I was chatting (Monday, January 15th of 07') with someone about his new found "Pagan" religion tied with Celtic-Worship: Druids. I've heard somewhat about it, but didn't really know much until what he told me.
He told me that he has researched many different religions after growin-up and being raised into Mormonism. When he found about this new found "Pagan" religion, he told me he was fascinated with the "powers" one can have. They can cast spells on people, which he compared to my "Christian" belief and faith in prayer. One time, he and some others cast a spell on a friend of mine who was in pain. They also would cast spells on people who would "cause" trouble (e.g. bullies in school) with them too. I automatically shared with him a Bible verse about "pray for your enemies", which I encouaged him to not "curse" those that wrong you.
Around 3am in the morning, he would get-together with other followers and do "their thing" (worship). They prefer cemeteries because it's a quiet peaceful place.
"Halloween history actually began in the Celtic Druid religion and is a story of witchcraft, death worship, and fear. According to historical documents, October 31st was the day that the druids would worship the Lord of the dead. This was the day that spirits and dead souls would be able to enter into the human world. Knowing more about the historical practices revolving around this day will give"
...more from Goodnews UMM: Accuser-Witches
Local Church Connection: Outfitters for Adventure-Encouraging Bethany Eastvold
Ballycastle : Co. Mayo : Ireland
From : Ruth T
Sent : Tuesday, March 6, 2007 6:38 AM
To : Ruth T
Subject : In Spain (really about Ireland)
Dear Family & Friends,
Much has happened since our last message. Friday evening and Saturday Bethany had a training seminar to attend in Athlone (Wikipedia), not far from Gallway in the west central portion of the Republic of Ireland. Bethany led worship Friday night adding Neil on mandolin and me on my tiny flutelike recorder. Graham taught on the Old Testament survey this weekend. Graham is the leader of the churches and ministries throughout Ireland that Bethany has been part of since her arrival two years ago. He is a wonderful teacher and humble servant leader who cares deeply for the ministry people who lead the various works that are part of their network in Ireland. We enjoyed his session that we sat in on Friday evening. We stayed at a B&B, so we had a traditional Irish breakfast on Saturday morning.
Saturday Neil and I did some sight-seeing in Athlone. There is a castle on the ford that the town was named after that one of our friends thought might have been built by the Normans. Across the street from the castle is a beautiful cathedral which was open so we walked in to enjoy the stained glass windows and ornate altar. The buildings along the narrow winding streets are brightly painted. I took many pictures of the little city.
Ireland the Beautiful
" Can't go to Ireland? Here's the next, best thing!
Beautiful and interesting pics to whet your appetite, set to the equally beautiful music of BigBen...Find more of BigBen's albums and music at Apple iTunes, Napster, or the following link: http://cdbaby.com/cd/bigbenmusic2
Saturday afternoon we made our way to Dublin to spend the night with a friend of Bethany�s who lives on a peninsula with many castles where the English Lords stored grain for shipment from Ireland to England. Many wealthy people live in the castles now: rock stars and writers mostly. Bethany�s friend, Christine, was head of human resources in the Xerox corporation for all of Europe. She retired at 50 and is able to pay her rent. That is an understatement. She lives in a stable of an old estate that has been rennovated into expensive upscale housing. We were treated not only to lovely accommodations, but enjoyed watching the full eclipse of the moon as it turned from just a black shadow moving over the face of the moon to the entire moon changing yellow gold with a rim of light around the edge. We had come to Christine`s house to pray for a young man in her home group who needed to be freed from demonic oppression. Neil counseled and gave Bible teaching to the young man in one room while Bethany and I visited with Christine in her kitchen. The prayer for the young man went well, and Neil spoke to him and later to Christine about how he can become even more free and remain free as time goes on.
