Witchcraft and the Masculine: Thoughts on the God

Witchcraft and the Masculine: Thoughts on the God

Forward
Composing my thoughts on the God, has been a bit of daunting project. Scant material exists in a conventional sense from which to draw upon, and was one of the compelling factors leading to this article. So what references exist to
draw upon? One obvious book title comes to mind: The Witches' God by Janet and Stewart Farrar, and is definitely worth reading. But rather than simply recreate what these fine authors have already put forth, I've attempted to achieve understanding of my relationship with the God by looking within, at what the God means to me, and also how his presence relates to the
celebrations of the Sabbats. An armchair student of the psychology of Wicca, I've also relied heavily on the works of Carl G. Jung. Especially his writings on the collective unconscious. A brief bibliography follows.

Witchcraft and the Masculine: Thoughts on the God

Many think of Wicca and Witchcraft as a Goddess religion, and to many - Witch equals female. This is only a part of the truth, however. Most Witches honor not only the Goddess, but also the God. European Witches numbers were actually
disproportionately male, until recently. The God is worshipped in many forms, but the predominant aspect is that venerated by our ancestors - the Horned God. Ancient Paleolithic man of 12,000 years ago depicted a horned hunting God
- part man, part animal. The type of animal used varied. I have seen paintings of bison-headed men playing musical instruments; a man in antlers and deer- skin; and goat-horned figures. The Horned God has remained a dominant force, despite newer Gods appearing. A testament to the power of this archetype is that the Horned God continues to exist 10,000 years after first appearing in ancient cave paintings. Horns are a sign of the divine. In Babylon, deities were ranked in importance by the
number of horns attributed to them. A prime example is Ishtar, who possessed seven. Alexander the Great declared himself a God after taking the throne of Egypt, and commissioned a painting of himself wearing the horns of the Ram-God Amoun. The Koran calls Alexander Iskander Dh'l Karnain, which means Alexander the two-horned. His name is preserved in Alexandrian Wicca, where the God is called Karnayana.

Many Wiccans call the God Cernunnos, which is the Celtic and Gallo-Roman version of the Horned God. An altar to Cernunnos was uncovered under what is now the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, France. Herne the Hunter is also often used. Many variations of this name appear in the names of some places in Britain; Cerne Abbas in southern England, is an example, which is home to the figure known as the Cerne Abbas Giant.

Herne and Cernunnos are of course of Celtic origin. In modern Wicca, the God has absorbed some of the qualities of the chief God of the Norse and Germans, Odhin (Odin, Wotan). The Norse invoked the God at Samhain as "Horned Leader of
the Hosts of Air," referencing Odhin as leader of the Wild Hunt. Many Pagan deities were absorbed into Christianity with its coming. The Horned God, however, bore a threatening countenance to the early Christians. He was an animalistic and sexual God; a God of the night and forest; Since Christianity was a religion practiced in the day time, in temples, he had no place. Christianity viewed sexuality with darkness and evil, and the Horned God with the Devil. Still and all, the Horned God has survived through centuries of suppression and maligning .

Let's consider the many ways in which the Horned God has survived. Folklore has portrayed him as Robin Goodfellow and Puck. Puck is a main character in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's play set on the Sabbat. Robin Goodfellow is akin to Robin Hood, who was the hero of the downtrodden and oppressed against the tyrannical nobility of the day. The Green Man is still revered in celebrations, and is a common symbol found above pubs in Britain. Quite appropriate, when one considers Dionysus as an aspect of the God. The God of Wicca is not some vengeful, transcendent, ideological God who
lives in the sky. The God is strong and powerful, but not to be feared. His body is of a man, but his feet are hooves, and his antlers or horns capture the power of the heavens; the sun and stars. He is God of the constantly renewing, growing force of life. The God is hunter, warrior, father, King of the land, and represents change and truth at the same time.

The God is viewed as having dual characteristics. He is both God of Summer and of Winter. He is the Sun King, Corn King, and Green Man honored at Summer. Lord of the Underworld, the Hunter, the Shepherd, and the Healer are some of
the titles which the God is referred to in his Winter visage. He is also the reborn Sun at Winter Solstice, Lord of Light and of Death.

