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Gods & Deities 

A fundamental aspect of Wicca is that of religion.  Wiccans have an overriding belief in a Goddess and a God as joint manifestations of the divine.  

Wiccans don't believe that the ultimate deity is a nice young Jewish man, though no doubt he existed.  They believe the ultimate deity is a power, spirit or force, something that can't be touched, like gravity.  This power, spirit or force is not just earth bound but encompasses the whole universe, the Moon, the Sun, Stars and Planets.

To communicate with this divine power, spirit or force, Wiccans believe it to be manifest in the form of a Goddess and God.  As the Goddess and God emanate from the same source, both retain equal power, hence equal status.  By manifesting the power in two deities (Goddess and God), they retain the natural balance of opposites, cause and effect - e.g. Male/female, summer/winter, light/ dark, life and death etc.  Each opposite is essential to maintaining the balance and rhythm of life on earth.  

During ritual ceremonies and while working with magick, Wiccans call on many other deities.  All these other deities (the names of which are many) are in essence merely differently named aspects of the same Goddess and God.  

Below is a list of deities most commonly associated with witchcraft:  

Aphrodite  - Also known as Marianna.  She was the Greek "Foam Born" Moon Goddess, and was often referred to as "She who binds hearts together", and the Goddess from the Western Corner.  She is depicted as beautiful and voluptuous with blue eyes and light hair, and while considered virginal, she was not a virgin but an independent woman.  Her followers celebrated with sexual rites from which men where banned. Myrrh and Frankincense was often used in her celebration rituals.  Her animal associations where: the heron, lovebird, swan and the dove.  She is the patron Goddess to prostitute’s who refer to her as the Goddess of Love.  She is associated with beauty, physical love, sensuality, sexuality, passion, relationships, affections and fertility.

Arawn  - Is the Welsh god of the underworld.  Legend has it that the god Amaethon stole from him a dog, a lapwing and a roebuck, which led to the Battle of the Trees in which his forces were defeated.  Another legend relates that Arawn persuaded the god Pwyll, to trade places with him for a year and a day.  During which time Pwyll defeated Arawn's rival, the god Hafgan for dominance of the underworld.  Because Pwyll refrained for sleeping with Arawn's wife during this time, the two became great friends.  Arawn then bestowed on Pwyll the title "Lord of the Otherworld". 

Arianrhod  - Is a major goddess in Welsh legends.  Her name means "silver wheel" or "silver disk".  Legend has it that Arianrhod claimed to be a virgin, but when her virginity was tested she gave premature birth to twins - Dylan who escaped into the sea, and Lleu Llaw Gyffes who became the object of his mothers scorn.

Many Wiccans believe that Arianrhod is a noon goddess and they associate her with birth and rebirth.  In some traditions she is perceived as the triple goddess - Arianrhod, Blodeuwedd and Cerridwen.  She is also connected with the "Spiral Dance".

Artemis  - Is a Greek goddess very closely associated with the Roman goddess Diana.  She is the twin sister of Apollo, and was known as the goddess of the noon and of the hunt, as well as the goddess of inner strength.  She is portrayed as the virgin goddess of the woodlands and as the archer whose arrows never fail.  Her totem animals are the deer, bear and hare.  

In Greek mythology, Artemis was known by many names.  As Agrotora she was the patron goddess of hunters.  As Kalliste and Brauronia she was worshiped as a bear, and as Diktynna or Britomartis she was the goddess of the sea and fishermen.  In ancient Athens, the Amazons worshiped her as the goddess Athene portraying her with a spear and war helmet.  She has other associations with the goddesses Minerva and Triformis.  See Diana

Bacchus  - Is the Roman god of intoxication and liberation.  Bacchus is the Romanized aspect of the Greek god Dionysos.  The festival of Bacchus became known as Bacchanal.  Images of Bacchus depict him as wearing a headdress of grapes and vine leaves.  He is typically portrayed as bearded and rustic in nature.  From this can be seen the Green Man image that influenced many of the folk customs of Europe.

Bacchus is the spirit of the grapevine and is connected to wine and intoxication.  In mystery traditions, many believed that intoxication came not from the plant itself, but from the spirit of the plant or the divine essence.  Bacchus therefore represents the ecstasy of the spirit when one is freed or liberated from the constraints of formal society.

Brigit  - Is the Irish goddess of fire, smith's, fertility, cattle, crops and poetry.  She is the daughter of Daghda and her name means "the exalted one".  Her festival is the celebration of Imbolc (February 1).  Brigit is thought to be the grandmother of Ecne, who is a personification of knowledge and enlightenment.  She was also the guardian goddess of the province of Leinster and is often compared with the goddesses Minerva and Vesta.

Cardea  - Was known as the "White Goddess" by various Latin tribes.  She was the mistress of Janus, who guarded all doorways and portals.  Cardea was called the hinge of the door of the year.  An obvious connection with Janus who was the door, and the god of new beginnings.  January, the first month of the year is named after Janus.  Cardea's primary symbol was the hawthorn branch and her festival was celebrated in May.