We attended Christine�s church in Dublin in the morning. The pastor�s message was on greed as a sin. He developed it well, beginning with the thought that greed was listed by the ancient church as one of the seven deadly sins. He said he has wondered in his 17 years of ministry why no one has ever confessed greed as a sin they struggle with. People will confess all manner of sins, some that he would be embarrassed to talk about openly, but they never bring up greed among them. He thinks it may be that no one thinks of themself as greedy. Then he gave us an example so that we could begin to get ourselves �round the concept of greed. We need a car, and we want a car that will serve us well and not break down, will be something we want to drive, and comfortable. We don�t have the money to buy it outright so we take out a loan. Compare that with our church needing money for a project to feed the hungrey or reach the lost, build a building, etc., where the church doesn�t have the money on hand at the moment. So we all go out and take out personal loans to cover the cost on a temporary basis until the funds are available in the church to pay off the loan, right? No? Why don�t we think of financing the needs in God�s kingdom with the same enthusiasm that we think of financing our own needs? That, he said, is greed. He had us.
Sunday afternoon we picked up Lydia, who we met while she was attending the Fargo church. She has come to visit Bethany to see if God is calling her to work in Ireland. She was really tired. The snow in Fargo and Minneapolis had delayed her travel a day. She had family to stay with in Minneapolis, but she was really being hit with jet lag as we made our way back to the Belfast area. Bethany and Lydia stayed with a couple in Noel & Jenny�s fellowship, and we stayed with Noel and Jenny Sunday night. We said our goodby�s to Bethany as Noel picked us up. Noel and Jenny offered their sleep on the altar as they rose early with us to get us to the airport in Belfast on Monday morning. Jenny and Noel packed a tasty lunch and Noel drove us to the airport after making sure we had coffe and breakfast in us.
We made our flights nicely Monday (yesterday). It is good to be with Jeff & Wendy Steen-Spain again. They made room for us in their flat this year. After a short nap they took us to a new church in Alcoy just over an hour from Valencia. One of the pastors in Jeff�s church is working with a group of gypsies who started a church almost overnight after a young boy was miraculously healed who had been seriously ill in the hospital. They had prayed for him, and suddenly there was a clan of people who wanted to know Jesus better. The worship leader who came along from the church in Valencia is well known in Spain as a folk singer of traditional Spanish music. He travels with his musicians, is heard often on radio, and has a beautiful powerful voice. Neil preached on freedom from oppression in our lives. There was a large group up for prayer after the service.
The valley where the city is located is in the mountains, so the scenery was breathtaking. I am storing up images to replay in my thoughts after I get home.
I�ll sign off for now. We are taking it easy today washing clothes and resting. It is Jeff�s day off, so he doesn�t need to go to the office, but we do want to visit, so I�ll stop writing until next time.
Published Saturday, November 18, 2006
"
Patsy and Molly Shannon were dressed to the nines and heading for an expansive Tudor-style home in Nashville.
The home belongs to two-time Grammy Award-winning producer Dennis Scott, and guests awaited the Shannon�s arrival for a �listening party� of Molly Shannon�s newly released collection of traditional Irish music titled �come ye back.�
And arrive they did. In a 1989 Toyota Tercel with 265,000 miles on it.
Patsy Shannon of Morris wrote two songs for her sister Molly Shannon�s new album, �come ye back,� a compilation of traditional Irish music. A family visit to their family�s roots in Ireland inspired the music, which has gained four spots on Grammy Awards nomination lists.
Patsy Shannon at home
RELATED CONTENT
Morris Sun Tribune Web Icon 'come ye back' CD cover
Morris Sun Tribune Web Icon James Shannon as a boy
�I have to get in the passenger side and open the driver�s door from the inside,� said Patsy Shannon, laughing through sips of coffee at a table in her Morris home. �When she parks it, she tries to line it up in the same oil spot.�
The contradictions delighted the Shannons.
