YE OLDE
GODS
GODS
Are the Gods and Goddesses actually archetypal
concepts or really physical presences?
concepts or really physical presences?
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From "A Handbook For Wiccan Clergy " by Kevin Gardner
GOD-DESS
Within the Celtic Wiccan belief system, we believe in a Supreme Being. To us, this
Being encompasses everything, permeates everything, and basically IS everything.
But IT is so far beyond the comprehension of human kind, that we simply cannot
understand IT. Much like trying to contemplate the vastness of the Universe, our
minds cannot conceive of the concepts and distances involved. In looking around
us, it becomes apparent that everything has it’s opposite, Creation – Destruction,
Light –Dark, Positive – Negative, Birth – Death, Male – Female, and so on. Because
of this, we perceive two aspects of Being. And as in nature, it takes both male and
female energies to create. We perceive that the Supreme Being as being both
sexes, yet neither sex, and has self divided into two parts, one male – positive, light,
fertilizing principal, and one female – negative, dark, receptive principal from which
all creation, all life emerges.
One way I like to use in order to describe this concept is to think of the
Supreme Being as a large Diamond that has been cut into two halves. Each half has
innumerable facets, or faces. Each face or facet emits a specific energy vibration.
Some of these streams of energy are similar to other streams of energy coming from
the same half of the diamond, but no two are exactly alike. Mankind has recognized
these various energies, and has given names to each of them. So each facet, each
face has a different name. These names are “Names of Power” and have come to
be thought of as “God/Goddess” names because they are the keys, which may be
used to tap into a specific energy vibration. If a healing is needed, one might call
upon Bride. If help in writing is needed, then one may call upon Thoth, and Hurican
could be called upon to bring much needed rain to the parched Earth. To us, all
Gods are ONE GOD, and all Goddesses are ONE GODDESS, and the God and
Goddess are just different parts of the same BEING.
In the Wiccan faith, the concepts surrounding the God are quite complex, and
can be quite confusing. There are two basic concepts of the God. One is the solar
aspect, which dies and is reborn during the Winter Solstice. He grows as the new
year waxes, and the Sun warms the Earth with its penetrating rays, which bring
fertility to the Earth in the Spring. The God reaches the height of His power at Litha,
the Summer Solstice, and then begins to wane and decline in power, until he again
dies at Yule, only to be reborn anew. He is the Lord of Light and Fire. But He is
more than just the light of the Sun; He is the Light of enlightenment and the fires of
passion. He is the Penetrating heat and the light of Life, which makes the Earth
Mother fertile. This solar aspect is incorporated into the theme of the lesser Sabbats.
The other basic concept, which is even more complex, is the Nature/Fertility
aspect that was originally depicted as the Horned God of animals, nature, fertility,
life, and death. But as agriculture arose in importance, he also became the Green
Man, Lord of Nature, fertility, and vegetation, who died every autumn and was
reborn in Spring. This Nature/fertility aspect is often divided into two halves, the Oak
King, and the Holly King. The Oak King symbolizes expansion, projection, and the
waxing year. The Holly King symbolizes contraction, withdrawal, and the waning
year. At the Winter Solstice, the two Kings do battle, and the Oak King slays his dark
half, and reigns until the Summer Solstice, when the two Kings battle again, and He
is in turn slain by his dark self, the Holly King, who rules until the Winter Solstice,
and then the cycle is repeated. This Nature/Fertility aspect of the God is a part of
the theme of the Beltain and Lugnasadh Sabbats, where the God experiences a
sacrificial mating with the Earth Goddess, and is reborn to continue His reign until
the next Solstice. In ancient times, the Beltain sabbat featured human sacrifice, and
ritual copulation in the form of the Sacred Marriage, to bring fertility to the soil.
Lugnasadh was the traditional time of regicide, in which the King, who was the
earthly representation of the God, was sacrificed and his blood was spilled upon the
Earth in order to bring fertility to the land. Again, the life force penetrating the Earth
Mother to make her fertile, as the God descends into the Underworld, for death
leads to rebirth.
The Wiccan God is the Lord of life and light, the first born of the Great Mother.
He is her son and consort, and is often depicted as wearing horns or antlers, which
represent the virility of the life force. It is He who is the penetrating, fertilizing
principle, the Planter of the Seed in which He gives of His life force to the Goddess.
The giving of the life force is a form of sacrifice, thus he is also the Lord of Death.
To us, the God force is the light of enlightenment, the illumination, and the fertility of
the mind, body, and all things of the Goddess. The God is the planter of the seed
from whence all things emerge, thus He is the Great teacher, and Lord of Magick.
The Wiccan God is the Lord of the Dance of Life, and of Sacrifice. Giving of
himself, offering Himself up as the sacrifice, thus He possesses unlimited
compassion and unconditional love for all beings. In His role as God of Death, he
presides over the underworld where he gives rest, peace, and comfort to all who
enter that realm. He is also the God of the Hunt, and through death and sacrifice,
He gives new life.
