Heya

[roseofblackness]

hey im really new tot his stuff >.< sorry if im disrespectful please help me get started  

[ShadowSharrow]

Right.

Start at what exactly ?

I would suggest that you make a list of things you believe in
and then start researching things you have an interst in and want to find more about.  

[Crowley Vance]

I found it easier to talk to grandparents, great grandparents and see what stories came with them from the old country (Ireland) and found where the stories came from.  

[Pelta]

Crowley Vance

I found it easier to talk to grandparents, great grandparents and see what stories came with them from the old country (Ireland) and found where the stories came from.

That would be assuming she wants to research a Celtic path. She mentioned nothing of the sort. There is far more than just Irish stuff to paganism.

And yo, Ireland aint old. W've only been a republic for less than a century. wink  

[Crowley Vance]

Pelta

Crowley Vance

I found it easier to talk to grandparents, great grandparents and see what stories came with them from the old country (Ireland) and found where the stories came from.

That would be assuming she wants to research a Celtic path. She mentioned nothing of the sort. There is far more than just Irish stuff to paganism.

And yo, Ireland aint old. W've only been a republic for less than a century. wink

You misunderstood me. I was talking about myself. I wasn't suggesting that she follow a Celtic path I was just making clear what I meant when I said Old Country. My Celtic ties go back far more than a century.  

[Pelta]

Crowley Vance

Pelta

Crowley Vance

I found it easier to talk to grandparents, great grandparents and see what stories came with them from the old country (Ireland) and found where the stories came from.

That would be assuming she wants to research a Celtic path. She mentioned nothing of the sort. There is far more than just Irish stuff to paganism.

And yo, Ireland aint old. W've only been a republic for less than a century. wink

You misunderstood me. I was talking about myself. I wasn't suggesting that she follow a Celtic path I was just making clear what I meant when I said Old Country. My Celtic ties go back far more than a century.

Tbh, I've never heard the term "Old Country" applied to Ireland by anyone who's ever lived here. It seems like a term used by people wishing to reconnect with severed roots from when their ancestors left the country in the first place.

Not to mention it conjures up images of pastoral landscapes with farmers hugging their sheep and smoking pipes. Ireland isn't an Old Country any more than America or Lebanon is. All landmass is (roughly) the same age.* It's simply an attempt to add a sense of mystique to something that's far away.

Why not call France the "Old Country?" They've got neolithic caves down by the Dordogne that beat Newgrange by at least 10,000 years.

Why should anything be called "old?" Surely if anything is old, isn't America? Being part of the theoretical Pangaea would make it only a few hundred million years older than Ireland.

Be careful what you call things. Especially when it has to do with your "Old Country." A lot of Irish people take great offense at the stereotyping of their culture.


*Volcanic islands excluded  

[ShadowSharrow]

The term the "Old Country." is often used by families who immigrated to the USA. the "Old Country" could be Russia, Germany, Poland, etc etc.

Put what I never got was some one with 1 grand parent who was Irish or great grandparent who was Irish ignoring the rest of their ancestry and it's gifts to say they were Irish... I mean how many americans claim to be or ignore that their family is Breton, basque, Rhineland, welsh, Scots, Manx Celtic.  

[TheDisreputableDog]

ShadowSharrow

The term the "Old Country." is often used by families who immigrated to the USA. the "Old Country" could be Russia, Germany, Poland, etc etc.

Put what I never got was some one with 1 grand parent who was Irish or great grandparent who was Irish ignoring the rest of their ancestry and it's gifts to say they were Irish... I mean how many americans claim to be or ignore that their family is Breton, basque, Rhineland, welsh, Scots, Manx Celtic.

I don't know what my family is. My mother is English Canadian and my father is American. My mother's parents may both be English Canadian as well, or English. Her grandparents, I believe at least some of them are English but I don't know whether they are all English or some are English Canadian. My father is notoriously imprecise and all I got out of him the last time I asked was that after a point our ancestors on his side are "Celtic," and talks about "the clan." I believe our last name is Scottish.

Suffice to say, I will not be reclaiming a Celtic religion.  

[Crowley Vance]

Pelta

Crowley Vance

Pelta

Crowley Vance

I found it easier to talk to grandparents, great grandparents and see what stories came with them from the old country (Ireland) and found where the stories came from.

That would be assuming she wants to research a Celtic path. She mentioned nothing of the sort. There is far more than just Irish stuff to paganism.

