Saturday

St. Patrick’s Day Jewelry

Roberta Z Green Amethyst & Lime Quartz and Diamond Ring

Created Green Garnet and Diamond Ring

St. Patrick’s Day is March 17h and we all need a little extra luck.  “Wearing the Green” or a shamrock is said to bring good fortune to the wearer.  Jewelry indicative of the spirit of the day is fun to wear and a little positive protection against misfortune can’t hurt.

I knew a little about St. Patrick but wasn’t really up on the details regarding the story of Ireland’s Patron Saint.  I found that Patrick was the son of wealthy British parents and that, at the age of 16, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders who attacked his family’s estate.  He spend the next six years in captivity, forced to work alone as a Sheppard.  Turning to religion as a way to comfort himself against fear and loneliness, he began to dream of converting his Irish captors to Christianity.  At the urging of a voice he believed to be God, he escaped by walking almost 200 miles to the coast.   Upon his return to England, an angel visited him in a dream and ordered him to return to Ireland as a missionary.  He studied Christianity for 15 years, then returned to Ireland to begin his mission as a Catholic priest. From lessons learned during his years of captivity, he didn’t malign Irish beliefs.  Instead, he tried to incorporate Irish tradition into his teachings.  A primary example of this is when he added the sun, a Druid symbol, to the Christian cross and created the Celtic Cross.

Gold & Mother of Pearl & 4-Leaf Clover Oval Locket

Legends abound about Patrick’s life in Ireland and the separation between fact and fiction is difficult to distinguish.  The story of the shamrock supposedly began when Patrick attempted to explain the Holy Trinity to the Druids and their followers.  He knew the shamrock was a sacred plant to the Druids, so he plucked one from a field he was standing in and held it up to the crowd.  He explained that the three leaves represented the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, all as one God, just as the clover’s three leaves were united by one stalk.

Green Irish Beaded Bracelet

Stories spread about St. Patrick and the shamrock and became legend.  The most famous one being that Patrick performed a miracle by filling the Irish countryside with shamrock fields to expel all snakes from the country.  Shamrock fields supposedly grew wherever Patrick preached.  The fact that Ireland does not have snakes, was proof that St. Patrick’s God was very powerful.

Four Leaf Clover Charm in Gold

In 1681 on St. Patrick’s Feast Day, people were first referenced as wearing shamrocks as symbols of luck, 1000 years after Patrick’s death.  During Queen Victoria’s rule, the shamrock became a symbol of Irish rebellion against the English crown.  The Queen ordered any one wearing the shamrock on a military uniform to be put to death.  Displaying the shamrock on clothing became known as “wearing the Green”.  During the eighteen hundreds, the Irish began decorating churches, clothing and furniture as well as other items with shamrocks.  The shamrock came to symbolize Irish pride and nationalism.