Pagan Gods and Goddesses

Pagan Gods and Goddesses Worshipped under the guise of Christian Saints

Saint Brigid was named after one of the most powerful goddesses of the Pagan religion "Probably the clearest example of the survival of an early goddess into Christian times is Brigid, the great triple goddess of the Celtic Irish. Bridget took religious vows, ...and was canonized after her death by her adoptive church, which allowed the saint a curious list of attributes, coincidentally identical to those of the earlier goddess." -Exerpt from Goddess & Heroines by Patricia Monaghan

"Brigit is a goddess who survived the onslaught of Christianity. So great was the love of the Irish people for this deity, that they retained all Her characteristics as a Christian saint! They would have none of Christianity if they couldn't keep Brigit. So the Catholic church had no choice but to make her a saint. She is a triple Goddess. This triple aspect of the Goddess is where Christians got the idea of the Trinity." -Brigit, the Goddess Who Would Not Die by Joan Lansberry "The three-leaf shamrock was originally of "The Three Mothers", as well as the three phases of the moon being her symbols. She shares some attributes with the ancient Greek triple Goddess Hecate. Into the 18th Century, her sacred flame was tended, at first, by priestesses, and later by nuns, when the shrine became a convent, at Kildare, Ireland." -Brigit, the Goddess Who Would Not Die by Joan Lansberry

"Although the Christian religion is monotheistic and all replies to prayers are said to come from the grace of Jehovah, in practice, prayers to Jesus and the Holy Spirit...and prayers to The Virgin Mary have a long history of popular usage dating back to pre-Christian European Goddess-centered paganism." - PATRON SAINTS for various OCCUPATIONS and CONDITIONS compiled by catherine yronwode from Catholic Church and Folk Sources "As in most religions, the honoured dead of Christianity -- real or fictitious men and women

known for their piety -- are referred to as "saints". In what some scholars believe was an attempt to appeal to pagans who worshipped various polytheistic pantheons." - PATRON SAINTS for various OCCUPATIONS and CONDITIONS compiled by catherine yronwode from Catholic Church and Folk Sources "Many Catholics address the Virgin Mary with direct prayers and do not ask her to intercede on their behalfs with Jehovah, but although this is a common practice, technically speaking, Mary is not a deity..." - PATRON SAINTS for various OCCUPATIONS and CONDITIONS compiled by catherine yronwode from Catholic Church and Folk Sources "Paganism survived...in the form of ancient rites and customs condoned, or accepted AND transformed, by an often indulgent Church. And intimate and trustful worship of saints replaced the cult of pagan gods..." -(Ralph Woodrow, Babylon Mystery Religion: Ancient and Modern). "The Virgin [Mary] was given the title Queen of Heaven and is depicted wearing a blue robe decorated with stars and standing on a crescent Moon. This image is almost identical to pagan representations of the goddess of love Ishtar who was worshipped by the Babylonians." -(Michael Howard, The Occult Conspiracy: The Power of Secret Societies in World History [NY, NY: MFJ Books, 1989], p. 22). "Pagan gods were made Christian saints. Bacchus became St. Bacchus, and Dionysius

became St. Denys or Denis." -(Charles G. Berger, Our Phallic Heritage [NY, NY: Greenwich Book Publishers, Inc., 1966], p. 154-155). "As paganism and Christianity were MERGED.... The modern Pontifex Maximus [the Pope of Rome] ...preserved the name, the attributes, the pageantry, the pride, and even the garb of that high PAGAN priest...." -(Ralph Woodrow, Babylon Mystery Religion: Ancient and Modern). pages 27-28

"Some pre-Christian deities are alleged to have been adopted as saints. Some cults seem to have been Christianized fairly directly-for example, it is often asserted...that Saint Brigid was a goddess before Christianity ever reached Ireland." -Definition of "Saint"-Historicity Word-IQ Encyclopedia

Finding the cult of Brigit impossible to eradicate, the Catholic church canonized her as a saint, calling her Bridget or Bride. The Roman Catholic church adsorbed much of Celtic religion and many pagan gods and goddesses became Roman Catholic saints.

"Actually, Brigid is a triple goddess... As a triple goddess, she's sometimes linked with...the mother goddess in many pantheons. Brigid was one of the leading goddesses in Ireland when Christianity came to the country, so she was transformed into "St. Brigid"..." - Celtic History, Faeries, and Magickal Places

Bridget, Brighid, Bride, etc. by fiona broome, (c)2004

"Brigit was one of the most widely worshiped goddesses in the Celtic Britain, and traditionally she is seen as the goddess of smithing, creativity, healing, wisdom, fertility, and childbirth. Some scholars believe that Brigid is the Celtic equivalent of the Roman goddess Minerva, and it is possible that the worship of the two became amalgamated in Roman Britain. Brigid was eventually Christianised and adapted into the cult of St Brigit, who founded a religious community at Kildare in Ireland. A perpetual fire was kept burning at her nunnery." -The Pantheons of British Mythology Brigid/Bridget/Brighid/Bride "Saint Brigid was named after one of the most powerful goddesses of the Pagan religion... Brigid supposedly became a vestal virgin in service to the Goddess Brigid. -Bridgid of Ireland Encyclopedia; The freeDictionary.com "Scratch a bit at the thin topsoil of Irish Catholicism, and you soon come to the solid bedrock of Irish paganism." -FINDING THE GODDESS IN IRELAND By Patricia Monaghan, author The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit "The old ways were seamlessly bonded to the new, so that ancient rituals continued, ancient divinities became saints." -FINDING THE GODDESS IN IRELAND

By Patricia Monaghan, author The Landscape of Celtic Myth and Spirit "Official saint making, or canonization by the Vatican, did not start until the 11th century, but as early as the 2nd century, the veneration of saints by the ex-pagan populace was in full swing." -Beer Saints: With Beer On Their Side by Theresa O'Shea Volume 22 Number 6 January 2002 Feature "The spirit animating the ancient pagan religions had to satisfy itself henceforth with images of the Virgin and the saints, and with relic-worship, which, from this time (the end of the 4th century), began to progress by leaps and bounds." --E. Belfort Bax The Decay of Pagan Thought (January 1890) "The countless host of divinities – both gods and goddesses – possessed a legitimate place in the divine hierarchy of the pagans. The transition from this to angel and saint-worship was obviously easy. The writings of Proclus, the last great Pagan theologian, which formulate this view of the Pagan gods, were adopted and became the basis of the mediaeval catholic theology." -E. Belfort Bax The Decay of Pagan Thought (January 1890) "Astrology and magic had also existed as the peculiar function of the Chaldeans and Babylonians from a very early period, and later passed on to the Graeco-Roman world.

Charms, amulets, and spells became a common belief in the 3rd and 4th centuries. The prevailing cults and pagan philosophies had in all of them their theory of magic. As a matter of course, Christianity absorbed this tendency. The miracles of saints, the magical powers of relics, and of the sign of the cross...in the course of time absorbed the more obviously Pagan magic of the fourth century." --E. Belfort Bax The Decay of Pagan Thought (January 1890) "Polytheistic pagan religions assign deities to magical and lucky functions. Our modern era has many examples of deities and saints being marketed as "lucky figures" of one kind or another or being considered protective to their owners. In addition, some polytheistic cultures have deities specifically designated as luck gods for different events or illnesses. The Catholic Church has produced an official list of Patron Saints for various occupations and conditions." -GODS AND SAINTS AS LUCKY FIGURES Catherine Yronwode