�Molly and I are pinching ourselves,� Patsy said. �It was like a gated community and we weren�t even sure they would let us in in this car. We�re thinking �Ain�t this fun?� If dad could be here, he�d laugh.� �
Still giggling, Patsy imitates their father with a spot-on Irish accent: �Don�t get too high and mighty.�
Fat chance of that.
Clear memories of their hard-scrabble upbringing and eccentric Irish roots keep the Shannons grounded.
In fact, �come ye back� is Molly Shannon�s debut album and represents her bringing her music back from country and folk to the traditional Irish wit and wisdom that inspired her personality as well as her music.
Patsy Shannon, an aspiring song writer and lyricist, wrote two songs for �come ye back.� She wrote music and lyrics for one song, �Her Dungloe,� and also wrote lyrics to a second song, �My Da,� which is sung to the traditional tune, �Star of the County Down.�
Scott has entered Molly Shannon and �come ye back� for Grammy nomination consider in four categories, including Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Traditional Folk Album, and Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist.
Although the artist and album are among hundreds listed, the honor is appreciated, Patsy said.
�We�re enjoying the ride,� Patsy said. �Any success (Molly) has had, she�s earned.�
The Shannons and their four other siblings were raised to earn their keep growing up in Enumclaw, Wash.
Their grandmother, Anna O�Donnell Shannon, immigrated to the U.S. at age 25 in 1910. A single woman coming alone to the U.S. was required to have a sponsor living in America, so she joined the family of an uncle living in Billings, Mont.
Anna Shannon worked as a housekeeper, maid and cook before meeting her husband, a traveling tobacco salesman. The couple had five boys, including Patsy�s father, James.
While Anna eventually came to have a great deal in terms of family and friends in her adopted new land, Patsy wrote �Her Dungloe� from the perspective of all that Anna lost when she immigrated. Lost family, lost land and lost culture.
�And the hills of Erin green
Still haunt her in her dreams
And at night she young and free on her Dungloe
And she�s running �long the shore
Her bare feet flying o�er
A land that�s evermore her Dungloe.�
�My Da� is written about the Shannon�s father, James, a sharp man who was witty, dryly sarcastic and sometimes brawled in barrooms when, as Patsy said, his sharp tongue might rile another patron.
A recent family trip to Ireland and their County of Donegal roots inspired both Patsy and Molly. Anna�s family homestead in Ireland is the cover photograph for �come ye home.�
In �My Da,� Patsy writes:
�I walk the sand and the green lush land
Where my forefathers lived and died
Through the rain I see all the folks �round me
Have the look of my father�s eyes.�
Patsy Shannon and her family remember well nights at their grandmother�s home in Washington, sitting around a table with a linoleum top, young Patsy sitting on phone books so she could take part in spirited and sometimes feisty card games with male relatives.
�Grandma would be bringing fried eggs, the men would all be sitting around smoking cigarettes, and the only rule was you couldn�t cry,� Patsy said. �Those times and stories added a lot to understanding my whole culture and my family.�
From their mother, Betty Shannon, the sisters gained a love of music.
Betty Shannon knew how to play six instruments and her Kiwanis band, the K Strings, sometimes played at Patsy�s school dances. The entire CD is dedicated to her.
�We grew up with music in the home,� Patsy said. �She was very strict, but she was a cool lady.�
Patsy Shannon ran track and was first pursued a journalism career at the University of Washington. That is until she started getting better grades in psychology and became a therapist instead.
She married a West Central Minnesota man and moved east 21 years ago.
�I consider myself a Minnesotan,� she said, smiling. �I�ve got the accent and everything.�
She worked as a family therapist in Otter Tail County for 20 years, but finally succumbed to the pull of writing. While practicing full time, Patsy still found time to write cowboy poetry, essays, newspaper stories and a book, �Husky Song,� about another avocation, sled dog racing. After a divorce, she married Scott Christians and moved to a log home just north of Morris.
Although Shannon can play a variety of instruments, she claims to be �a jack of all trades, master of none.� So she began focusing on lyric writing about eight years ago, and is slowly making her way into musical composition, as well.