The Goddess is the source of all life. It is She who nurtures, and from whence
all life emerges. To embrace the Goddess is to embrace life. The Goddess is
represented by the Earth and all things of the Earth. To those of the Wiccan faith,
the Earth is alive and this is supported by the modern scientific “Gaia Effect” in
which research has discovered that the Earth acts like a living organism. “Mother
Nature” refers to the Goddess, and as Nature is seen as being divine, then every
natural impulse, or spontaneous act, is a manifestation of that divinity. Thus our
religion is without sin, without guilt, and is a celebration of the wonder and power of
life. It is this power of life, that allows us to shed death, to become reborn again, and
again.
The Moon is a symbol of the Goddess, and thus a symbol of life. It waxes and
wanes, and is reborn anew every twenty-eight days. A woman’s cycle is associated
with the moon, and woman is considered by Wiccans as an embodiment of the
Goddess. We acknowledge women as the source of life, for it is woman who gives
birth and nourishment, just as does the Goddess. Man cannot enter life except by
woman, by passing through her Gates of Birth into this physical world. Motherhood
is also a sacrifice, as the Mother Goddess gives of herself. So the Goddess, like the
God, holds the powers of life and death and She shares dominion of the Underworld
with the God.
We are not only born from the Goddess, but are nurtured by Her as She gives
to us the Fruit of life. From the Sacred Womb of the Earth, life emerges. This is
sometimes depicted as “The Tree of Life,” or in less spiritual terms, “the food chain.”
That life in the form of plants and animals is consumed by life. What is not
consumed by animals, and microscopic organisms returns to the earth, and is again
consumed by plants. Thus life sustains life, and from death, comes life. This mystery
is often portrayed in the image of the serpent consuming it’s own tail. This is the
great cycle of life, to death to life, and as depicted on Sumerian seals dating to 3500
BCE, the serpent and the fruit-bearing tree are also associated with the Goddess.
To those of the Wiccan faith, woman is not corrupt, nature is not corrupt, sex is
not corrupt and life is not corrupt. Rather Divinity is manifested in all of them.
Therefore to us, woman is to be honored as a representation of the Goddess, not
regulated to the role of temptress and evil. From the union of God-Goddess, Male-
Female, Life emerged. This mystery of generation is a Holy Mystery, a cosmic act,
and it is in our nature to enjoy this sacred act without guilt or shame. All acts of love
and pleasure are Her Rituals.
Within the Celtic Wiccan belief system, we believe in a Supreme Being. To us, this
Being encompasses everything, permeates everything, and basically IS everything.
But IT is so far beyond the comprehension of human kind, that we simply cannot
understand IT. Much like trying to contemplate the vastness of the Universe, our
minds cannot conceive of the concepts and distances involved. In looking around
us, it becomes apparent that everything has it’s opposite, Creation – Destruction,
Light –Dark, Positive – Negative, Birth – Death, Male – Female, and so on. Because
of this, we perceive two aspects of Being. And as in nature, it takes both male and
female energies to create. We perceive that the Supreme Being as being both
sexes, yet neither sex, and has self divided into two parts, one male – positive, light,
fertilizing principal, and one female – negative, dark, receptive principal from which
all creation, all life emerges.
One way I like to use in order to describe this concept is to think of the
Supreme Being as a large Diamond that has been cut into two halves. Each half has
innumerable facets, or faces. Each face or facet emits a specific energy vibration.
Some of these streams of energy are similar to other streams of energy coming from
the same half of the diamond, but no two are exactly alike. Mankind has recognized
these various energies, and has given names to each of them. So each facet, each
face has a different name. These names are “Names of Power” and have come to
be thought of as “God/Goddess” names because they are the keys, which may be
used to tap into a specific energy vibration. If a healing is needed, one might call
upon Bride. If help in writing is needed, then one may call upon Thoth, and Hurican
could be called upon to bring much needed rain to the parched Earth. To us, all
Gods are ONE GOD, and all Goddesses are ONE GODDESS, and the God and
Goddess are just different parts of the same BEING.
In the Wiccan faith, the concepts surrounding the God are quite complex, and
can be quite confusing. There are two basic concepts of the God. One is the solar
aspect, which dies and is reborn during the Winter Solstice. He grows as the new
year waxes, and the Sun warms the Earth with its penetrating rays, which bring
fertility to the Earth in the Spring. The God reaches the height of His power at Litha,
the Summer Solstice, and then begins to wane and decline in power, until he again
dies at Yule, only to be reborn anew. He is the Lord of Light and Fire. But He is
more than just the light of the Sun; He is the Light of enlightenment and the fires of
passion. He is the Penetrating heat and the light of Life, which makes the Earth
Mother fertile. This solar aspect is incorporated into the theme of the lesser Sabbats.
