When Wiccans say they worship the horned god, and the goddess, what or who are they referring to?

Question

I know they say it is not Satan, but what exactly are these gods, where do they dwell, what sorts of things do they do? How do they know the god has a horn? And what does the goddess look like?Do they believe in the traditional single God that Christians and Muslims believe in?

I'd be interested in Wicca for the nature aspect but I really want to know for sure exactly who or what I am worshipping.

Answer 1

Some Wiccans simply call their deities God and Goddess. Others invoke specific aspects from mythology. Some honor pantheons while others dedicate themselves to only a few. This is because the Divine can take upon itself infinite aspects and faces.
Deities are not names to be plucked from a book. They are entities to relate to and form a relationship with. More is not always better! Seek out those attuned to you - not just those that represent what you might want today. Gods are not things to be taken up and discarded on a whim
The God and Goddess represent the balance of the universe, the world as a whole, no one part complete without the other. They are not, however, dichotomies - they are not opposites. They can both represent all things - both life and death, for example. They are a unit, more than they are two singulars, better thought of as "God and Goddess" instead of "God" and "Goddess".
Good and evil are generally not addressed at all, as they are human constructs: humanity hardly needs a supernatural force tempting it to evil - it creates far too much on its own. Our actions are our own responsibility. Many Wiccans simply worship the God and Goddess. I, however, find them more conceptual than literal. Many authors, I suspect, speak of the God and Goddess to sum up the vast array of entities revered by various Wiccans and do not mean to present them as actual entities.

But for me the following is the truth:
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
[1.1] All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.
[1.2] The Beneficent, the Merciful.
[1.3] Master of the Day of Judgment.
[1.4] Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help.
[1.5] Keep us on the right path.
[1.6] The path of those upon whom Thou hast bestowed favors. Not (the path) of those upon whom Thy wrath is brought down, nor of those who go astray. (amin)
I belive in oneness of God..The Allah

Answer 2

I got this from Wikipedia and it seems about right:

"The Horned God is a modern syncretic term used amongst Wiccan-influenced Neopagans, which unites numerous male nature gods out of such widely-dispersed and historically unconnected mythologies as the Celtic Cernunnos, the Welsh Caerwiden, the English Herne the Hunter, the Hindu Pashupati, the Greek Pan and the satyrs, and even the Paleolithic cave painting "the Sorcerer" in the Cave of the Three Brothers in France.

A number of related British folk figures have been incorporated as well: Puck, Robin Goodfellow, and the Green Man."

You'd have to really study Wicca to understand how the deities work. In Wicca, not everyone worships the same deities, some work with Egyptian deities, others work with Celtic deities, then there's the Greek, Rome, Hindu, etc.... Basically, though, the idea is that the world is in balance between two forces, the feminine and the masculine, the goddess and the god. Wicca is a Pagan religion based on old religions. Most Wiccans have a guideline to "harm none".

Some Wiccans I've known do believe in the One,or the Origin, but not as a masculine god. They believe that from the One came the duality.

Hope this helps a bit.

Many Blessings,
Lilyth

Answer 3

These are generalizations of certain deities that were worshipped through many different cultures. Neo-paganism has combined the ideas together to make these 2 , god and goddess, a part of a general religion. The horned god is in many different cultures as Pan (the Satyr), Cernunnos (God of Nature to the ancient Celts... and one of my faves as far as symbolism goes). The goddess, as I have seen it, is the individual's making. Sometimes she's a harsh goddess, like the Morrigan (a Triune Goddess of the Celts) or she is a loving goddess, a protectress, like the goddess Brigid. Depending on the individual, they can view it as vast as the god and goddess being everywhere all the time... or they may view it as a certain place, not unlike the astral plane. Some ancient pagans were, in fact, monotheistic, believing their god was the only right god, even though they recognized the existance of other gods. And no, most Wiccans do not recognize the God of the bible, though I have met a couple who claim to be Wiccan/Christian. I am not sure how that one works.

