Witchvox Article

Author: Moonspider [a WitchVox Sponsor]
Posted: October 14th. 2000
Times Viewed: 4,459

Yes, what is all this Goddess religion stuff? Sure we have a Goddess. Though in this religion we have two main deities, and one is a female, but one is also male. Luckily He is coming back. The Horn'd One is alive and well, and kicking up His hooves.

I believe that while the community was younger and making a unique place for itself, it did have to concentrate on the Goddess since that is a major concept that separated us from the mainstream Christian religions. Many of us were turning away from those religions, because they did not answer our call.

Many women became drawn to this path because of the importance of the female deity, which they could relate to as opposed to a patriarchal deity. Even in the aspect of Trinity, there is the father and son, and the spirit appears, at best, gender neutral. So, it is no wonder that the Goddess became so important.

This shift did bring about awareness of the importance of the female, even in mundane matters. She is responsible for birth. However, she cannot impregnate herself. She is part of a whole.

In all venues, religion being one, things to go in and out of vogue. Certain aspects are important for a time, and then some other focus comes into view. The pendulum does indeed seem to be swinging back. We are seeing more men's groups. Talks of warriors, though warrior energy is not gender specific, it does apply to both men and women.

It is important to balance all aspects. We all harbor both male and female within us despite the body that houses us. It is the natural balance of things that we are drawn to.

The myths that surround the Gods are wondrous, indeed. Each one shows us facets of ourselves. In each facet is a lesson that we need to learn from. I like the idea that Gods have human qualities, that way we can relate to them. We must remember that in this religion we do not bow down to them. We are on the same plane as they. They cannot exist without us. We have brought life back to them. See, how wondrous we are?!

The embodiment of male energy is, of course, viewed through the aspects of the Gods. While, it is important for us to be aware and use our female aspect, it is equally as important to harness the male in us all. I believe that as a community, we realize the importance of this as we age. Men do age differently from women. We always hear of Maiden, Mother, Crone. But, we need to remember Youth, Father, Sage.

In a broader sense of the God in the shadows—the Green Man in his foliation disappears into the landscape. He is always there. But blends into the woodwork, so to speak. Just like the workings of a computer micro-chip. It is there, it makes the computer function, yet we don't necessarily see it.

The God, in Green Man persona is there. Systems of nature work, yet we don't always see him. That does appear to be changing, we are seeing the Gods' presence again. We do need balance to be restored again in our world.

We do need to remember our God is not the Christian God. Though the Christian God is most prevalent in modern society, especially in American society-other countries seem to have less of a problem with this than in the U.S.

Perhaps because as a country it is so new, so the newer Christian deity is more easily accepted than ours. Though those of us with immigrant backgrounds realize our cultures are older, and in many cases-ancient. We call back to those roots, those roots include our many Gods. The shift in tides is indeed upon us.

Even in our traditional ways we haven't totally forgotten. Our ways are balanced, we invoke then banish, cast then disperse, white candle and black candle. Each is part of that whole.

I understand that those who came into the Craft from another background, the most different aspect to embrace is the Goddess or feminine side to this way. It does help set us apart from others.

The strength of the Goddess is tremendous-that we cannot deny. We must remember though, that She cannot stand alone in Her most important aspect-creation-change-the ultimate, She cannot impregnate Herself without the male principle.

This is a good thing, for we know in general society-one-sidedness is unhealthy and unnatural. Without two we become anarchistic and dictatorial, and that always cries for change.

Since we are the Craft of the Wise we recognize when we have gone too far one way and make our changes to adapt the the ever changing ebb and flow of our life cycles. It is also how we have survived for centuries, adapting.

It is now time for the God to return to his rightful place-side-by-side with the Goddess. As we move forward in the next level of the Craft we must be balanced. As we know, despite how far we have come there are many out there who would like us to be unbalanced. So for our own sakes we need to remain loyal to both energies that embody us.

We understand that children fare better when raised with both influences of male and female. Modern sociologist's have suspected for some time that we will have societal problems because of the single parent phenomenon. It does make sense logically that if we need both parts to create a living being it would need both to be raised by them. Each part has special talents and influences that the other cannot substitute.

I chose not to get into the various pantheons for those are so personal and mean different things to different folks. All our mythologies are rich with choices. As such each help us through wonderful lessons spiced with magic. And in this manner it reflects life. Nothing is new under the sun, broken down, our situations reveal the basic components that reflected in life for thousands of years. Some less severe, some more. Nonetheless our trials and tasks are shades of our forebears. We just have other nuances that make our situations unique.

Remember in all of this to embrace both aspects of ourselves-whether called God and Goddess, light and dark, yin or yang. We encompass two sides of a whole. Welcome our Gods back so we can move forward in the dynamic tensions of the universe that moves us onward.

Remember, The Gods are alive, and magick is ahoof!

MoonSpider

ABOUT...

Moonspider

Location: Bridgeport, Connecticut

Author's Profile: To learn more about Moonspider - Click HERE

Bio: Mark MoonSpider Sosnowski has been on this path most of his life. Life has dealt him many twists and turns, and usually says he came into the Craft through the back door. He loves books and reading and makes his living as a librarian. Numerology is his main form of divination having worked it for over 15 years. but, his Gemini mind, never at rest, has studied astrology, crystals, runes, I Ching and whatever else strikes his fancy. And, recently joined a local Pagan board as education chair.

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