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See also Triple Goddess;

Horned God;

Goddess Worship;

Historical Deities


 

 

 

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symbols.htmlThe God and Goddess

The God and Goddess represent the balance of the universe, the world as a whole, no one part complete without the other. They are not, however, dichotomies - they are not opposites. They can both represent all things - both life and death, for example. They are a unit, more than they are two singulars, better thought of as "God and Goddess" instead of "God" and "Goddess".

Good and evil are generally not addressed at all, as they are human constructs: humanity hardly needs a supernatural force tempting it to evil - it creates far too much on its own. Our actions are our own responsibility.

Many Wiccans simply worship the God and Goddess. I, however, find them more conceptual than literal. Many authors, I suspect, speak of the God and Goddess to sum up the vast array of entities revered by various Wiccans and do not mean to present them as actual entities.

"The God and Goddess are the embodiment of love and goodness and want only what's best for us."
A special subspecies of Bunny has been developed for those that espouse this view: "white-lighters". To the best of my knowledge, this term originated on the TV show Charmed. If that's the case, it would be the only positive thing that show has so far contributed to society.

As embodiments of the universe, the God and Goddess dwell everywhere and are within everything. This means that while they are many beautiful and bountiful things, they are also the raging storm, the thundering earth, and the sweeping fire. They are joyous birth and wasting disease, because all are part of the natural cycle of life.

We are very insistent in that we acknowledge no evil deity. In the interest of balance, how then can we possibly have a deity of goodness? The concept of an ever-benevolent supreme power is a Christian concept, and is in fact not found in historical pagan societies. And even in Christianity, while God may ultimately want is best for us, that does not mean he is always nice to us.

"I believe in a God and a Goddess, But I only worship the Goddess because Christianity has so overemphasized the God."
The Wiccan God and the Christian God are very separate concepts. Speaking of the two as one in the same is absurd and insulting to both sides. The Wiccan God is one-half of a greater whole. Christians view their God as the supreme entity in itself. Moreover, Christians have not decided to ignore the Goddess out of spite. She does not exist in their world view. One cannot spite what does not exist. Therefore,basing your religious views and practices upon those of another religion makes no sense, and in this case leads us to do what we accuse Christianity of doing - rebuking one aspect of the whole, even though we acknowledge their existence. That is spite.

Many people identify more with one than the other, God or Goddess. There's nothing wrong in that. But both aspects should be at least some part of your life.

"Balance does not consist of two (or very rarely at least), a two legged table will fall over. Balance consist of three or more. The Goddess ultimately contains all within an [sic] what can be more holistic and balanced that that?" 1
I would think the answer to this is obvious. Wicca is not a table.

Goddess worshippers
There are some other reasons given for worshipping only the Goddess. However, these people nowadays generally do not identify themselves as Wiccan, despite the stereotype. For more info, see Goddess Worship.

Faces of the God and Goddess
Some Wiccans simply call their deities God and Goddess. Others invoke specific aspects from mythology. Some honor pantheons while others dedicate themselves to only a few. There are many ways for us to understand and comprehend the Divine.

However, deities are not names to be plucked from a book. They are entities to relate to and form a relationship with. More is not always better! Seek out those attuned to you - not just those that represent what you might want today. Learn of them and the ancient rituals associated with them, if possible. Gods are not things to be taken up and discarded on a whim. For more info, see Historical Deities.

One follower of Asatru said the following:

Norse followers are not pacificists.[sic] "We are peace-loving, but there are times when you have to draw blood," he says. "You don't go looking for conflict, but you don't back down. That's not what Wicca believes. It's more fuzzy-bunny, light, light stuff. We're hard-core warrior." 2

And I find this opinion again and again. We may not be "hard-core warrior", but the fuzzy-bunny image has got to go. My patron goddess is the Morrigan, a triplicity of war goddesses. We are not "fuzzy-bunny, light, light stuff."


1 http://www.hipwitch.com/fluffybunnies.htm (page no longer available online)
2 http://www.apologeticsindex.org/a84.html, January 2003


© Catherine Noble Beyer, 2002 - 2008   *    Member of the Timerift Network.   *    Awards