How many children will I bear?

For if my love comes not to me,

Dark and dismal my life will be.

- This verse, recited by a maiden as she gathered special herbs by the light of the first full moon of the new year, could reveal a future husband and cause the girl to have a true dream about the man--if she first complied with certain requirements. With a black-handled knife she had to cut out three pieces of earth, bring them home, tie them in her left stocking, and secure the bundle with her right garter. The completed package then had to be placed upon her pillow.

- When yawning, make the sign of the cross instantly over your mouth, or the evil spirit will make a rush down and take up his abode with you.

- It is unlucky to offer your right hand in salutation, for there is an old saying, "A curse with the left hand to those we hate, but the right hand to those we honor."

- If the palm of your hand itches you will be getting money; if the elbow, you will be changing beds.

- Breaking a mirror brought seven years of bad luck, while two people washing hands in the same basin at the same time courted disaster.

9. The Truth about Saint Patrick

Ah yes, on this day of days, the beer flows green and the passions and pride of country swell. All in remembrance of one holy man who spread the word of God amongst the heathens! Oh for the truth to be known for the truth is better than the made-up story of this man.

Who was Saint Patrick?

He was not an Irishman by birth but by heart.

The man known to all of us as the blessed Saint Patrick was born in a small Welsh village with the rather humble name of Cowbridge. This is a small farming community just south and west of what is now Cardiff.

It was here that he was raised in the old Welsh religion and with out a doubt visited and prayed at the Margam Abbey which was only ten miles from his home.

Patrick had the misfortune to have been captured by coastal raiders one day and was eventually sold into slavery in Ireland. Here he spent seven years tending the flocks of his keepers whom though they bought him, as a slave did not treat him unduly harsh.

Eventually Patrick escaped his captivity and returned to his village and began to study with the priests at Margam Abbey.

He spent 12 years in schooling and prayer before being sent back to Ireland not by the church in Rome but by the church in Wales.

You see there is a common misconception that Patrick was under the direction of the Roman Catholic Church centered in Rome, when actually his direction and influence came from Llandaff Cathedral in Wales.

It is generally accepted that the rule of the Roman Catholic Church in Great Britain began with the arrival of Augustine in 597 AD. Since St. Patrick died around 490 AD it would have been quite hard for him to have been under the direction of the church.

This leaves only one possible solution. Patrick was a member of the Welsh church established in 37 AD by Joseph of Arimathea. And since the seat of the church was Llandaff Cathedral, only 12 miles from his home, it is safe to assume that he came under its influence.

Patrick had been sent to Ireland to bring the residing Christians back to the fold and to convert the heathens. Heathens meaning those who still followed the Druid religion and other pagan Gods.

Now you have to understand that these Druids were not the original Druids that frequented the lands of Wales and Greater Britain for they had been eradicated en-masse by the Roman Legions in 70 AD on the Island of Holy Head.

The Irish Druids could at best be described as a Hybrid form of Druids. Where the original religious practice was the observance of the laws of nature and a celebration of life in general, the Irish form of the religion weighted heavily on the magical side with even hints of human sacrifices thrown in. In short a polar opposite of the original.

Patrick having been born and raised near the seat of Druid teaching in southern Wales would have been very aware of the customs and practices of the Druids. It is a well accepted fact that upon the arrival of Christianity in 37 AD, the locals Druids interacted with the Christians closely.

So it should come as no surprise that Patrick had at his disposal an intimate knowledge of the Irish Druids and this made it easier for him to go head to head with the religion.

Now Ireland never did have any snakes that I am aware of. It is the opinion of this writer that the use of the idea that "Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland" is another way of describing the pushing aside of the Druids. In religious connotation the snake has always been seen as a symbol of evil and the devil and I am quite sure that during the retelling of the story during the middle ages that this descriptive terminology was used and eventually accepted as fact.

Take all the hoopla and put it aside and we are left with an amazing story of one man against an established belief system.

A man following his own beliefs and the teachings of his church doing battle with a foe in a country that he once was enslaved.

To say that Saint Patrick was brave is an understatement, for he faced certain death returning to Ireland as an escaped slave. To say that he was intelligent is mute as he matched wits with the leaders of the Druids and bested them. To say he was pure of heart is to be humble, for only a man of conviction and true belief could have survived and triumphed over the odds he faced.

To say that Patrick is worthy of Sainthood is to acknowledge all his achievements and recognize his true value to the world. This, to me, is better than the made-up stories of his deeds.

10. Sayings

1. A man that can't laugh at himself should be given a mirror.

2. A man takes a drink; the drink takes a drink; the drink takes the man.

3. A narrow neck keeps the bottle from being emptied in one swig.

4. Morning is the time to pity the sober. The way they're feeling then is the best they're going to feel all day.

5. You can lead the horse to the well, but you can't make him drink.

6. Better the coldness of a friend than the sweetness of an enemy.

7. Be nice to them on the way up. You might meet them all on the way down.

8. If a man fools me once, shame on him. If he fools me twice, shame on me.

9. Let your anger set the sun and not rise again with it.

11. Toasts

Here's to absent friends and here's twice to absent enemies.

Here's to the light heart and the heavy hand.

Thirst is a shameless disease so here's to a shameful cure.

Here's to a wet night and a dry morning.

May we always have a clean shirt, a clean conscience, and a bob in the pocket.

May you be across Heaven's threshold before the old boy knows you're dead.