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.
Hey Sally, some days I agree with your friend about the abundance of maleness in our world. But you are right that balance is the way. Night is female, so is moon. If we just sit for a few minutes in moon light, and gather our eggs, balance is found. Love you.
I love that! It’s a wonderful way to look at Life!
Sally
The summer soltice is about the sun god, specifically Sol, as the name depicts. As for dancing with the god/goddess, of course we may, it is our way of uniting with them. To not dance with the god/goddess is, I believe a carryover from the christian beliefs that it is a sin to dance. But even in their book, King David danced to his God in the street and showed his nakedness, which leads one to believe a hypocrisy exists in the fundamenta belief of christianity.
Each of us has a male/female counterpart. Men moreso than women, as when men get older, the testerone level deminishes and the estrogen level increases. Each time a man shows a kindness, he is expressing his inner woman. This does not mean that he is gay or bi, but it may lead to that.
I would say, keep dancing with the Gods during the light of day and with the Goddess under the moon. Let each express his/her own belief and respect that belief but it is unnecessary to adher to their belief. Each of us knows what is right for us.
Blessed Be
Tomas
I love the thought of being with Goddess energy when the Moon is glowing, and the God energy when the Sun is shining. Thank you for sharing that visualization!
Hi Sally,
I enjoyed this post, it raises some very valid points. On my own path I have deliberately deviated from a balanced duality practice but have inevitably found myself back at the same place.
Wicca and other nature religions are all about balance and this is how it should be. As a non-Wiccan I have struggled to be comfortable with fundamental Wiccan practices, there are many reasons for this but essentially I believe that when Wicca was developed in the mid-20th Century (yes, I know that’s a can of worms but I’ll gloss over that :)) it tried too hard to achieved balance.
In some ways many witches (including Wiccans) can get too hung up by their own self-imposed doctrines. Why can’t you dance with the Goddess at midsummer? It may be about the height of the sun God but it’s also about a key point in the fertility cycle. And let’s not forget it takes two to tango!
Wicca and its many variations have in-built flexibilities. I, like many pagans, may have pre-conceived ideas when I approach a ritual which I am forced to abandon because in the moment they just don’t feel right.
And that’s what it’s all about. You may belong to a coven, group or church but ultimately you are on a highly individual path and you should tread it as you see fit and as your deities guide you.
I really liked your Grief and Loss analogy, when a war is over we should set about trusting each other and building a future together and not carry on fighting in our heads.
Brightest blessings,
Jamie
I like this Blog and the thoughtful Comments it generated. I grew up in a home that studied and cherished Carl Gustav Jung and his teachings. To my understanding the ideal of Individuation, which is the state that allows for a spontaneous and unencumbered way of life, unshackled from burdens and limitations, and tapped into the energies of the Collective Unconscious, requires a full realization of the Anima / Animus (i.e. Male/ Female) in all their respective Glory.
Shifting to Eastern thought from there, I believe that the whole focus on EITHER male of female, God or Goddess is MAYA – a delusion. At a very deep and fundamental level, we are all kidding ourselves if we think we can separate and create an exclusively Male or God energy or an exclusively Female of Goddess Energy. It is an illusion to think that we can create them as separate.
I believe in Ritual, it is a powerful practice. I also believe that Archetypes are useful and help us learn about diverse attributes in our own personalities. So I am not advocating that we abandon the Archetypes. Perhaps we can pursue them with a little bit more humility — or at least laughing at our own folly!
I just hope we can all Giggle and Laugh at ourselves in our Cosmic search. The rigidity that comes from taking sides and forcing our opinions on others is neither healthy nor attractive!
Blessed Be