�I�ve always been drawn to the storytelling nature of it,� Patsy said. �Unlike what people think, you can�t just turn a poem into a song.�
Her exposure to Nashville musicians while working with Molly has heightened not only her appreciation for the work they do but to nuances of the craft and the industry.
�There�s a lot more to it than even I knew,� Patsy said. �But we worked with a lot of good people in Nashville. Not only good musically, but they�re truly good people.�
Molly Shannon has for 20 years lived the humbling existence of a musician in Nashville. As she�s gained some measure of notoriety, she�s still had to contend with people who confuse her with the Molly Shannon of �Saturday Night Live� fame.
�She says, �I was Molly Shannon before she was because I�m older,� � Patsy said, smiling.
But it�s probably just another in the many ways life has kept the Shannons from getting too high and mighty.
While Grammy lists and CD �listening parties� can be heady events in the life of an artist, coming back around home is a perfect counter to the lure of ego.
Patsy Shannon still recalls the first time a copy of �Husky Song� sold to someone not in her family.
�When somebody spends their hard-earned money on something you�ve created, that�s a thrill.�
"Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence from the UK for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the UK. In 1948 Ireland withdrew from the British Commonwealth; it joined the European Community in 1973. Irish governments have sought the peaceful unification of Ireland and have cooperated with Britain against terrorist groups. A peace settlement for Northern Ireland is being implemented with some difficulties. In 2006, the Irish and British governments developed and began working to implement the St. Andrews Agreement, building on the Good Friday Agreement approved in 1998."
Shamrocks, green beer, and leprechauns. All these are a part of St. Patrick's Day celebrations. The patron saint of Ireland, Patrick was born more than 1600 years ago in England to Roman parents. Historians believe his birth name was Maewyn Succat. Patrick is derived from Patricius, the Roman word for well-born. Patrick first arrived in Ireland as a teen-aged slave taken from England by Irish raiders. He escaped from slavery when he was about 21 & made his way back to England. Ireland, however, had won his heart, and he was determined to Christianize it. He left England for France, where he studied Catholicism. Ten years later, he returned to Ireland as Bishop Patrick. He devoted the remainder of his life to building churches & baptizing the Irish. March 17, the date of Patrick's death, is a religious holiday in Ireland & a day set aside to commemorate St. Patrick in other areas of the world. St. Patrick legends abound. According to a popular one, he used the three-lobed shamrock to teach the trinity to the Irish. It & the colour green are now universally recognized symbols for both Patrick & his adopted country. Although he never set foot in the New World, Patrick is a favourite saint in North America. shamrocks & green beer are easy to find. Leprechauns, well, it takes a very special person to find a leprechaun.
A truly happy person is one who can smile from year to year:
Lullabies, dreams & love ever after. Poems & songs with pipes & drums A thousand welcomes when anyone comes... That's the Irish for you. IRISH BLESSING
Related Resources:
-History History of St. Patricks Day, from History Channel "St. Patrick is believed to have driven the snakes from Ireland. Once a pagan himself, St. Patrick is one of Christianity's most widely known figures.
The modern secular holiday is based on the original Christian saint's feast day also thought to be the date of the saint's death. In 1737, Irish immigrants to the United States began observing the holiday publicly in Boston and held the first St. Patrick's Day Parade in New York City in 1766.
Today, the tradition continues with people from all walks and heritages by wearing green, eating Irish food, and attending parades. St. Patrick's Day is bursting with folklore; from the shamrock to the leprechaun and to pinching those that are not wearing green" Wikipedia "Patrick was quite successful at winning converts which upset the Celtic Druids. Patrick was arrested several times, but escaped each time. He traveled throughout Ireland, establishing monasteries across the country. He also set up schools and churches which would aid him in his conversion of the Irish country to Christianity.
