Wiccan Deities

[Framed in Fire]

Hi everybody. smile
I am writing an article on Wiccan Deities, and I was wondering if anybody had some info that they would be willing to share with me.


Discuss:
-What deities (if any) do you worship/believe in?
-What does the word 'deity' mean to you?
-Is there any information that you think is important for me to have in my article?  

[TeaDidikai]

Wicca is a ditheistic religion based upon a dualistic Sun God and a triple form Moon Goddess.

These gods have specific names, and are not the same beings as those of other pagan traditions. The names of the Wiccan Lord and Lady are secret and bound by oath not to be revealed.

Last I checked, Wicca does not assert that their gods are the only gods in existance, but merely the ones the Wiccans are called to worship. Through faith, self developement, study, initiation and the shared experiences of the initiated Wiccans, the Wiccan God and Goddess pass on their insights to the Wiccans.

As Wicca is an oathbound mystery religion, that is about the most you'll get out of any real Wiccan.  

[LadyEladrin]

Framed in Fire

Hi everybody. smile
I am writing an article on Wiccan Deities, and I was wondering if anybody had some info that they would be willing to share with me.

Discuss:
-What deities (if any) do you worship/believe in?
-What does the word 'deity' mean to you?
-Is there any information that you think is important for me to have in my article?

Tea pretty much said it all about the Wiccan deities in her post, but I can answer the other questions...

I believe in a divine being that is all of the energy of the universe that is sentient. This being has many faces, is all of the faces of the gods and goddesses of all the traditions and religions around the world (and very possibly on other worlds as well.) This is the only way for the being to make itself known to everyone in a way everyone will understand. This being is too large and incomprehensible for us to wrap our minds around, so it shows different faces to different people.

Deity simple means God/dess. A higher being, more powerful, more spiritual and is everything. *shrugs*  

[TeaDidikai]

Wait... FiF? Do you want info on any pagans or just Wiccans?  

[Light Chakra]

EladrinStarmist

Framed in Fire

Hi everybody. smile
I am writing an article on Wiccan Deities, and I was wondering if anybody had some info that they would be willing to share with me.

Discuss:
-What deities (if any) do you worship/believe in?
-What does the word 'deity' mean to you?
-Is there any information that you think is important for me to have in my article?

Tea pretty much said it all about the Wiccan deities in her post, but I can answer the other questions...

I believe in a divine being that is all of the energy of the universe that is sentient. This being has many faces, is all of the faces of the gods and goddesses of all the traditions and religions around the world (and very possibly on other worlds as well.) This is the only way for the being to make itself known to everyone in a way everyone will understand. This being is too large and incomprehensible for us to wrap our minds around, so it shows different faces to different people.

Deity simple means God/dess. A higher being, more powerful, more spiritual and is everything. *shrugs*

Here she's talking about The All, no one really knows its name or if they do they do not ever even speak of it having a true name. It is a sentient being that is composed of all things in existance, and is also greater than the sum of its parts, meaning it is bigger than everything in existance.
It's very similar to the christian concept of god which is why it is not a popular idea amongst most pagans. Also if you've ever seen The Craft, which is a really bad example but an example none the less, they give the all a name and worship it directly.
It is incredibly complicated, which is why it is usually broken down into smaller parts (goddess, and god for example) in order for us to better comprehend it. If we acknowledge one thing then we acknowledge the other, thus giving us polarity from within the neutrality of the all.  

[Doctrix]

I don't speak for all Wiccans, because there is actually a wide range of beliefs as to the nature of deity in Wicca. I even know a Wiccan who characterizes himself as an "agnostic gnostic!" I'll steal a little quote from reagun ban to remind us all how this can be true.

reagun ban

We all know that anyone who accepts Jesus is a Christian. That's because Christianity is an orthodoxic religion. Orthodoxic religions are those such that what you believe is what makes you a member of the religion. If you can say the Nicean crede, then you're a Catholic. Wicca, on they other hand, is orthopraxic, meaning that what you believe may well be important but how you practice is what makes you a member.

So please keep in mind, that the beliefs stated below are my own, and not Wicca's.

Framed in Fire

-What deities (if any) do you worship/believe in?

I believe in many, many deities. I believe in an unknowable, immanent and transcendent "Source" of all things. I worship a Wiccan Goddess and God. I also work with other deities that have made themselves known to me from other pantheons. I believe in the existance of many other deities that I have not been called to serve.

Framed in Fire

-What does the word 'deity' mean to you?

I believe that the Gods are many things: Archetypes, energetic thoughtforms, masks for the unknowable Source, psychological constructs, and very real beings that work independently from each other.

Framed in Fire

-Is there any information that you think is important for me to have in my article?

I guess that the true names and nature of the Wiccan deities are revealed at Initiation.  

[ProfessorZed]

Actually, since this thread is here, maybe [Kudzu] or Reagun (or someone else with the knowledge) can answer a question for me. I just want to concretize, I guess, my understanding of how the Wiccan Deity Naming System (cheeky, I know, but I don't mean any disrespect) works. Am I correct in thinking of the names Aradia and Cernunnos as placeholders, in a sense? That is, simple substitutes used to refer to entities (?) whose sacred names are not to be shared, but who sometimes need to be mentioned outside of an initiate-only context? It occurred to me today that there may or may not be a conflict with other (Wiccan-aspirant or otherwise) worshippers of one or both deities -- would you consider, say, the two Aradias to be separate, or linked? Alternately, do you think the placeholders (could/)have become real in their own right through their availability to the bookbuying public, and if so, would they retain the connection to their antecedents?

