You do know them.

Joan Opyr/Auntie Establishment
www.joanopyr.com

PS: Answering Joe Campbell's earlier question: yes, Dale Courtney is an 
idiot.  Aaron's easily dismissed rubbish was posted to Dale's blog as 
if it were historic fact.  Peer review, shmeer review.  We're not 
dealing with academics here, Joe.  We're dealing with dogmatic 
ignorance.
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