Notes from today's podcast:
The History
Wicca is a relatively new religion, introduced by Gerald Gardner in the 1950’s. He believed in the principles of duality and thought that there was a sacred balance between the genders. Polar opposites that balanced each other out and one couldn’t exist without the other. This belief in duality led to the worshipping of 2 deities, one male and one female.
Wiccans are polytheists and they aren’t bound to believing in any particular gods at all and can choose to worship a variety of gods, a non-specified god and goddess or any deity of their choosing. This means the religion and its gods are really open to interpretation. You can choose who you believe in and worship whoever you want and it will all relate back to the Divine Spirit of the Universe since all are one and one is all anyway.
However, there are 2 deities that are most often referred to as the “Wiccan Gods”. These are the Triple Goddess and the Horned God.
The Wiccan Goddess
The Triple Goddess is the main goddess within Wicca. She’s also known as the Moon Goddess and is the primary representation of divine feminine power. She is also the Earth Mother and represents physical energy that lets life grow. She is also the master of the cycles of the earth and the Wheel of the Year - birth, growth, death and rebirth.
As the Moon Goddess, she rules the night and the cycles of the tides. She is therefore ruler of fertility, emotion and intuition, and she represents the wisdom that comes from our darker side and being able to explore one’s shadows in order to grow.
The Triple Goddess
The Triple Goddess is this Moon Goddess and the Earth mother - a triple deity who is portrayed either as a single goddess who changes in a yearly cycle or as one goddess with three distinct aspects. She represents the phases of the moon and the stages a woman will go through in her life.
The Maiden
The Maiden is associated with the crescent to waxing phase of the moon cycle. She represents youth, sexuality, enchantment and beginnings. She is also seen as the goddess of dawn, sunrises and spring. She is the aspect of the goddess you would invoke if you wanted help with anything to do with a new beginning, be this a new relationship, a new job or a new project.
The Mother
At full moon, the Mother aspect of the goddess comes to the forefront. The Mother is the giver of life to all things on earth. She is the representation of summer, midday, fertility, responsibility, and adulthood. She is seen by some as the most powerful aspect of the goddess. She is the aspect of the goddess you would invoke if you need help with fertility, motherhood, protection, achievement of inner peace, intuition and stability.
The Crone
The Crone comes during the waning of the moon. She is the representation of autumn and winter, sunset and night, life after children, aging, past lives and death. The Crone is thought to be the least understood and liked aspect of the goddess. But aspect of the goddess is wise and there to guide us into the next phase of our lives. Death is a normal part of the cycle of life, it’s just like the moon cycles. She is aspect of the goddess you would invoke if you want spiritual guidance, help with an ending relationship or job, menopause, or strong protection.
The Wiccan God
The Horned God represents the male side of the divine duality worshipped as the Wiccan God. He is the representation of the sun, hunting, death and magic. He is both the hunter and also the hunted. He is the Sun during the day, all-powerful and mighty, and also the sun during the night, blacked out and hidden. He’s also known as the Green Man, an ancient god of fertility. The Horned God is a nature deity, who is most commonly depicted with horns, hence his name. Horns are an ancient symbol of masculine virility and have been used for centuries.
The Relationship between the Horned God and the Triple Goddess
The duality of the Horned God, combined with the 3 aspects of the Triple Goddess, makes up the 5 points of the pentagram. The Horned God is in a cyclical relationship with the Triple Goddess. He dies when the harvests are taken in in the Autumn, is buried during the Winter, then is born again from the Triple Goddesses womb in the Spring when everything is fresh and green so that he can impregnate her and start the whole cycle again. This mirrors the cycle in the natural world of the 4 seasons.
No comments: