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| The Goddess and the God |
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| The Goddess and the God have numerous associations and names. |
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The Goddess:
the triple Goddess: Maiden, Mother, and Crone
Mother Nature
The Moon
The Earth |
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The God:
the Green Man
the Horned God
The Sun |
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| Then of course, there are a bunch of different pantheons (a group of gods with the same cultural origin). Some people frown on crossing pantheons (using gods from two or more pantheons in the same magickal working). Some people cross them without thinking twice. Ultimately, it's up to you, but before you cross pantheons my advice to you is to know your gods well enough to know which ones will get along. |
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| A few ways of looking at the Goddess and the God |
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The Queen of the Night. The Lord of the Hunt. The Lady, and her consort, The Lord. Chapters have been written on them. I'm not going to go that far. Who are they? Well, some people look at the gods as archetypes who exist within all of us. Others think of them as greater beings who have progressed to higher levels in their spiritual path. Still others think of them as the creators of the Universe, who existed before time began, and will exist after it ends. They can be seen as the divine spark in each of us. None of these ideas are necessarily exclusive.
Personally, I subscribe most closely to the idea that the gods are beings who spiritual evolution exceeds my own. Although... since I also think that all beings are essentially connected I also see the gods as a part of the individual... part of the higher self, if you will. You'll notice I go from talking about The Goddess and The God, to talking about the gods. Most cultures have their own pantheon of gods, and it is these gods that I think of when I think of beings that have progressed along a spiritual path, who were perhaps once human. The Goddess and The God are more like Universal archetypes or forces, that exist within and between everything, and in their own right as well.
Another way to look at this God(dess)/gods issue is to see the gods of the pantheons as cultural interpretations of the different faces of The Goddess and The God. The Goddess has the power to both create and destroy, yet the ancients may have chosen to assign to different names to these two different aspects of Her 'personality.'
I'm not sure what most Wiccans do, whether they worship The Goddess and The God, or whether they chose a pantheon and two central deities around which to center their ritual. I'm not even sure how many Wiccans really think much about it. Personally, I will usually address The Goddess and The God, and then if I have a more specific purpose in mind, I'll invoke a more specific deity, such as Aries, Aphrodite, Pan, or Artemis. |
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| Book of Shadows |
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| Your book of shadows should be personal. It's not something you post online. That violates the "Be Silent" thing in a big way. No one needs to read about your personal spiritual growth, your inner most thoughts and feelings, and all your magickal workings. If you put stuff like that online, you'll live to regret it. The more things you keep to yourself, the more power you have in that secrecy. It's hard to explain. One reason is that as soon as people think they know you, they form an image of you, and as soon as you deviate from that image, people get upset. It's easier to change if people don't think they know you. There are other reasons, but I can't put them in words just yet. If you have to put things online, pick and chose carefully. For instance, I don't put anything online that I'm not willing to have attacked. I don't put anything online that I'm not willing to have my parents, grandparents, and impressionable young cousins see. As it happens, I also don't put my name online and there's only a few ways to figure out who I am (the e-mail address that few people have, and the two pictures I have up). It's just my advice, you don't have to heed it, but you won't do any harm by considering it. Questions or comments? Feel free to e-mail me. |
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