Answer 4

The Horned God is Pan or Cernunnous. He is a God that is often portrayed as half man half goat type creature. He has horns and preferes to dwell in the forest.
The Goddess depends on which Wiccan you talk with. The most commonly known Goddess is the Goddess of Wilendorf (sp).
They know the God has a horn because of depictions of him. How do Christians know what Jesus looked like? Because they have depictions of him.
The Goddess can look like whatever the practitioner wants her to look like. Commonly though she is a very voluptous women. A beautiful symbol of female power.
Most Wiccans do not believe in onyl one God. However, there are some who do. There are some Wiccan who choose Jesus Christ as their Deity. They worship him, but they just don't follow the Bible.

I would also like to point out a couple things -
PAGANISM has been around for a LONG TIME. WICCA was created in the 1950's.
Yes, most if not all of the Christian holidays started as Pagan Holidays. I mean seriously, how do you think Christians got the giant bunny idea to celebrate the death and rebirth of their lord? The bunny is an ancient symbol of fertitilty. Litha, I believe is the Pagan holiday in April, is a fertility festival, hence the rabbit. So when Christians decided they wanted everyone to convert, they put their holidays on the same days, even kept a majortiy of the same festivals, just changed the names and the reasons,

Wiccans DO NOT believe in Satan. Sorry, don't care what you say. I studied the Wiccan religion for over 8 years. Wiccan have no concept whatsoever of an embodiment of all evil. Therefor, how can they worship it?

IMPORTANT TO NOTE - Wiccans wear a Pentacle. That is the five pointed star with a circle around it. The five points represent five elements - earth air fire water and spirirt. Wiccans wear it point up because the top point represents spirit. So they wear it that way to symbolize that spirituality comes above all else.
Satanists wear a pentacle or even a pentagram, which is just the five point star, with the spirit point facing down to show that material things come before their spiritual beliefs..
Hope I cleared a few things up.
~Gypsy~

Answer 5

The goddess is Mother Earth. The goddess and the horned god reside in everything. The trees, the plants, the animals, and within ourselves.

Wicca generally relies on ancient greek, celtic, norse, and egyptian mythology for their dieties.

The Horned God is generally a combination of the nature gods of those mythologies, such as Pan from Greek Mythology.

The horns represent strength and protection.

There are many different sculptures and paintings of the goddess and the god, each of which vary in different ways.

It's just like the Christian god, no one knows EXACTLY what he's supposed to look like.

Wiccans don't believe in the traditional god. Wicca is a polytheistic religion.

Answer 6

In Neo-pagan witchcraft, where much emphasis is placed upon the Goddess, the Horned God, or Cernunnous, is equally important. He contributes the male role or part in the male-female polarity. He is worshipped. In rites he is personified by the high priest just as the Goddess is personified by the high priestess. The high priest sometimes wears an antlered headdress or a horned helmet.

It is believed the Horned God represents sexuality, vitality, the hunt, logic and power. But, he does not exploit his attributes nor will he let them be exploited. He is considered to be gentle, tender and compassionate in a masculine manner.

The Horned God, the most "male" in the conventional sense, of the Goddess’ projections, is the eternal Hunter, and also the animal which is hunted. He is the beast who is sacrificed that human life may go on, as well as the sacrificer, the one who sheds blood. He is also seen as the sun, eternally hunting the moon across the sky. The waxing and waning of the sun throughout the seasons manifest the cycle of birth and death, creation and dissolution, separation and return.

The horns of the Horned God are believed to represent his domain over the woodlands, and his association with the bull and ram, the animal consorts of the Goddess. His horns also symbolize the crescent moon, the symbol of the Goddess, and represents the increase in all things and waxing fertility.

In art, the Horned God, or Cernunnous, is represented as half man and half animal. This possibly represents the natural union between man and nature.

Neo-pagans believe that there is no association between the Horned God and the Devil. They say Christians have confusingly tried to make such a connection.

In Neo-pagan Witchcraft the Goddess is the very essence or central figure of the Craft and worship. She is the Great Mother, representing the fertility which brings forth all life; as Mother Nature she is the living biosphere of both the planets and the forces of the elements; she has roles of both creator and destroyer; she is the Queen of Heaven; and she is the moon. She possesses magical powers and is emotion, intuition and psychic faculty.

The Divine Force within the Goddess is believed to be genderless, but within the universe it is manifested as male and female principles. Often within the worship of the Divine Force the Goddess, or the female principle, is emphasized to the exclusion of The Horned God, or the male principle. But, theoretically both are recognized.

