Missing: God

Today’s blog topic is GOD. In the Wiccan community, I find a lot of emphasis on the Goddess…almost to the point where the entire God aspect is neglected. For a religion that preaches so much about balance, isn’t this odd? How does that make sense?

First, I have encountered people who worship mainly the Goddess because they have come from patriarchal religions like Christianity where everything is God-centric. They say that “God has had his turn…now it’s time for the Goddess to shine!” To be honest, even in this context that doesn’t make sense to me. To be able to fully understand Wicca, in my opinion of course, one needs to recognize and honor the balance between the divine masculine energy and divine feminine energy in nature, in the universe and ultimately in oneself. If you have blinders on and aren’t paying attention to one half of that equation, isn’t that living out of balance?

I have also encountered groups of Wiccans who place a high emphasis on the Goddess because that is how their tradition functions. Take Dianic Wicca for example. Dianic Wiccans focus highly on the feminine aspect of worship, even to the point where to attend their events you have to be “a woman born a woman”. Once again, this seems out of balance to me as well as being unkind to transgender individuals.

So how are some ways you can bring more God energy into your life? It’s rather simple. These are a few things I do on a regular basis that deal directly with the God.

1. Greet the sun. When I walk outside I usually greet the sun (the same way I would greet the moon) with a smile and a wave, or a simple “Hey dad.” (I view the God and Goddess as my spiritual Mother and Father, so I sometimes refer to them as Mom or Dad. If you don’t feel comfortable doing that, use whatever term feels right to you.)

2. Have a separate candle on your altar for the Goddess and the God. This is common practice, to have a God candle and a Goddess candle on your altar. However, taking the time to personalize those candles with specific oils, stones around it, carvings, etc can be a nice way to connect to the divine. If you have a patron God, carve his symbols or name into the candle. Dress it with oils or herbs that are sacred to that God, or you feel correlate to him. Use stones around the candle or on the candle holder that represent God to you. When you light your God candle, thank him for the blessings you have in your life. Then move to the Goddess candle (or reverse order, whatever you do normally) and thank her for your blessings in an individual way. By addressing the God and Goddess as separate (but equal) entities and beings in your life, you’re bringing yourself a bit closer to deity.

3. Study Gods through out Pagan traditions. There are many Gods. Take some time and learn about some of them. A few books I would recommend are “The Witches’ God” by Janet and Stewart Farrar and “Every day Sun Magick” by Dorothy Morrison.  I especially like the Dorothy Morrison book…she has a lot of good viewpoints on God worship and every day recognition as well as ideas and spells to incorporate into every day life. She has a companion book to this one, called “Every day Moon Magick” which is equally as awesome, in my opinion. You never know, researching different Gods may end up landing you a patron deity if you’re searching for one (or even if you’re not haha).

4. Recognize that the God has aspects too. In Wicca, we focus a lot on the aspects of the Goddess: the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. However…the God has aspects too! Some view it as the Son, the Lover and the Sage, some use other terms. The God can also be worshiped in many forms; You could view him as a God of the forest type, all green and wooded. You could see the God as a Cernunnos figure with his grand antlers. The list could go on on forever.

5. Observe the God’s cycles throughout the day. This idea is straight from the Dorothy Morrison book I mentioned before, “Every day Sun Magick”. In terms of the Goddess, we observe her cycle through the moon. It waxes, becomes full, wanes and turns dark. Rinse and repeat. This takes roughly 28 days. In Morrison’s book, she states that the God goes through his transition every single day. She has terms for his aspects, but I am going to summarize for simplicity’s sake. At the rise of the sun, he is new and young. He is a child. By noon when the sun is high, he is at his peek of power and is approaching becoming an adult. He is a strong, virile male. The sun begins to go down and he reaches an older phase of life, his power waning. By sun down, he is the sage, sacrificing old God who gives himself up so the sun can rise again the next day. Consider this in your daily life, and try planning a ritual or two around solar timing. You’d be surprised how much power solar energy can lend to a working.

I hope some of these ideas help any of you to incorporate more God energy into your spiritual path if you’re looking to add it. May the God and Goddess bless you on your journey and thank you for reading.

Blessed be.

Ivy   ) O (