And yo, Ireland aint old. W've only been a republic for less than a century. wink

You misunderstood me. I was talking about myself. I wasn't suggesting that she follow a Celtic path I was just making clear what I meant when I said Old Country. My Celtic ties go back far more than a century.

Tbh, I've never heard the term "Old Country" applied to Ireland by anyone who's ever lived here. It seems like a term used by people wishing to reconnect with severed roots from when their ancestors left the country in the first place.

Not to mention it conjures up images of pastoral landscapes with farmers hugging their sheep and smoking pipes. Ireland isn't an Old Country any more than America or Lebanon is. All landmass is (roughly) the same age.* It's simply an attempt to add a sense of mystique to something that's far away.

Why not call France the "Old Country?" They've got neolithic caves down by the Dordogne that beat Newgrange by at least 10,000 years.

Why should anything be called "old?" Surely if anything is old, isn't America? Being part of the theoretical Pangaea would make it only a few hundred million years older than Ireland.

Be careful what you call things. Especially when it has to do with your "Old Country." A lot of Irish people take great offense at the stereotyping of their culture.


*Volcanic islands excluded

How is that stereotyping? My great grandmother called Ireland the old country. Just because Ireland is a newer country doesn't mean people haven't been living there for centuries. Ireland is old enough to have castles. Wouldn't that make the country old by US standards?  

[Pelta]

ShadowSharrow

The term the "Old Country." is often used by families who immigrated to the USA. the "Old Country" could be Russia, Germany, Poland, etc etc.

Put what I never got was some one with 1 grand parent who was Irish or great grandparent who was Irish ignoring the rest of their ancestry and it's gifts to say they were Irish... I mean how many americans claim to be or ignore that their family is Breton, basque, Rhineland, welsh, Scots, Manx Celtic.

My ancestry is Romanian, Polish, Irish and (we think) Jewish. I don't claim any of them as a cultural background. Oddly enough, I'm actually American. I'm a big mishmash of lots of things, like most everyone else in that gigantic melting-pot. I can't see why people don't just accept their nationality.

That said, I actually have Irish Citizenship and have lived here for six years. I still wouldn't call myself Irish if anyone asked.

Crowley Vance, I don't believe the major debate here is actually about whether Ireland is old or not. I was using that as an example to prove how arbitrary it is to call it that. Why not call America old? Or China? Though ShadowSharrow made a good point in saying lots of people call wherever they came from the "old country," why should Ireland get all the attention?

Crowley Vance

Ireland is old enough to have castles. Wouldn't that make the country old by US standards?

America has cave paintings around the desert older than the political concept of Europe. No place is really older than another. There is only the weight you attach to specific things and places. And for some reason, far too many Americans cling to Ireland to their own detriment.  

[Crowley Vance]

Pelta

ShadowSharrow

The term the "Old Country." is often used by families who immigrated to the USA. the "Old Country" could be Russia, Germany, Poland, etc etc.

Put what I never got was some one with 1 grand parent who was Irish or great grandparent who was Irish ignoring the rest of their ancestry and it's gifts to say they were Irish... I mean how many americans claim to be or ignore that their family is Breton, basque, Rhineland, welsh, Scots, Manx Celtic.

My ancestry is Romanian, Polish, Irish and (we think) Jewish. I don't claim any of them as a cultural background. Oddly enough, I'm actually American. I'm a big mishmash of lots of things, like most everyone else in that gigantic melting-pot. I can't see why people don't just accept their nationality.

That said, I actually have Irish Citizenship and have lived here for six years. I still wouldn't call myself Irish if anyone asked.

Crowley Vance, I don't believe the major debate here is actually about whether Ireland is old or not. I was using that as an example to prove how arbitrary it is to call it that. Why not call America old? Or China? Though ShadowSharrow made a good point in saying lots of people call wherever they came from the "old country," why should Ireland get all the attention?

Crowley Vance

Ireland is old enough to have castles. Wouldn't that make the country old by US standards?

America has cave paintings around the desert older than the political concept of Europe. No place is really older than another. There is only the weight you attach to specific things and places. And for some reason, far too many Americans cling to Ireland to their own detriment.

My family calls it the "old country" because a large percentage of our heritage comes from Ireland. My family has only been in the United States since the 20s. I wasn't saying that Ireland should get all the attention. As I said before I was talking about my grandparents and my great grandparents. I was specifying what I meant when they said old country. I made that clear several posts ago.