I have no idea whether or not that makes sense -- in fact, I have no idea if there are Wiccan-aspirant-or-otherwise Aradia/Cernunnos devotees -- but I couldn't bring myself to just toss the idea over my shoulder. If I'm touching on anything I shouldn't be, please consider the thin-ice-treading portion withdrawn.

Yeah, I have these moments sometimes.

Disclaimer: while I don't maintain relationships with any personal deities, I find the practice fascinating and have a great respect for it. It's sort of an anthropological interest, I guess.  

[Doctrix]

Erishkegal

Actually, since this thread is here, maybe Kudzu or Reagun (or someone else with the knowledge) can answer a question for me.

I can give it a try, but I don't speak for all Wiccans (see my above post.)

Erishkegal

I just want to concretize, I guess, my understanding of how the Wiccan Deity Naming System (cheeky, I know, but I don't mean any disrespect) works.

I want to take this opportunity to state that this is not a Wiccan system at all. On top of that, I don't personally know of any Outer Courts that use those common names, though some of them that I have known have made vague references to an unnamed God and Goddess.

Erishkegal

It occurred to me today that there may or may not be a conflict with other (Wiccan-aspirant or otherwise) worshippers of one or both deities -- would you consider, say, the two Aradias to be separate, or linked? [...] Would they retain the connection to their antecedents?

I'm going to defer to the Ceremonial Magic concepts of the Law of Knowledge and the Law of Names. If you know a lot about something and you know its true name, you can work with it. If you don't, you can't. So my personal belief is that they would be separate.

Erishkegal

Do you think the placeholders (could/)have become real in their own right?

That depends on what your concept of deity is. I think those deities were historically worshipped in their own right, so I think they probably existed before Wicca did.  

[ProfessorZed]

Thanks -- I've been on a sort of philosophical kick of late, and I figured I'd toss that out there. I know a lot of authors use the names, which is where the idea started percolating in my head.  

[TeaDidikai]

Erishkegal, I think I am in agreement with Kudzu on this one.

For example- everyone here knows me as Tea- in real life, folks know me as Sarahann. Neither of which are the names I address myself within my own head. Within that concept in CM, the use of the name might influence aspects of the interaction that the name forms the foundation of, but it would be hard pressed to move beyond that.  

[Framed in Fire]

Thanks everybody smile
I'm sorry I haven't been on here since I posted the topic - school got the better of me xd

<>
I'm trying to stay mainly focused on Wiccans, because the topic's supposed to be Wicca - and the subtopic (my article) is Belief in Deity, however I know that most likely some Pagan information will end up in my article simply because I have a bit more knowledge in that area, as I'm pagan, with some Celtic Wiccan influences - not Wiccan.
I'm talking to the person who assigned me the topic, asking specifically if Pagan information is okay too, or if it has to be 100% Wiccan info  

[TeaDidikai]

Well.... in that case....

Framed in Fire

-What deities (if any) do you worship/believe in?

I accept that all deities exist- how much of a "deitie" one is differs, but that's a whole different concept and debate all together.

In short, I work a great deal with Mokosh, Lada, Amari De, Lado, Alako and a handful of other gods.

Quote:

-What does the word 'deity' mean to you?

Deity = God. God being a race and a job discription and not a name. My cosmology suggests that the gods took children amongst the different populations of the world and that no matter how similar one god is to another- they are still unique with their own personalities.

Example: Freya and Venus are not the same individual. Period.  

[Neko_Bast]

Framed in Fire

-What deities (if any) do you worship/believe in?

Well, I believe that all deities exist. Some fell more real than others. I work the most with the Goddess and God (in their various aspects), and Bast.

Framed in Fire

-What does the word 'deity' mean to you?

I think of deity as the gods, be they big or small. I believe that all gods are one and all goddess are one, but at the same time they are different from one another with their own distinct personalities and traits.  

[saint dreya]

Neko_Bast

I think of deity as the gods, be they big or small. I believe that all gods are one and all goddess are one, but at the same time they are different from one another with their own distinct personalities and traits.

neutral could you please explain how you can be a ditheistic pantheist who thinks that individual gods/desses have different personalities and traits?

all i've ever heard for understanding pantheism is that different gods are different aspects of the ultimate...  

[Doctrix]

Neko_Bast

I work the most with the Goddess and God

Yes, but which ones? wink

phoenix shadowwolf

could you please explain how you can be a ditheistic pantheist who thinks that individual gods/desses have different personalities and traits? all i've ever heard for understanding pantheism is that different gods are different aspects of the ultimate...

I believe that this idea was first made popular by Dion Fortune (not a Wiccan) and has since spread like wildfire. I don't subscribe to that theory myself (I can't convince myself that Kali is just a really pissed off Gaia), but I've heard several metaphors for it given to me by those who believe it. One is that deity is like a diamond, and that the Gods are its many facets. So, in that way, those who believe in the all-gods-are-one-god theory seem more like essentially monotheists to me. But I don't know for sure.