Who are the God and Goddess?

This is one of those questions that seemed exceedingly hard to find the answers to when I first started asking it. There is so much to know about this particular topic and there are also a variety of differing viewpoints making it a little overwhelming to know where to start. If you have been looking into Wicca and looking to follow this path then I am sure you’ve heard people speak of the dualistic belief in a God and Goddess. However, nailing down just who these are can be difficult as these deities may vary from Wiccan to Wiccan, coven to coven.

So I just researched as much as I could and asked as many questions as I could. Finally it first made sense when someone explained it to me along these lines:

Within the universe there is energy and there is a divine one energy that is full of creative power and divinity.  Divinity is defined as pertaining to god or a Supreme Being and as Wiccans we call that Supreme Being a creative force or energy, the creative source.  This transcendent power is the combination, the unity (if you will) of the God and Goddess.

In the pagan cosmic view, the supreme creative polarity is that of the Goddess and God principles, for without polarity, from divinity downwards, there can be no manifestation. Our understanding can relate to this vast and nebulous energy form, through the embodiment of the gods and goddesses, and we can see this creative force throughout all nature, in the flora and fauna and throughout humankind. We have made it relatable through male and female form. 

The idea of polarity and duality is an important concept within Wicca. Balance is required and this creative power manifests itself through polarity. The God and Goddess are polar opposites of each other and utter equals with complementary creative difference.

 

In 1973 – under Carl Llewellyn Weschcke’s leadership, 73 representatives temporarily formed the ’Council of American Witches’ to create a set of unified beliefs held by the many Wiccan traditions in the US at the time.

These were accumulated into the 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief.

 

For most Wiccans, the Lord and Lady are seen as complementary polarities: male and female, force and form, comprehending all in their union; the tension and interplay between them is the basis of all creation, and this balance is seen in much of nature.

The Horned God and the Great Mother

According to Gerald Gardner who was the father of Wicca, the God and Goddess are the ancient gods of the British Isles: the Horned God and Great Mother. Each have their own attributes that further push the idea of polarity. The God is linked to the Sun, forests, hunting, death and magic while the Goddess is linked to the Moon, seas, regeneration, rebirth and love.

We often view the Goddess with the triple aspects of "Maiden", "Mother" and "Crone" corresponding to the Moon's waxing, full and waning phases, while the God is often seen as the Horned God of the woods. A key belief in Wicca is that the gods are able to manifest in personal form, either through dreams, as physical manifestations, or through the bodies of Priestesses and Priests.

Some Wiccans are both duotheistic and polytheistic, in that they honor diverse pagan deities while reserving their worship for the Wiccan Goddess and Horned God, whom they regard as the supreme deities.

 

Under this umbrella come the many pantheons of deities and here is where the beliefs and worshipped Gods and Goddesses can tend to differ quite greatly between Wiccans. 

	Monotheism: Some Wiccans believe that a single creative force exists in the universe, which is sometimes called "The One" or "The All". Little can be known of this force. Other Wiccans -- typically feminists -- worship the Goddess by herself.
	Bitheism (a.k.a. Duotheism): Many regard the Goddess and the God as representing the female and male aspects of the All. These deities are not "out there somewhere;" they are immanent in the world. Others regard the God and Goddess as two separate deities, representing the male and female principles.
	Polytheism: Many regard the thousand of ancient pagan Gods and Goddesses (Athena, Brigit, Diana, Fergus, Odin, Pan, Zeus, etc.) as representing various aspects of the God and Goddess. The term "Wicca" normally implies that the person's religion is based upon Celtic spiritual concepts, its pantheon of deities, and seasonal days of celebration. Other Neopagans include deities, beliefs, practices and symbols from ancient Pagan religions (e.g. Egyptian, Greek, various mystery religions, Roman, Sumerian) or upon Aboriginal religions (Native American Spirituality, Shamanism).
	Pantheism: Some Wiccans believe that the universe is divine and should be revered. Pantheism identifies the universe with God but denies any personality or transcendence of such a God.
	Agnosticism: Some Wiccans are actually Agnostics, who take no position on the existence of a supreme being or beings. They often look upon the Goddess and the God as archetypes, based on myth.
	Strong Atheism: Some Wiccans are strong Atheists and maintain that no deity exists. They often view the God and Goddess as concepts or principles, not as living entities.

Now this blog post is simply a brief look into an extremely vast topic and I am more than certain that many of my future blogs will come back to discussions, thoughts and information on the God and Goddess.

I really hope that this helps any of you out there who were as overwhelmed as I was when I first began reading into this topic!! Below are a couple of book titles that cover this topic really well and I would encourage you to go and check them out.

Books to look at:

Gerald Gardner – Witchcraft Today

Scott Cunningham – Living Wicca

Janet and Stewart Farrar

-       The Witches God

-       The Witches Goddess 

The Witches' God explores the archetypal gods common to Wicca, and most other Pagan religions, focuses on specific Gods you are very likely to find in Wiccan rituals, and introduces Gods from around the world and throughout time.

The Witches’ Goddess covers the myriad faces of the Goddess revealed, including: Her presence throughout history; Her Earth and Moon symbolism; Her Madonna and Magdalene disguises; Her revelation within the psyche; Her relationship with women; Her influence today; ritual invocations of the Goddess in 13 guises: from Ishtar to Isis, from Hecate to Aphrodite, from Epona to Ma'at, introduces goddesses from around the world including a brief history and the main correspondences of each.

Blessed Be,

Vivienne