This is an extension of the post “on organization” written a few days ago. If you haven’t read it yet, I suggest reading it first.

Another reason that Wicca has always held such an appeal to me is the Goddess aspect, The respect, honoring and devotion given to the feminine energies of the universe, and self. I always found that lacking in Christianity and though I’ve never gone ultra feminist with my practice and forsworn the God aspect entirely- I’ve always respected the need for balance and attempted to honour both equally- the Goddess has always been slightly more elevated. I feel drawn to her energies; I am after all a woman. I have numerous ‘patron goddess’ whose images I call on for different working and whose essences give me comfort at various times for different reasons.

I’ve written of Hecate and Brighid in prior posts and of my relationships with them. There is also Sophia (gnosis) and Blodewedd, and St. Hildegard among my personal pantheons of Goddesses. But there are no Gods. When I refer to the Goddess I often use a name, usually one of the above. But God always remains, Lord, or the God. No names, no faces, no personality.

It has come to my attention that its time for me to put a face to it. Find a patron God whose image and energy will help me to learn about aspects of myself.

That’s what I really believe about these Goddess and Gods. The energy of Hecate helps me to embrace my dark side, Brighid my healing abilities, Sophia my desire to learn, Hildegard my devotion to the Divine. Blodewedd is harder to explain. She’s a Goddess who was made out of flowers to be a prince’s wife. She ran away from the life imposed on her and lived as she wished. She was made of flowers so she would be delicate, fragile and beautiful- read: subservient. Blodewedd reminds me to not fail to the pressure of labels and other people’s expectations, a lesson I’ve been ignoring this past while.

All of these women, reflect myself, or I reflect them – chicken or egg, you decide. But I’ve never seen myself reflecting Male energies. I’ve never felt connected to any many Gods, yet now I’m being called to find that connection, and the God that has presented himself has me very confused.

For my Christian readers, please note that I use the term God differently than you may interpret. When I say God I don’t mean Yahweh, the Christian God, but the Male Aspect of the Divine Energy. In Wicca some believe that the Divine is divided into female energies and male energies- this brings a kind of balance to the universe as both energies work together and separately in the running of the universe- think yin and yang symbol.

For me, God’s such as Orion, Yahweh, Odin, Zeus… etc are personal manifestations of said energy. They are a part of a whole- a facet of a diamond, one colour in the rainbow, and in the end the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Seeing this Divine with a human face help me relate to an otherwise unknowable, incomprehensible energy. Like the Goddess, the different Gods that manifest carry aspects of the God energy, and bring lessons as individual as they are. Odin perhaps would teach of self-sacrifice for knowledge, or gain, something like that. I can’t hazard a guess at some of the other Gods lessons, because I haven’t spent enough time contemplating them and what they reflect for me.

Two such ‘Gods’ have presented themselves to me for contemplation, Orion and Nuada. Orion is the hunter, placed in the sky because he broke the hearts of one too many Greek Goddesses. The constellation of Orion is bright in the sky right now and I’ve seen it shining in my window for the last month or so. He’s a hunter, provider, gigolo, and all things that I don’t understand and aren’t a part of my being- or so I’ve believed for many a year.

Nuada of the Silver hand is a part of the Irish pantheon and was one of the many great kings. In a battle his hand was cut off, and in Irish tradition only someone who is perfect can be king. He therefore lost his throne. Later a silver hand was made for him and he regained his throne. These two Gods are connected because he is seen as the constellation that we commonly know as Orion.

So the question is, what do I have to learn from these archetypes? What traits reflect in me?

Unlike the Goddesses, I feel no emotional attachment to them. So I’m beginning to think that their lessons are more mundane, more basic. Not Emotional right brain stuff, but logical left-brain things- a place a venture infrequently- the possible lesson? Could be. I like to leave my left side to Gods Like Carl Sagan, Murray Gell-Mann, just kidding I don’t do as Romans Do and elevate humans to Gods. Bu they are very cool.

To a friend Orion, whom she sees as Herne the Hunter (British), or Cernunnos (Gaulish), is a provider, a father figure, someone who is supportive and brings security to the home. He is a protector and creates a feeling of safety. While I appreciate that this is her relationship with this Icon, it doesn’t ‘ring a bell’ for me and I don’t think is what my relationship with this icon is meant to be. I could be wrong, but it doesn’t ‘feel’ quite right. I’m seeking something else. What that is I just don’t know. So here beings a new journey and a new learning experience for me. We’ll see where it goes.