Why I Don’t Wear Green on St. Patrick’s Day

Every year, March 17th arrives wrapped in a sea of green… parades, shamrocks, laughter, and celebration. It’s a day many associate with Irish pride, joy, and tradition. But for me, it’s a day I’ve chosen to approach differently, without the green. Behind the legend of Saint Patrick lies a story that deserves a deeper look.

Most of us were taught the familiar tale: that Saint Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, banishing them into the sea and freeing the land from danger. But here’s the truth many historians and spiritual seekers acknowledge… Ireland NEVER had literal snakes. What were the “snakes”? In many interpretations, the snakes symbolize the indigenous spiritual traditions of Ireland (the Druids, the shamans, the healers, and those deeply connected to the land and its ancient wisdom). These were people who practiced earth-based spirituality long before Christianity arrived on the island.

The spread of Christianity across Ireland is often framed as peaceful and transformative. NOT TRUE! While there were rare moments of cultural blending, there is also a less-spoken narrative; suppression, displacement, and the erasure of native traditions. From this viewpoint, the “driving out of the snakes” becomes symbolic of something heavier. It is the dismantling of pagan practices, the silencing of spiritual leaders, and the marginalization of those, especially women, who held roles as healers, seers, and wisdom keepers.

Women who once stood as spiritual authorities were gradually pushed aside. Practices rooted in intuition, nature, and ancestral knowledge were reframed as dangerous or forbidden. What had been sacred became labeled as “other.”

The Druids who carried oral wisdom and deep connection to the land, the shamans who journeyed between worlds for healing and insight, the women whose gifts were later misunderstood or feared… these people lost their voices; their traditions buried rather than honored

Whether one interprets these events as literal history or symbolic transformation, there’s no denying that cultural and spiritual shifts often come at a cost. Not wearing green isn’t about rejecting Irish culture or heritage… it’s about remembering all of it. It’s about holding space for the parts of history that aren’t celebrated in parades. It’s about honoring the old ways, the earth-based traditions, and the spiritual paths that existed long before they were pushed into the shadows.

It’s a quiet act of awareness. A personal choice to reflect rather than celebrate blindly.