The Solar Cycle

In the Wheel of the Year, the four solar Sabbats (Spring and Fall Equinox, Summer and Winter Solstice) are placed at the cardinal points of East, South, West, and North. The remaining four Celtic festivals are placed between them: Imbolc at the north-east; Beltane at the south-east; Lammas at the south-west; and Samhain at the north-west. At Spring Equinox, the mating of the Goddess and God are celebrated. The coming of Summer and marriage of the Goddess and God are celebrated at
Beltane. Midsummer is a celebration of the Sun, the Lord of Life, and the God achieves maturity and kingship. Lammas celebrates the sacrifice of the God at the harvest; necessary to fertilize the land, and his death places him in a new kingdom - the Underworld. The Autumn Equinox honors the return of the God from the Underworld, and His reunion with the Goddess. At the Feast of the Dead, Samhain, the veil between the material and spirit worlds draws thin, and the dead may travel freely amidst both. Yule celebrates the Sun God's birth, and at Imbolc, the Goddess returns from the Underworld, a virgin once more.

We come to terms with ageing and death by participating in the rituals of the seasons. They are part of the eternal process of life. The Sabbat Wheel of the Year is round and may be entered at any of its spokes. At the Spring Equinox, the God is most like the Horned God, Pan. He is the Lord of the Green. A lusting youth, roaming free. He is instinct attune with animals and Nature, and at his most animalistic. Consider the image of Pan with horns, goat legs, and human torso. This is a good way to envision the God at this time. He is a careless, free, adolescent, roaming the forest and woodlands. It is during this time he impregnates the Goddess, only to continue ranging as the Hunter.

The Beltane ritual is a celebration of the marriage between God and Goddess, as the God recognizes his responsibility to the pregnant Goddess. His evolution from a carefree Pan-like youth into maturity begins, as does his ability to love and form an unambiguous relationship. Still the Lord of the Greenwood, he begins to take on more of a Shepherd role, developing loving
and caring feelings for others.

At Beltane, the God marries the Goddess, but remains comparatively free. At Midsummer, He must accept the responsibilities of his actions. The Goddess, now pregnant, has need of the support and love of the God. The God is asked to help her care for the land which is another aspect of the Goddess. In undertaking this responsibility, the God can no longer roam unrestrained.
The God accepts this as a result of his love for the Goddess.

At Lammas, the willing sacrifice of the God for the land is celebrated. The Goddess in her Dark aspect wields the sickle of His death. Having been Lord of Light and life developing his male side in the conscious world, he now descends to the Underworld, becoming the Dark Lord, and opens himself to the realm of the unconscious. Many myths exist which parallel the journey undertaken by the God after Lammas. Heroic quests in which the hero battles monsters and dragons surrounded by a world of Darkness. The hero is nearly always at the brink of failure before finally emerging victorious. The secrets of the unconscious aren't easily won.

At the Autumn Equinox, the God momentarily returns from his quest, his kingdom no longer of the Earth, but of the nderworld. Many covens celebrate the Legend of Kore or Persephone and Hades at this time. The Goddess is kidnapped by the Lord of the Underworld, who then shares his throne. Demeter, undertakes a grief stricken search for her daughter. The Earth grows barren without the Goddess to care for the land, and Winter occurs. Two concepts are at play here. One is simply another version of the familiar story which helped explain the change of seasons. The other, in terms of the questing God, is the realization that the goal cannot be obtained without the involvement of the feminine. The feminine within must be recognized for the God to be whole. The same may be said of the Goddess at this point. It is equally as important for a woman to realize the within herself those qualities associated with the God.

The land above grows barren, the Goddess is with the God in the Underworld, and we celebrate the Feast of the Dead, Samhain. Although the land is dying, the Goddess bears within her womb the seed of the God which brings new life. The Goddess and God are happily united in the Underworld as equals, and because Summer is dead, she incites him to "Feast with Death." This is the point in which the God has successfully won the battles within his own unconscious, and may begin to participate in the collective unconscious. He is now evolved beyond animal and man into the realm of spirit.

At Yule, new hope comes from the next generation, and the God is reborn through his son. Yule celebrates the Child of Promise. At Imbolc, we plead for the return of the Goddess from the Underworld to renew the Earth. The Young God must prove himself worthy of succeeding the old God. This is the last great sacrifice the God makes, in order to be released into the
transcendental realm or the collective unconscious. Free from mortal rebirth forever.

Bibliography:
Carl Jung     The Collected Works of C.G. Jung, volume 5: Symbols of Transformation, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 2nd ed.
                    Volume 9, Part 1, Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 2nd edition.
                    Symbols of Transformation, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 2nd edition.
Joseph Campbell     The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Princeton University Press, 1972.

source The Witches Web