The God and Goddess

In Wicca the divine is both male and female. The God and Goddess appear to everyone in the form that an individual wishes to see them in. In history, there have been many stories of different God and Goddesses from all kinds of cultures. It is easy to think that they are each different deities, but they are actually the same Divine with a different face. It is difficult to list all the God and Goddesses from each culture, but I will list a few that are popular in the Wiccan religion.

The God - The male side to the Divine has often been depicted as the Great Hunter, God of the Forest and Lord of the Animals. He represents life, death and rebirth. This is seen in the cycle of the Seasons. To honour the God, there are yearly festivals for the harvest and Seasons. Below are a list of popular Gods:

Cernunnos - 'The Horned God', he is often depicted with horns or antlers, he is associated with particular animals such as the stag and ram-horned serpent. He has been described as a peaceful God of nature and fruitfulness, but also as the Lord of Wild things. He has Celtic origin and has been referenced to in some form since the earliest times of the Upper Palaeolithic; the first evidence of this is seen in Lascaux Cave in France. Throughout history, there has been reference to the 'Horned one', for example on an archaeological site called Star Carr in England; large amounts of antlers were uncovered, it was thought that the site was used for Seasonal Festivals and the people wore the antlers on their heads. Cernunnos can also go by the name of Herne the hunter, although Herne has his own story, if you are interested in learning more about the Gods please feel free to research.

The Goddess - The triple Goddess or Mother Goddess is a universal deity with a strong Lunar depiction, at different phases of the moon, she is called the maiden, mother and grandmother. She represents nature, fertility, the powers of healing and death. The Goddess has been present since our earliest ancestors, an example would be the 'Venus figurines', their shape and fertility was emphasized because it was essential to the life of the people. The Goddess has an overwhelming number of forms, as does the God throughout human history. She has appeared in the Greek legends as Aphrodite and Persephone. In the Celtic religion, she can be known as The Morrighan and Cerridwen.

Studying both sides to the divine is essential for you to fully understand Wiccan Worship, it may also help you to pick a specific face of the Divine to worship. I find that if you pick one image of the God and Goddess, it makes it easier to picture the Divine in your mind. For example you may choose Cernunnos and Cerridwen. It is your choice entirely, and you may decide to worship a particular face of the Divine for each season or Sabbat.