St Patrick’s Purgatory, Saint’s Island

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2 Responses

  1. Ian Topham says:

    Re: St Patrick’s Purgatory, Saint’s Island
    In his notes W. Y. Evans Wentz states ‘In the face of all the legends told of pilgrims who have been in Patrick’s Purgatory, it seems that either through religious frenzy like that produced in Protestant revivals, or else through some strange influence due to the cave itself after the preliminary disciplines, some of the pilgrims have had most unusual psychic experiences. Those who have experienced fasting and a rigorous life for a prescribed period affirm that there results a changed condition, physical, mental, and spiritual, so that it is very probable that the Christian pilgrims to the Purgatory, like the pagan pilgrims who fasted on the Tuatha De Danann in New Grange, were in good condition to receive impressions of a psychical nature such as the Society for Psychical Research is beginning to believe are by no means rare to people susceptible to them. Neophytes seeking initiation among the ancients had to undergo even more rigorous preparations than these; for they were expected while entranced to leave their physical bodies and in reality enter the purgatorial state, as we shall presently have occasion to point out.’

    It could of course be argued that people who have gone through such rigorous disciplines may be susceptible to hallucinations they may perceive to be psychic experiences.

  2. Ian Topham says:

    Re: St Patrick’s Purgatory, Saint’s Island
    It should be noted that some opinions suggest that St Patrick may not have actually visited Lough Derg as he never referred to it.

    However, if you want to read more about St Patrick’s Purgatory I’d recommend reading the this PDF document.