The other basic concept, which is even more complex, is the Nature/Fertility
aspect that was originally depicted as the Horned God of animals, nature, fertility,
life, and death. But as agriculture arose in importance, he also became the Green
Man, Lord of Nature, fertility, and vegetation, who died every autumn and was
reborn in Spring. This Nature/fertility aspect is often divided into two halves, the Oak
King, and the Holly King. The Oak King symbolizes expansion, projection, and the
waxing year. The Holly King symbolizes contraction, withdrawal, and the waning
year. At the Winter Solstice, the two Kings do battle, and the Oak King slays his dark
half, and reigns until the Summer Solstice, when the two Kings battle again, and He
is in turn slain by his dark self, the Holly King, who rules until the Winter Solstice,
and then the cycle is repeated. This Nature/Fertility aspect of the God is a part of
the theme of the Beltain and Lugnasadh Sabbats, where the God experiences a
sacrificial mating with the Earth Goddess, and is reborn to continue His reign until
the next Solstice. In ancient times, the Beltain sabbat featured human sacrifice, and
ritual copulation in the form of the Sacred Marriage, to bring fertility to the soil.
Lugnasadh was the traditional time of regicide, in which the King, who was the
earthly representation of the God, was sacrificed and his blood was spilled upon the
Earth in order to bring fertility to the land. Again, the life force penetrating the Earth
Mother to make her fertile, as the God descends into the Underworld, for death
leads to rebirth.
The Wiccan God is the Lord of life and light, the first born of the Great Mother.
He is her son and consort, and is often depicted as wearing horns or antlers, which
represent the virility of the life force. It is He who is the penetrating, fertilizing
principle, the Planter of the Seed in which He gives of His life force to the Goddess.
The giving of the life force is a form of sacrifice, thus he is also the Lord of Death.
To us, the God force is the light of enlightenment, the illumination, and the fertility of
the mind, body, and all things of the Goddess. The God is the planter of the seed
from whence all things emerge, thus He is the Great teacher, and Lord of Magick.
The Wiccan God is the Lord of the Dance of Life, and of Sacrifice. Giving of
himself, offering Himself up as the sacrifice, thus He possesses unlimited
compassion and unconditional love for all beings. In His role as God of Death, he
presides over the underworld where he gives rest, peace, and comfort to all who
enter that realm. He is also the God of the Hunt, and through death and sacrifice,
He gives new life.
The Goddess is the source of all life. It is She who nurtures, and from whence
all life emerges. To embrace the Goddess is to embrace life. The Goddess is
represented by the Earth and all things of the Earth. To those of the Wiccan faith,
the Earth is alive and this is supported by the modern scientific “Gaia Effect” in
which research has discovered that the Earth acts like a living organism. “Mother
Nature” refers to the Goddess, and as Nature is seen as being divine, then every
natural impulse, or spontaneous act, is a manifestation of that divinity. Thus our
religion is without sin, without guilt, and is a celebration of the wonder and power of
life. It is this power of life, that allows us to shed death, to become reborn again, and
again.
The Moon is a symbol of the Goddess, and thus a symbol of life. It waxes and
wanes, and is reborn anew every twenty-eight days. A woman’s cycle is associated
with the moon, and woman is considered by Wiccans as an embodiment of the
Goddess. We acknowledge women as the source of life, for it is woman who gives
birth and nourishment, just as does the Goddess. Man cannot enter life except by
woman, by passing through her Gates of Birth into this physical world. Motherhood
is also a sacrifice, as the Mother Goddess gives of herself. So the Goddess, like the
God, holds the powers of life and death and She shares dominion of the Underworld
with the God.
We are not only born from the Goddess, but are nurtured by Her as She gives
to us the Fruit of life. From the Sacred Womb of the Earth, life emerges. This is
sometimes depicted as “The Tree of Life,” or in less spiritual terms, “the food chain.”
That life in the form of plants and animals is consumed by life. What is not
consumed by animals, and microscopic organisms returns to the earth, and is again
consumed by plants. Thus life sustains life, and from death, comes life. This mystery
is often portrayed in the image of the serpent consuming it’s own tail. This is the
great cycle of life, to death to life, and as depicted on Sumerian seals dating to 3500
BCE, the serpent and the fruit-bearing tree are also associated with the Goddess.
To those of the Wiccan faith, woman is not corrupt, nature is not corrupt, sex is
not corrupt and life is not corrupt. Rather Divinity is manifested in all of them.
Therefore to us, woman is to be honored as a representation of the Goddess, not
regulated to the role of temptress and evil. From the union of God-Goddess, Male-
Female, Life emerged. This mystery of generation is a Holy Mystery, a cosmic act,
and it is in our nature to enjoy this sacred act without guilt or shame. All acts of love
and pleasure are Her Rituals.