Cerridwen  - Is the Celtic goddess associated with cauldrons and the Underworld.  She has the ability to change shape into various animals and creatures such as the greyhound, otter, hawk and hen.  Her name refers to the colour white and is connected to a Celtic legend related to "the White One", a mythical sow.  Some also believe her name means "White Grain".  This leads many to think she was a moon goddess. 

Demeter  - Also known as "Ceres".  She is the goddess of Grain and Maternal Archetype.  Demeter is invoked in nurturing children, gestation, birth, and marriage.  She is the alleged archetype of the Great Mother inside us all.  Demeter is also the goddess of the earth and thus is invoked when pagans or wiccans involve themselves in environmental issues.

Diana  - Is a Roman goddess very closely associated with the Greek goddess Artemis.  The main difference being that Diana was not chase for she had several lovers such as Hippolytus, Endymion, Virbius, and Dianus and according to some accounts even her brother Apollo.  She was a virgin in the ancient sense in that she never married nor had she given birth.  She was a goddess of the moon, and then later all the Greek myths relating to Artemis were added.  See Artemis.

Flidais  - Is the Celtic woodland goddess of wild creatures and sexual intercourse.  Her name means "Deer" and she is sometimes referred to as the "mistress of stags".  Associated with the goddess Diana, she bears the epithet "fine or beautiful-haired".  She is said to be accompanied by a magickal cow, whose milk could sustain hundreds.  Her husband is thought to be Adammair whose sexual appetite required seven women to satisfy.  

Frey  - Is the god of fertility in Nordic-German mythology.  His worshipers incorporated phallic images into their rites.  Frey is portrayed riding a chariot drawn by two magical boars.

Fraya  - Is the goddess of fertility in Nordic-German mythology.  The ancient Romans equated her with the goddess Venus, as the goddess of love.  Like the god Fray (one assumes to two are connected), Fraya is portrayed riding a chariot, though it's drawn by two cats.

Frigga - In Norse mythology Frigga (also spelled Frigg) was the chief goddess and wife of the principal god Odin. The name Frigga means "wife" or "beloved". Frigga was the goddess of marriage and associated with love and fertility. One of her sons was the beloved but doomed god Balder.

In the heavenly realm of Asgard, Frigga lived in a magnificent palace called "Fensal", where she dressed in the plumage of falcons and hawks. She also had the ability to travel in the form of these birds. Frigga had 11 maidservants to aid her called: Fulla, Hlin, Gna, Lofn, Vjofn, Syn, Gefjon, Snotra, Eir, Var, and Vor, and who helped in her role as goddess of marriage and justice. Sometimes they were considered to be various aspects of Frigga herself, rather than distinct beings.

Frigga is named as Odin's wife and was also considered to be the mother of the Aesir. As Odin's wife she was the highest of the Asynjur, the female deities of the Norse pantheon. Although Frigga loved Odin she was also known to have had an occasional affair. Odin himself was not a faithful husband, and Frigga's rivals for his attentions included Rind, Gunnlod, and Grid. Frigga was also a prophetess who knew the future but never spoke of it, not even to her husband Odin, although he knew she had this power of course. Frigga is not mentioned at length in any surviving literature, except for her most prominent role in the story of the death of Balder. After her son Balder began to have dreams that he was in great peril, Frigga travelled all over the world on Earth, asking everything and taking pledges from everything, not to harm her son.

Once she had secured these pledges, the gods began to amuse themselves by throwing weapons and shooting arrows at Balder for sport, since anything they hurled at him would simply be deflected. But Loki the trickster-fire god deceived Frigga into confiding that she had missed taking the pledge of a young sprig of mistletoe, and that she had excused it from taking any vow thinking it of no harm. Loki immediately went out and gathered a shaft of the mistletoe from which he made an arrow. This he took back to the assembly where the gods were still entertaining themselves hurling things at Balder. Loki then tricked the blind god Hod into hurling the arrow at Balder who was immediately killed.

Frigga is believed to have originated as a much older and widely worshipped Earth goddess known as Jorth (also spelt as: Jõrth, Iord), or Nerthus. She has also been identified as the daughter of Fjorgyn (also spelled: Fiorgvin, Fjorgvin, or Fiorgyn) and is sometimes confused with the goddess Freya, for both are deities of love and fertility. Other goddesses about whom almost nothing is known, but also identified with Frigga include some of those named as her servants: Gefjon, Hlin, Saga, and Eir. The Romans associated Frigga with Venus, and Frigga also appears in “Richard Wagner's” operatic cycle “The Ring of the Nibelungs” as the goddess Fricka wife of the highest god Wotan (the Germanic version of Odin).

