I think everyone knows that the name of this organisation came from William of Orange, but not many people know where his family name came from. It had nothing whatsoever to do with the colour orange, even though the family adopted the colour to represent its name. The name actually comes from an area in Southern France, which is also called Orange. In Medieval times this area was called the Principality of Orange. With all the intermarriages going on in Medieval Europe among the ruling families, quite often titles and places fell into the hands of someone that, hitherto had nothing to do with the place. In 1544, William the Silent, Count of Nassau, inherited the lands and the title Prince of Orange. This led to the family being named the House of Orange-Nassau. This is the family from which William of Orange came, he being Prince of Orange when he invaded Britain and became king.
The place-name Orange and the colour orange have different and completely separate eymologies. The colour orange was named after the fruit and has its roots in India and the Sub-Continent. The place-name, although the same, came from Latin, which, in turn was derived from a Celtic word. The place was called Arausio in Roman times, taken straight from the Celtic. This was later corrupted into Aurenja, which later became Orange. The word Orange being used as the place-name predates the use of the word for the fruit by several centuries.
Arausio was actually named after a Celtic river god, also called Arausio, whom the local people and their druids worshipped. Essentially, then, William of Orange's name comes from a pagan god. Since the Orange Order was named after him, then it is not incorrect to call the Orange Order a pagan organisation, or, in effect, a pagan cult, which worships ancient Celtic gods.
When Celtic druids were officiating at religious ceremonies they always dressed in white, which signified purity. White robes, white hoods and white gloves were worn on these occasions. This tradition has survived in the Orange Order to this day and members can always be seen to be wearing white gloves on ceremonial occasions, such as when they are marching.
Druids were not only priests but were warriors as well. When the skull of an ancient druid warrior was excavated it was discovered to be wearing quite distinctive headgear.
Put a body round the skeleton of this hat and cover it in black felt and it would look extremely familiar. The wearing of bowler-hats has nothing to do with respectability or some such thing; it is a cover that contains the above skeleton within it. The Orange Order, in line with its pagan Celtic roots, insists that its members wear a druid's crown.
The Fifth of November is an important date in the Orange calendar. It is a time when they build bonfires and burn the effigy of a man. Ostensibly this is about celebrating the failure of Guy Fawkes and his accomplices when they tried to kill the king and his cabinet and restore England to Catholicism in the Sixteenth Century. In truth, however, this ceremony has its roots much further back.
Part of druidical worship was human sacrifice. Ancient sources tell us how the sacrificial victim would be imprisoned in a wooden effigy, the Wicker Man of folklore, and then burned alive. The current yearly ceremony of burning a human effigy is a continuation of this pagan ritual.
It is easily seen, then, that far from being the Christian organisation that it purports to be, the Orange Order is, in fact, a pagan cult. It is named after an ancient Celtic god and continues to use the practices and accoutrements associated with pagan, druidical religious ceremonies.
I feel a book coming on. Do you think Bill McMurdo would advertise this one on his website?
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