Patrick’s Day: An Imperishable Spirit
Thanks to the great Saint Patrick, the Irish have a holiday on March 17! Traditional blessings of…
“Elves, castles, good luck and laughter;
Lullabies, dreams and love forever.
Poems and songs with bagpipes and drums;
A thousand welcomes when someone comes…”
…will transport you to a land of fairy tales, love and good humor. As Irish immigrants spread across the world, so did their traditions and culture. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in Ireland are perhaps the most elaborate of them all, but several countries around the world offer stiff competition with lavish parades and celebrations. By birth or not, everyone is Irish on this fun-filled day.
Green is the color of Ireland and more especially on this day. For all of you busy with St. Patrick’s Day activities, green means abundance, renewal, growth, health, and life! Clover helps display this thought and calms worried minds. Everyone is looking for a leprechaun pot of gold and luckily it’s not that hard to find, at least not on March 17th. Maybe what we are looking for is not really material wealth, but joy, laughter, dreams and love from each and everyone around us, which is as precious as gold to us. Joy that spreads and is shared with everyone, a carefree spirit of victory and hope is true wealth. Passing on tradition and culture to future generations is what this treasure is all about. It is the pride of the place, the pride of our cultural background.
Stories of the Blarney Stone is another example of the transmission of traditions and beliefs. Ideally, an especially Happy St. Patrick’s Day would start with St. Patrick’s Day poems and wishes, followed by events like St. Patrick’s Day Parades and Runs. Traditional activities and stories would be sprinkled throughout the day, leading to an evening of singing and music. Foot tapping to the sounds of the violin and ‘The Chieftains’. Corned beef, cabbage, potatoes, ‘bubbles and squeaks’ (my favorite!) and beer of course certainly make the music in the air sound sweeter. And all this on a background of refreshing green!
A special day is just another excuse to spend quality time with the people we care about, and so for people who live far away from their friends and family, the day seems only half as good. Going green and sending St. Patrick’s Day e-cards, greeting cards, gifts, and phone calls is one way to stay connected, even from afar.
While receiving gifts and cards is fun, my favorite part of the tradition is when I pinch someone for not wearing green. It’s so much fun to joke around and say hello regardless of everything else. For me, March 17 marks victory, a victory of humanity over all its everyday troubles and problems. It is an opportunity to celebrate the ability to rejoice despite everything, an opportunity to overcome all challenges to spread joy and hope. Patrick’s Day signifies warmth, growth, and an undying youthful spirit. Finally, I guess with a true Irish accent, the following lines from Thomas Daly best represent the spirit that can make St. Patrick’s Day 2008 fun and memorable for the whole gang.
