Would you believe?
By Sean O'Donaile
It was with a degree of trepidation that I tuned into ``Everyman;
Pagan's Progress'', BBC 1, Sunday.
I always assumed you'd be set up for eternal damnation for
associating with these people. Pagans were people who lived in
cities far away, with long hair and golden cows in their
bedrooms, and they took lots of drugs.
They never told us that Paganism was in vogue in Ireland long
before St Patrick set foot here and was rooted in the land. These
days Witchcraft is making a comeback, although the fact they
don't get boiled in oil or tarred might be a factor. They do
dress in black, though this is a form of camouflage when they
worship in the forest.
High Priest Steve and Priestess Kate seem like a very ordinary
couple, who shop for baby clothes by day and meet in the woods at
night to use ancient magic to divine the sex of their child.
There was no sign of a magic broom, and Kate explained the
significance of fire as representing our passions, water
symbolising our emotions and air our bodies. We also met Dave, an
ex-glam rocker who ``discovered the spiritual traditional and
family values'' in Paganism, and decided to become a Druid, men
who held great power and influence in pre-Christian Ireland. Dave
spurns the opportunity to read the racing pages at the back of
chapel so he can play his harp in the forest, which he feels
``roots'' him to the land and ``blows his mind''!
Gordon ``the Toad'' McLellan, the Shaman of Old Trafford, is a bit
of an odd fish and takes us to the top of a hill to communicate
with the spirits through his ghetto blaster, where he dons a
false beak and leathers.
The pagans take affairs seriously and we visited a
Marriage/Karmic link where Steve and Kate tied the knot with
flowers in their hair. There was no wedding cake with 39 tiers
and not a sign of anyone falling on the floor after 79 pints.
The newly weds must then celebrate together the eight festivals
of the year. Beltane (May Day), seems like the most appealing, as
you must find your lover and celebrate your vitality in the woods
- I once spent beltane in The Mourne Mountains, though the only
vitality I got was from South Armagh Poitin.
other certainty for Lucifer's fires were the Communists. BBC 2
(Tuesday) did a considerable hatchet job on one of its pioneers
in Lenin; The Secret Files. These files have been stored in an
underground bunker for eighty odd years. They allege he had an
affair with a beautiful French revolutionary Inessa, which he
continued throughout his marriage. His wife on hearing of this,
decided to stay with him and ``for the sake of the party remain
comrades''. He also turned his back on pleasures such as chess,
skating (somehow I couldn't imagine Len on rollerblades), and
Beethoven, which made him forget the reality of revolution.
Revolt he did, and similar to Pearse and Connolly used the
opportunity of World War I to strike, travelling to Petrograd by
train, where ``he insisted the Bolsheviks seize power by force''.
Trotsky acknowledged Len as ``the engine of the October
revolution'', though the unearthed files reveal he was living on
borrowed time and was playing politics against the clock. This
was speeded up by an assassination attempt in 1917, and what
followed was a series of strokes, leading to his demise in 1924,
when he lost the power of movement and speech.
The academics assert Len ``deceived'' people about this health,
though this was hardly surprising with Stalin waiting in the
wings. The professors also tell us of his great cruelty, through
acknowledging it was done as ``dictatorship of the proletariat''.
First agin the wall were the clergy, followed by an assortment of
bourgeoisie and landed gentry. Despite all the guff there was
little new information unearthed, and it will hardly stop his
preserved body being sold to someone like Michael Jackson for his
private collection.
On the subject of guff, ex-head Peeler and newly crowned Sir Jack
Hermon told us little or nothing on The Vincent Browne
Interview on RTE 1. Apart from the tragic death of his wife in
1985, which touched a raw chord, he seems intent on avoiding
answers and being nice to his old adversaries (that didn't
include us!). Shoot to kill was ``backed up by the highest
Courts'', which is hardly new, the Stalker Inquiry was ``the Prime
Minister's responsbility - not mine'', MI5 was ``not my business'',
and ``what could I do?'' about leaks to loyalists from the RUC.
He seems to act stupid or give law and order type responses when
it suits although his politics are easily spotted. Some people
``are prejudiced against the RUC'', and he obviously didn't favour
the Anglo-Irish Agreement. He has great time for Garret
Fitzgerald and John Brutal (wow!), and believes Thatcher ``behaved
admirably during the Hunger Strikes'' - tell that to Julie
Livingstone's family, but then again they might be prejudiced
aginst his ``police force'' (sic).
S'é Léargas ceann de na cláranna is fearr ar an teilifís faoi
láthair, agus ar an Mháirt seo chaite bhí ceathrar iar-cimí ag
amharc siar ar a saoil.
Níor dhúirt John White on UDP mórán ach go raibh brón air agus go
bhfuair se dhá chéim.
Bhí níos mó suim i scéal Eddie Kinner a chaith tréimhse fada sa
Cheis Fhada ag ceistiú é féin, agus atá anois ag déanamh an rud
céanna le déagoiri ina phobal féin.
Bhí Eoghain ``Gino'' McCormaic suimiúl mar is gnáth agus bhí brón
air mar chaill sé seans clann a bheith aige, de dheasca an tearma
fada i ngéibheann. Lean se ar aghaidh leis an obair nuair a
scoileadh saor é - bhí sé ina Uachtarán ar Aontas na Micléinn in
Ollscoil na Gailimhe agus tá sé gafa leis an feachtas ``Saoirse''
ag an bomaite seo.
Chuala muid Gary Roberts ag caint faoin slí a d'fhás Sinn Féin
agus na pobail Phoblachtanach as na stailc ocrais agus bhi cuma
sasúil ar a shaol agus é ag múineadh sa mhéanscoil. Clár
spéisiúil a bhí ann agus níl sé ró-dhéanach go fóill a Eoghain!