23
Mar

How God Works in Wicca  

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Darius099 commented on Deity Concepts, “Creating your own religion? I mean… what for? Seems silly, childish, and altogether not what faith is about to just go and make up something to worship.” If that’s what I was doing, I’d agree completely so let me explain.

First, and foremost, I’m Wiccan and follow one over-riding rule no matter what I do, which practices I choose, how I go about doing things and that is: “An it harm none, do as you will.” This has been the Rede for over a hundred years now and tends to be what defines a Wiccan as a Wiccan.

The second important concept is that most Wiccans believe the God and Goddess are one God and Goddess with many faces and aspects. Some take it farther and say there is one Source to whom the Duality themselves are just different faces. The idea here is that Deity speaks to us in languages we can understand and relate to and so the “face” of Deity changes. Deity itself has no name, no face, is not truly knowable but humans cannot relate to that very well, thus the belief is that it used aspects to interact with humanity.

Once you accept that concept, you move onto “All gods are true.” because all gods are just a different face of the God and Goddess. For me, this includes the Christian gods of Jehovah and Satan and Christ but many Wiccans don’t take it that far and exclude the currently popular pantheon from the aspects of Deity they’re willing to relate to in any way. To be fair to them, many have bitter and unhappy experiences involving Christianity and wouldn’t relate to these aspects well without alot of negative subconscious baggage anyhow.

If all gods are true, then any god I can relate to is the God I can worship, as they’re all same God anyhow. This also holds true for Goddess, obviously. Therefore, choosing which “face” I’m going to use is of great importance as I need to be honest enough with myself and know myself well enough, to be able to choose “faces” of the God that will work for me.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23, 2008 at Sunday, March 23, 2008 and is filed under , , , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

2 comments

Viri Cordova  

Stan Says:
March 24, 2008 at 3:19 pm e

You know, it seems the cited rede has been taken up by more than just Wiccans. The “if it don’t hurt nobody” philosophy is one I’ve heard in quite a few different venues, both online and in the “real” world. It got old after hearing is so many times during my stint in England. That’s not to say anything about its validity, but…it’s the “broken record” principle, if you follow.

My biggest issue with that idea is that it often gets used as a cop-out. I’ve heard many use it to justify doing whatever they want, provided they can somehow rationalise that it’s “not hurting anyone.” If it hurts themselves, they just poo-poo it as “not hurting someone else,” and give the “it’s my life” line, and be done with it.

I think it’s a shameful way of dodging responsibility.

That said, the notion in itself is one I find quite valid.

Commenting on the duality of deity, what do you think of the idea of a separation God and Goddess, in the sense of “King and Queen,” (a.k.a “The Crown”) where they’re both acting as a single, governing entity, and yet are two, distinct individuals?

As for “all gods are true,” I question that as a logical extension of accepting a dualistic god. Along with a belief in God, I hold the converse belief in a devil, who is quite the master of deception and counterfeit. As I believe that Satan is out to destroy mankind, creating false gods and setting them up to be worshipped strikes me as a very logical thing to do.

The question, then–when one presupposes a belief in a belligerent devil with great skill at deception–is how does one determine which faces and facets of Deity are correct and trustworthy?

I see you mention a belief in Satan as well, so what do you believe about him?

March 25, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Viri Cordova  

viriatha Says:
March 24, 2008 at 3:26 pm e

When I was taught, I learned hurt to self was just as important as harm to someone or something else. The flip side of the people who use it to dodge responsiblity are those who use it justify environmental concerns and not mowing grass because it’s “harm” to the plant :P Wiccans, like any other demographic, span the gamut of humanity. That said, i too dislike those who use it as a cop-out. It’s lame.

For the rest, you deserve a new post :)

March 25, 2008 at 4:01 PM

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