Herne  - Is the horned god known as "Herne the Hunter".  He is thought to be a god of the Underworld and associated with the wild hunt.  He is often depicted wearing deerskins and a crown of Stag's antlers.  Some accounts have him riding a fire-breathing horse accompanied by a pack of spectral hounds.  

In some legends Herne is thought to be an old English Witch, who to this day haunts Windsor Great Park near London.  Another account has him as an Innkeeper found guilty of occult doings and hanged from an oak tree.  This tree is now known as Herne's Oak.  

Hecate  - Among the Greeks, Hecate was a goddess of the moon, the Underworld, enchantment, and the night spirits.  Hecate belongs to that class of goddesses known as the torchbearers.  Such goddesses possessed the knowledge of spirit realms and held the secrets of nature in their hands.  She was also known as Anthea, the sender of night visions.  She is usually portrayed as a triple-faced goddess, representing the maiden, mother and crone and the three phases of the moon.  As such she controlled the three great mysteries: birth, life, and death.

Hecate is one of the oldest goddesses in Western culture associated with witchcraft.  As the goddess of witchcraft, she was worshipped at night with torches placed at cross roads.  From this practise she came to be called Trivia, goddess of the three paths.  She represents fertility, the menstrual cycle, crossroads, intuition, fluctuation, and hope when people are confused and their understanding is vague.  She is invoked through dreams, feelings and arts.  Ancient statues and iconography depict Hecate in three forms: holding a torch, a dagger, and a serpent.

Horae, The  - The Horae are ancient deities of a three-fold nature.  Known as Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo.  They are connected with the seasons and plant growth.  Thallo represents blooming plants, Auxo symbolized growth, while Carpo represented crops in their maturity.

The word "Horae" is derived from the Greek word for time or hours, thus the period of growth and maturity.  The Horae were deities of agriculture and attended to the Harvest Lord in his time.  They are also associated with the gods Dionysos and Bacchus.

Jana  - Is the goddess of doorways, entrances and portals.  She is closely associated with the goddess Cardea.  Jana bears the key, which is also a symbol, associated with Hecate.  She is a moon goddess related to Diana.  The symbol of the key also associates her with the Underworld and the Otherworld goddess.

Minerva  - Also known as Athena.  She is the Goddess of wisdom, her occult animal being the owl.  Minerva initially presided over spinning, weaving, and needlework, then later she was associated with agriculture and navigation.  She was also known as a Goddess of war, though of defence not aggression, and was fiercely protective of her own chastity.

Thor  -  In Norse mythology the supreme god of thunder and sky.  Also known as: Thorr, Thunor, Thonar, Donar, Donner, Thur, Thunar, or Thunaer.  Thor was the eldest son of Odin, and was second only to him in the hierarchy of the Norse pantheon.  He was also one of the most popular of the gods due to his relationship with mankind.  Thor is often depicted as a tall, muscular, and vigorous man with a red beard.  He had an enormous appetite and his ability to eat and drink great quantities is featured in several of his legends.  Thor was the principal champion of the gods and the chief protector of humans against giants, trolls, demons and other evil beings.  He was thought to be good-natured, courageous, benevolent, valiant and always ready to fight to help mankind, but he was also easily irritated and when roused to anger his booming voice and flashing eyes would incite terror in his enemies whom he was apt to smash to death with a single blow from “Mjolnir” his magical hammer. 

Thor was widely worshiped by Norse warriors but was also revered by farmers and peasants because of his capacity to create rain for the crops.  Mjolnir the magical hammer was reputedly made by dwarves from the wood of a sacred oak tree, and not only represented the destructive power of the storms Thor created (the fires from heaven), but its image was used as a fertility symbol in marriages (in its connection with rain and crops) and in funerals (as a symbol of death and rebirth), and for accepting newborn children into the community (as a symbol of strength and protection).  Such was he revered that the fifth day of the week Thursday (Thor’s day) was named after him. 

When traveling Thor rode in a chariot made from oak drawn by two goats, Tanngnjostr (Tooth-gnasher) and Tanngrisnir (Tooth-grinder), and when moving across the heavens dispensing weather, it produced the rumblings of thunder and sparks of lightening from its wheels.  Thor and his followers undertook many expeditions to Jotunheim (Iceland) the land of the frost giants, and there erected high-seated pillars of oak.  These they used to hallow new ground enabling the gods to protect their people in new lands. 

Thor fought many legendary battles against the frost giants defending and protecting mankind as well as the gods.  His greatest adversary was the World Serpent called “Jormungand”, whose many coils encircled the world.  After many battles between them which neither won, they were destined to meet and fight for a final time at “Ragnarok” (the mythical end of the world).  At that fatal meeting Thor, the best fighter amongst the gods, succeeded in killing the serpent.  However being busy with his own fight, he was too late to aid his father Odin who died fighting the fierce wolf Fenrir.  After killing the serpent Thor stepped back and died himself from poison the serpent had spat at him.

To be continued

Best wishes and Blessed Be