Wicca, to me, is like a beautiful gem with many facets. Ask ten Witches a philosophical question, and you’ll get ten different answers, especially since not all Witches are Wiccans! Are there really wrong answers? Aren’t the answers just based on our personal spiritual growth in that given moment? I think every answer has the seeds of Truth, some aspect of Truth. We all come from where we’ve been. It’s true every time. We can only give answers based on where we’ve come from and what we’ve learned (or been taught – which are two very different things with very different consequences). So, each of us has valuable information to share, and sharing that information is like seeing another facet of that beautiful gem that is Wicca.
This Summer Solstice, I went as a guest to a lovely ritual that honored the Goddess. Since “My Wicca” is about duality, male and female balance, it was a matter of flipping an inner coin because, for me, Midsummer is all about the God energy. For me, the Sun represents the God and male energy, and since the sun is shining its longest in the Northern Hemisphere where I live, in my own Midsummer ritual, I honor that male aspect that is Godlike. I honor the part of me that is the Achiever, The Doer, The Provider, The Giver. I honor that part of me that says “Jump and the net will appear!” (Even in that statement, there is duality; the jumping is God energy, the trust inherent in believing the net will appear is Goddess energy.) So, during the ritual, my inner coin flipped, and I thought of the abundance that our beloved Goddess is giving birth to at Midsummer: fruits, vegetables, grains, and flowers. I thought of the still “pregnant” Earth that is rich with growing grapes for the autumn wine harvest, and pumpkins and squash for storage. The Goddess-based Midsummer ritual held great meaning for me.
This made me think of all the turmoil in the Pagan community about Goddess worship and, of course, the currently much-discussed Z Budapest debates about what exactly is “Female”. I believe in reincarnation, that we’ve all been men and we’ve all been women, so we are learning from our own duality. Years ago I spoke with Z about Goddess worship to the exclusion of the God, and she said that the world had been much damaged by exclusion of the Goddess over the centuries and so she wanted to bring balance back. I said that worshipping only the Goddess would cause just as much trouble, and Z stated that there was so much God energy on the planet it would take a long time before any imbalance could possibly occur.
I disagree. I think that if you “fight” too hard for anything, all people see is the fighting and the anger, and the message disappears. I’ve seen it over and over again in animal rights, conservation movements, and equal rights. It’s like being at a funeral and being in a space of Grief and Loss. It can be so hard to feel the Love and Renewal, the very purpose of gathering when a loved one passes, when all around you is the intense energy of Grief. And so it is with the Goddess and God, and I do feel the pain of imbalance on the planet, and the beauty of balance all around us. (And, very personally, I am sorry for the beautiful women who have been hurt by being excluded from dancing with the Goddess. We are all such Spiritual Beings, and simply trying to find our Way.)
In various holistic medicines, an imbalance in the body is brought back to balance by taking herbs or supplements that bring us back to center, not by taking herbs or supplements that pull us too far in the opposite direction. I know my body works best when working toward balance. I think our bodies are a great means to providing clues to how we can look at life in general (Louise Hay and Carolyn Myss have great information on that topic).
I talked with a dear and wise friend about these things, and we came to the conclusion that the Sun (God) must shine on the Earth (Goddess) for there to be growth, and there lies the Balance. I felt complete harmony in the fact that I celebrated the Goddess during Solstice. Interestingly, a Facebook friend from South Africa posted a lovely Yule e-card to me immediately following that conversation! It was, to me, a gift from a Goddess who seemed to smile knowingly. So as the earth is in balance with Dark and Light, Day and Night, Winter and Summer, so are our various incarnations. We may not be able to see the Male and Female Duality within ourselves, but it is there whether we see it or not. I am blessed to have my friends reflect answers – and duality – back to me.
The Summer Solstice ritual was during the weekend, so it was a few days before actual Solstice when I more fully bathed in the energy of the God and the Sun. There are no accidents, and so in my quest for balance, I was able to celebrate both the Goddess and the God during this incredibly beautiful Summer Solstice. May it also be with you: should you so choose. Blessed be.