His mission in Ireland lasted for thirty years. After that time, Patrick retired to County Down. He died on March 17 in AD 461. That day has been commemorated as St. Patrick's Day ever since.
"
-Celebrations St. Patricks Day.comlist of parades by state
$Financially Support Info:
contact Jennifer George by phone at (701) 235-1661 or by post at:
Outfitters for Adventure
, c/o Jennifer George
, 1123 6th St. S., Fargo, ND 58102
*Paul and Priscilla Reid, "gifted-ministers" from Ireland, will be guest speakers at this year's Life Links Family Reunion at Hungry Horse, Montana Camp, August 10-14th 2004!
"On January 30, 1972, British troops opened fire on unarmed and peaceful civilians in Derry, Ireland during a civil rights march. This music video is a tribute to the 14 killed and others wounded - combining video/music of U2, video from "Bloody Sunday" (2002 movie), and photographs from that terrible day."
"In the Stone and Bronze Ages, Ireland was inhabited by Picts in the north and a people called the Erainn in the south, the same stock, apparently, as in all the isles before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. About the 4th century B.C., tall, red-haired Celts arrived from Gaul or Galicia. They subdued and assimilated the inhabitants and established a Gaelic civilization. By the beginning of the Christian Era, Ireland was divided into five kingdoms—Ulster, Connacht, Leinster, Meath, and Munster. Saint Patrick introduced Christianity in 432, and the country developed into a center of Gaelic and Latin learning. Irish monasteries, the equivalent of universities, attracted intellectuals as well as the pious and sent out missionaries to many parts of Europe and, some believe, to North America."
"The population of the island is slightly under six million (2006/7), with almost 4.25 million in the Republic of Ireland[4] (1.7 million in Greater Dublin[5]) and an estimated 1.75 million in Northern Ireland[6] (0.6 million in Greater Belfast [7]). This is a significant increase from a modern historical low in the 1960s."
"
Missionary, To reach the young and the lost.
Her Heart :) Outreach & Discipleship, Worship & The arts. She is seeing Ireland change one restored life at a time. Beth call Republic of Ireland her home."
Beth is asking support from any one. That could be you! Support Address: Bethany Eastvold ; C/O Jennifer George ; 1123 6th St. S. ; Fargo, ND 58103 USA (please attach a note saying the Gift is for Her.)
In Ireland: AIB #04291076
Location: Newbridge, Ireland
Music
-Worship
Amazing Grace
"Psalms chapter 51 verses 1 to 13, set to music from Jimmy Swaggart filmed in N.Ireland by John Dynes."
Raymond Robinson, christian flute-instrumentalist worship (shoutlife.com)
"This is a song from Robin Mark's Revival in Belfast Concert and the video is of Cochin Architect Association group on a trip to China and lyrics are displayed to learn this amazing song." �These are the days of Elijah, declaring the Word of the Lord; and these are the days of your servant Moses, righteousness being restored; and though these are the days of great trials, of famine and darkness and sword, still we are the voice in the desert crying �Prepare ye the way of the Lord�. Behold He comes riding on the clouds, shining like the sun at the trumpet call; lift your voice, it�s the year of jubilee, out of Zion�s hill salvation comes�....
These are part of the lyrics from one of my favorite songs in this Album...
*I used to have this music tape, which was given to me as a gift from a older fellow brother in Christ. It was such a blessing to bring to my Trip to the Philippines in 2001, which I continued to play this along the 11 hour drive from Manilla to a rural province town. Unfortunately, it got played too much and it broke!
"We believe every single person has the power to make a tremendous difference in our world. Too often we're just not sure what to do, how to help, or how or where to get started. These 101 ideas will propel you to get started, and then guide you as you move forward. No matter where you live; how much money you make (or don't make); whether you are healthy or sick; whether you are young or old; whether you are busy or have a lot of free time - YOU can make a difference! Take a minute and watch our exclusive flash movie. THANKS! You'll never be the same!"
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