Gods and Goddesses

[Mystic Wolf]

Cernunnos
I knew that Cernunnos was my God partly because I never feared his appearance
and saw him as the giver of the spark of life and being one with the creatures of the forest being both the hunter and hunted.
The energy surrounding this entity inspired me and even though most of us have been taught that Cernunnos is the epitome of the devil I never feared him
Cernunnos "The Horned One" is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld.
The Horned God is born at the winter solstice, marries the goddess at Beltane, and dies at the summer solstice.
He alternates with the goddess in ruling over life and death, continuing the cycle of death, rebirth, and reincarnation.
Very little is known about Cernunnos except for his name and his image, which appears on numerous stone carvings and other artifacts throughout Europe.
He appears crowned with stag antlers, is often seated in a meditative position, and is almost always depicted with images of wild animals.

Cerridwen
Cerridwen is one of the Old Ones, one of the great megalithic pre-Christian Goddesses of the Celtic World.
Although in her story, she embodies all three lunar aspects of the Goddess, Maiden, Mother, and Crone, she is primarily worshipped in her Crone aspect, by and through her Cauldron of Wisdom, Inspiration, Rebirth, and Transformation.
The cauldron has an intimate association with femininity, together with the cave, the cup, and the chalice, and the association of femininity with justice, wisdom and intelligence go back to very ancient times.

Cerridwen was originally worshipped by the people of Wales.
It is told that she lived on an island, in the middle of Lake Tegid, named after her husband, with her two children, a beautiful daughter, Creidwy, and a very ugly son, Afagdu.
To compensate her son for his unfortunate appearance, Cerridwen brewed a magical formula, known as "Greal", which would make Afagdu the most brilliant and inspired of men.
For a year and a day, she kept six herbs simmering in her magical cauldron, known as "Amen", under the constant care of a boy named Gwion.
One day, while Gwion was stirring the cauldron, a few drops of the bubbling liquid spattered on his hand. Unthinkingly, and in pain, Gwion, sucked his burned hand, and, suddenly, he could hear everything in the world, and understood all the secrets of the past and future.
With his newly enchanted foresight, Gwion knew how angry Cerridwen would be when she found he had acquired the inspiration meant for her son. He ran away, but Cerridwen pursued him.
Gwion changed into a hare, and Cerridwen chased him as a greyhound; the changed into a fish and Cerridwen pursued him as an otter; he became a bird, and she flew after him as a hawk; finally, he changed into a grain of corn, and Cerridwen, triumphant, changed into a hen, and ate him.
When Cerridwen resumed her human form, she conceived Gwion in her womb, and, nine months later, gave birth to an infant son, whom she, in disgust, threw into the water of a rushing stream.
He was rescued by a Prince and grew into the great Celtic bard, Taliesin.
Cerridwen's cauldron is an ancient feminine symbol of renewal, rebirth, transformation and inexhaustible plenty.

It is the primary female symbol of the pre-Christian world and represents the womb of the Great Goddess from which all things are born and reborn again.
Like the Greek Goddess, Demeter, and the Egyptian Goddess, Isis, Cerridwen was the great Celtic Goddess of inspiration, intelligence, and knowledge, and was invoked as a law-giver and sage dispenser of righteous wisdom, counsel, and justice.

The potent nature of her brew has, today, transformed Cerridwen, in some eyes, into a goddess of fertility, creativity, harvest, inspiration, knowledge, and luck.
A festival in her honor is celebrated on July 3rd, and the pink sow, a symbol of fertility, good fortune, and enrichment, is said to be her matron animal.

Arachne - Gifted in the art of weaving, Arachne became famous for her excellent tapestries but was too proud to admit she had once been in the inferior position of being a student, insisting that she was a better weaver than the Greek Goddess Athena, the goddess who had been her teacher.
Proud of her skills, she issued a challenge to Athena to a contest to see who had the greater talent.
The two immediately set to weaving, Athena's design depicting the glory of the gods and goddesses and Arachne's illustrating stories of the gods' less honorable moments, including depictions of the various seductions and infidelities of Athena's father, Zeus.
Athena was furious and tore Arachne's tapestry to shreds.
Realizing that she had gone too far in insulting the deities, Arachne grew so depressed that she hung herself.
Athena took pity on poor Arachne and decided to let her live, but not as a human, and turned Arachne into a spider.

Arachne and her story teach us to be mindful of the risks women, even extraordinarily talented women, take when they speak out against the established order, the patriarchy in particular.  We are reminded to speak the truth, not out of pride or in an effort to "get ahead", but in the spirit of concern and love.
One thing witches need to know is when to keep silent Arachne reminds me of that.

 

Athena
Athena may seem an odd choice for a Goddess to some especially those who are peace-loving.
I too am peace-loving but not just for the sake of peace
I have always felt it necessary to be the voice for those who don't have any and stand up for those too beaten down to fight for themselves.
I have always seen myself as a warrior - not a warmonger but ready to battle if necessary, and also to bring peace where I can.
Perhaps it is because I am a Libran and an air sign with the element of Swords.
Her functions are many: she is venerated among the great divinities in her quality of warrior-Goddess, as Goddess of the arts of peace, and as Goddess of prudent intelligence.
To Athena, the warrior - her oldest manifestation - belong the epithets Promachos ('who fights in the foremost ranks') and Alalcomeneis ('who repels the enemy').
She is the protectress of towns and the guardian of acropolises

Which God and Goddess you are drawn to?
If you don't know I want you to say the one you always think about.
The one that fascinates you when you first find a goddess, She leads you along a certain path but She takes you to crossroads where you will have choices and yet you will want to spend time with different goddesses and gods along the way