Deities and Pantheons Series; Part 1

In Wicca, the gods and goddesses play different roles depending on the type of witch and how they practice. For someone who follows Wicca to the letter, the God and Goddess are the supreme deities. However, for a more eclectic witch, the more ancient gods that pre-date Wicca play a role as patrons or something to that effect.

The number of gods and goddesses from other pagan cultures is astronomical. There would be no way to cover them all. If you are looking for a patron god or goddess, my recommendation would be to absorb and notice the signs around you and try to make a deduction from those. Do some research and find the corresponding deity. You will know when you find them. 

Divinity was not always a remarkable, out of place thing. Long before any religions we know today existed, divinity was an experience found day to day. Early humans saw the divine in the trees, rocks, streams, and earth all around. There was no perceived veil between the spirit world and the physical world, therefore there was nothing supernatural. 

In some of these early cultures, every being, living or inanimate, had its own soul, while in others, everything was a product of the same divine source. Historians and anthropologists refer to these cultural beliefs as animism and pantheism, respectively. What is interesting is that even though religion has developed and changed, the same overlap of ancient cultures still exists in today’s societies. 

There is no record of when the first deities began to be worshipped. The earliest documentation is on deities worshipped for common physical aspects of earth and basic necessities; the sky, sun, bodies of water, safety, shelter, food, etc. Anu, a sumerian god of the sky is one of the earliest examples. 

As human settlements became more permanent with the developments in agriculture, and life became more complex, gods and goddesses began to appear in relation to more scholarly and artistic pursuits. 

Not all deities were held to the same levels of equality and importance, either. Some were worshipped or prayed to for luck in wars, successful harvests, health, and other important aspects of everyday living. Others, however, were simply seen as guardians or inhabitants of small, specific locations like a stream, a grove of trees, or a mountain. 

Many gods were specific to a certain locality while others, like the Roman, Germanic, and Celtic tribes spread their deities with their influence across continents. The celtic sun god Belenus in one of the oldest and most widely known in Europe. In ancient Mesopotamia, the Goddess spread across time and locality to Greek civilization to become Aphrodite. 

By the time Christianity began to gain foothold, several thousands of Gods were known throughout the world. In some places like Japan, Africa and Native America, these gods and goddesses are still honored today. However, in the western world, christianity stamped out the majority of pagan deities in favor of their monotheistic, all knowing one “God”. 

The God

The God is the masculine polarity in Wicca. He is most often portrayed as the Horned God or the Sun God. As mentioned above, you can see how he is portrayed into images and representations that are basics for human survival; in this case, fauna (food) and sun (warmth, light).

In Wicca, specifically Gardnerian Wicca (named after founder Gerald Gardner), the God is not only the Horned God, pictured in a horned headdress or physically possessing horns, but he is also a god of fertility and a god of the hunt. Both still considered essentials for human survival. Gardner portrayed him as the balance between humans and animals and a representation of how humans should interact with nature.

The Horned God’s Image, as well as his image as a Sun God, is reflected through time and culture in varying forms and with various names that we will cover as we continue to explore pantheons.

The Goddess

The feminine polarity in Wicca, the Goddess is associated with the emotional and intuitive realms of the universe; a direct counter to the ‘action-oriented’ qualities of the God. She is associated with the moon and the Earth, itself. She tends the lands, the forests, crops, and fields, and carries them with her cycles of the seasons; through death and regrowth into glorious new life. 

The Triple Goddess

The appreciation and worship of the Triple Goddess can be attributed to the poet, Robert Cochrane. Through his work The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth, he explained the idea of a White Goddess who represented birth, love and death and further proclaimed her worship through many cultures. She went by many names and could be traced back to pre-Christianity in Europe and the Middle East. 

In Celtic lore, she went by Bridgid with her three domains of healing, poetry and smithcraft. In greece, she was known as Hera, representing girl, woman, and widow. In Wicca, she represents the Maiden, Mother and Crone. These represent the three phases of a woman’s life in terms of her ability to reproduce; before she is able, during her child bearing years, and after her body can no longer bear children. These phases are also seen to represent the moon phases with the full moon, waning moon, and new moon (dark). 

In some traditions, the moon phases are the primary representation in the worship of the Triple Moon Goddess, while others keep her representation more Earth related and simply refer to her as the triple goddess. 

The Maiden

She is the youthful phase of the woman and the crescent to waxing phase of the moon. She is associated with growth, Springtime, innocence, youth, independence, and self-confidence. 

Her domains are art, creativity, beauty, intelligence, exploration, discovery, and self-expression.

She is associated with dawn, sunrise, fresh potential, and new life.

She is often represented by Artemis, Persephone, Freya, and Rhiannon.

The Mother

SHe is the transformation of the Maiden. She is the changing of spring to summer and can be seen as foliage grows lush with life, flora grows and shares it’s beauty, and newborn animals grown into maturity. 

She is associated with midday, manifestation, adulthood, responsibility, nurturing, and life, caring for all creation. She is considered to be the most powerful of the three forms in many Wiccan traditions and is often referred to as Mother Goddess, as started by Gardner’s original coven. 

She can be seen being represented by Badb, Danu, Demeter, Selene, Ceres and others.

The Crone

She is the earth and moon waning, the flora wilting in preparation for winter. She has finished her duties of motherhood and comes into her power. She is the wise one, ruling over transformations, visions, prophecies, guidance, aging, and endings.

She is associated with dusk, the dark of night, death, rebirth, past lives, wisdom, and the furthest reaches of outer space. She has been a feared divinity throughout history, however her role is pivotal. Without death, there can be no new life. 

She has been represented by ancient goddesses of the underworld, Baba Yaga, Morrigan, Cailleach Bear, and Hecate.

Next in the series we will discuss the wheel of the year and the role deities play in them as well as variations in Wiccan tradition and the relation between deities and the altar. We will also take a look at how to represent the main deities covered in this portion on your altar.