Dria El
June 11th, 2001, 09:26 PM
Gods & Goddesses
Many of us come to the Pagan Path calling our Deities Lord and Lady.
The Lady is usually mother Earth and the triple-faced Moon. We see Earth as the mother, provider. The womb and the tomb are indistinguishable in Her. Both are filled with Her rhythms.
As a Moon goddess, she is the Maiden, waxing Moon - she is the blushing bride, she is the Warrior/Huntress. She is potential.
The Full Moon is a Mother aspect, the roundness of the Moon resembling a full term belly about to bring forth new life. This is a fulfillment aspect.
The waning Moon is the Crone, the wise old woman, the Grandmother. She takes, she diminishes. She is Wisdom personified, she is Death personified.
The Dark of the Moon, is usually left out, especially by those with a leaning toward the Light. This aspect, when acknowledged, is usually seen as a Dark Warrior, a destroyer. For many Light workers, no magic or observances are done during the three days the dark moon rules the night.
The God, the Lord, the Lady's consort is usually forgotten in much of this - many of us come to the pagan path from a strong "Father God" background and ignore Him mercilessly once we discover our Mother. So few people realize that He, too, has many aspects.
As consort to the Earth, He is Father Sky or the Sun (cheerleader-style chant, "We love the Sun God, He is a fun God, Rah, rah, rah"). As Sky, rain is His fructifying seed, as Sun, his warmth nourishes the life within the Womb/Earth. In winter, snow is the blanket He covers His Love with to keep Her warm.
But when the Goddess leaves the Earth to become a moon Goddess, so the God leaves the sky to Her and becomes an Earth God - the GreenMan, God of the Plants; the Horned One, God of the Wild Things, and Lord of the Underworld, ruler of the Tomb/Womb.
It is the God of the Plants we honor at Ostara, as the first green haze on the trees. And it is He whom we honor with beer and with bread at the Festival of Grain, August first, Lughnassadh. (aka Lammas, from the Christian "Loaf Mass" ) His is the spirit of the plants that give us food and drink (think wine/Dionysus....)
The Horned One is the God of the Wild, which also means the uncontrollable; explaining the word Panic as coming from one of His names. He is the bear that attacks in the woods, He is our own homicidal rages, He is our most passionate lusts. He is what moves us to phenomenal feats to protect our loved ones. He is also the God of the Cow, Sheep, Chicken and Pig. Does that seem incongruous? It is because He is also a God who sacrifices Himself for the life of the land, He is the meat we eat and once all our meat was wild, our cows, sheep, chickens and pigs were wild. Look into their eyes, His spirit is still within...
And in the Underworld, the Green God, the Horned God and the Sun God merge into one aspect - the King of the Dead. He gives renewed youth, rest, reunion with those who have gone before.
So how about some Names for these Worthy Deities?
The thing about Names is that certain particulars "go with" certain names, and in the beginning, that can feel limiting. We hesitate to pick a Name with which to honor our Deities, for fear of limiting ourselves. If we build an altar to Aphrodite, are we limited by the scope of the Goddess of Love? If we choose to honor Aphrodite, are we compelled to honor the rest of the Gods in Her pantheon? (A pantheon is a "family" of gods worshipped by a particular culture) Will our Sun God always have to be called Apollo? But like all questions on this Path, the true answers lie within and will differ by individual.
Many of us come to the Pagan Path calling our Deities Lord and Lady.
The Lady is usually mother Earth and the triple-faced Moon. We see Earth as the mother, provider. The womb and the tomb are indistinguishable in Her. Both are filled with Her rhythms.
As a Moon goddess, she is the Maiden, waxing Moon - she is the blushing bride, she is the Warrior/Huntress. She is potential.
The Full Moon is a Mother aspect, the roundness of the Moon resembling a full term belly about to bring forth new life. This is a fulfillment aspect.
The waning Moon is the Crone, the wise old woman, the Grandmother. She takes, she diminishes. She is Wisdom personified, she is Death personified.
The Dark of the Moon, is usually left out, especially by those with a leaning toward the Light. This aspect, when acknowledged, is usually seen as a Dark Warrior, a destroyer. For many Light workers, no magic or observances are done during the three days the dark moon rules the night.
The God, the Lord, the Lady's consort is usually forgotten in much of this - many of us come to the pagan path from a strong "Father God" background and ignore Him mercilessly once we discover our Mother. So few people realize that He, too, has many aspects.
As consort to the Earth, He is Father Sky or the Sun (cheerleader-style chant, "We love the Sun God, He is a fun God, Rah, rah, rah"). As Sky, rain is His fructifying seed, as Sun, his warmth nourishes the life within the Womb/Earth. In winter, snow is the blanket He covers His Love with to keep Her warm.
But when the Goddess leaves the Earth to become a moon Goddess, so the God leaves the sky to Her and becomes an Earth God - the GreenMan, God of the Plants; the Horned One, God of the Wild Things, and Lord of the Underworld, ruler of the Tomb/Womb.
It is the God of the Plants we honor at Ostara, as the first green haze on the trees. And it is He whom we honor with beer and with bread at the Festival of Grain, August first, Lughnassadh. (aka Lammas, from the Christian "Loaf Mass" ) His is the spirit of the plants that give us food and drink (think wine/Dionysus....)
The Horned One is the God of the Wild, which also means the uncontrollable; explaining the word Panic as coming from one of His names. He is the bear that attacks in the woods, He is our own homicidal rages, He is our most passionate lusts. He is what moves us to phenomenal feats to protect our loved ones. He is also the God of the Cow, Sheep, Chicken and Pig. Does that seem incongruous? It is because He is also a God who sacrifices Himself for the life of the land, He is the meat we eat and once all our meat was wild, our cows, sheep, chickens and pigs were wild. Look into their eyes, His spirit is still within...
And in the Underworld, the Green God, the Horned God and the Sun God merge into one aspect - the King of the Dead. He gives renewed youth, rest, reunion with those who have gone before.
So how about some Names for these Worthy Deities?
The thing about Names is that certain particulars "go with" certain names, and in the beginning, that can feel limiting. We hesitate to pick a Name with which to honor our Deities, for fear of limiting ourselves. If we build an altar to Aphrodite, are we limited by the scope of the Goddess of Love? If we choose to honor Aphrodite, are we compelled to honor the rest of the Gods in Her pantheon? (A pantheon is a "family" of gods worshipped by a particular culture) Will our Sun God always have to be called Apollo? But like all questions on this Path, the true answers lie within and will differ by individual.