The Goddess has many facets, names and aspects. Although in witchcraft and Neo-paganism she is mainly worshiped in her aspects of the triple Goddess: Virgin, Mother and Crone.

Answer 7

I believe the horned God is Celtic. The goddess is just that a goddess she can look like anything depending on the time of year. They are everywhere. Most Wiccans dont believe in the Judeo-Christian God. There are many different aspects of the Goddess and God. Blessed be.

Answer 8

Hey well I am a Wicca myself and I can say without a doubt we do not believe in Satan we believe in evil all around but not in a devil that is a Christan deity. First and foremost ure not going to a bad place if you read up on Wicca I would suggest doing so. I have only been into Wicca for 3 years but I know that Wicca is a nature based religion and that we see the god and goddess all around us in nature and in ourselves. We do pray. We look at the god and goddess equally. If you are really interested in Wicca check it out for yourself that is the best way. I recommend these authors and then just take it from their
Scott Cunningham
Silver RavenWolf

Bright Blessing
Merry Meet and Merry Part
Krystal

Answer 9

There are many horned Gods. The Wiccan horned God may be given the name of any of these, sometimes more or less accurately. The horned God of Wicca is the God who sacrifices himself to the hunt and yet also leads the hunt. He is both the hunter and the hunted and by his sacrifice we are able to sustain ourselves. He is the spirit of the forest that brings forth fruit. He is often associated with the Green Man and the God of Harvest. As such he is also the spirit of the harvest, his death in the cutting down of grain allows us to have our daily bread. In Wicca, all Gods are embodied in one, one in many. The idea is simply that He dies in the fall so that we may live and is born again in at Midwinter and grows into adulthood throughout the year. Re-conceiving himself with the maiden Goddess in the spring.

Answer 10

The Horned god and Moon Goddess are representations of the God and Goddess of Wicca.

The original Gardnerian form of Wicca integrates a lot of Celtic practices and mythology into it. To my knowledge the Horned God and Moon Goddess were taken from the Celtic/Welsh deities Cernunnos and Cerridwen.

Cernunnos is the god of fertility life and animals. He is depicted with the horns of a stag protruding from his head.

Cerridwen is a triple aspect goddess, although was usually worshiped as the crone of the underworld who brews ancient wisdom in her cauldron.

These are just brief descriptions, of course. There is much more to these deities than I could possibly write here. Research these deities if you would like more information on them.

Some Wiccans believe in one universal force that encompasses everything. This force or godhead is separated into two opposite polars, similar to the yin/yang concept. These polar aspects of the godhead are the God and Goddess of Wicca.

God and Goddess can then be worked with in different aspects, usually given the names of ancient gods and goddess of other cultures.

In this respect, Wiccans can be monotheistic, dualistic, polytheistic, or a combination depending on the tradition of Wicca an individual practices.

Answer 11

Ok, first of all, Wiccans do not believe in Satan, Satan was created by Christians who "borrowed" the image from the ppl who worshipped The Horned God 100's of years ago. The Horned God and the Goddess are in part the duality of nature, male, female. Good and bad. In other words, without famine, there is no feast, without drought, there is no flood. Yin and Yang. Did you know that all and I do mean ALL Christian holidays were originally Pagan in origin? Even Christmas and Easter? Did you know that Christians basically caused the Black Death in Europe by putting to death millions of witches and their cats? Witches were the healers and the cats kept down the rodent population. After they were executed, rodents ran rampant.
The Christians as in Catholics have taken the Virgin and Christ away from us Pagans...so if you want to know where the images of Mary and Christ came from...they were stolen.

Haven't you read about the still small voice? Or the voice in the burning bush? Or the voice of the Gods and Goddesses in the wind, in running water, in the rustling of the underbrush? There are the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Akasha, we worship. The ancient ones Thor, Mercury, Astarte, Diana? Where do you think the the myths come from???

I suggest you do some reading...Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practi...(the spell check is broken) by Scott Cunningham. Teen Witch by Silver Ravenwolf are two jumping off places or books. And no, you won't go to hell for reading books to become more knowlegeable about Wicca.