The God in Triple Form

Alight, so by now, I'm pretty sure that we've all heard of the Goddess being a "triple deity", meaning that She manifests as Maiden, Mother, and Crone during differing times of the year. In the spring, She is the Maiden, fresh and young. By Midsummer, she is the Mother, loving and caring of all her children. In Autumn, she begins aging into the Crone, old and wise, and by Winter, she is in the Underworld(s), beginning the process of rebirth into the Maiden by the following spring.
With all of this, I have noticed that a lot of Wiccans focus on Goddess Worship. Where does this leave the God?
Quite a few, if not all of us, have heard the God being called in two forms: The Horned One, which is the Lord of the Hunt, the Darker aspect of the God. He is typically invoked within the darkening months, or during a banishment. The other, the Green Man, or Man of the Forest. He is the lighter aspect, typically invoked during the lighter times of the year. But what if I told you that the God is so much more complex than that?
He is, like the Goddess, a triple deity in the least. He is the Son, youthful and searching, innocently chasing the Maiden. He is the Warrior, the Father, the King, constantly protecting the one he loves: The Mother. He is the Sage, the Old Man of knowledge who is the counterpart of the Crone. Even in these wordings, it is easy to just brush the God aside as a being that is just "there" as a part of it.
What we must remember is that The Goddess and God represent many, many things. This is why we, as Wiccans, constantly study Their great Mystery.
Without the Goddess, there would not be the Earth we walk upon, nor the Water that nourishes us. Without the God, there would not be the Air we breathe, nor the Fire we use to warm our hearts and cook our meals. Both parts are important to incorporate in our Rituals, and in our lives. As you invoke whatever aspect of the Goddess into your next ritual, I have a challenge for you: Invoke the God in His matching aspect. When invoking the Maiden, invoke the God as the Son, or the Lover, or the Child. When the Mother needs to show her Love, invoke Him as the Father, or as the Warrior, or the King. When the Crone shares her Wisdom, invoke Him as the Sage, or the Elder.
Do this, and watch your ritual feel much, much more complete and balanced.

Blessed Be, everyone.

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good post. it does upset me that people don't invoke both, it's normally more for the Goddess. with the exception of Dianic Wicca, we should try to keep the two in equal worship. the God is just as important as the Goddess, as you said, aging beside her throughout the year. my coven has certain holidays where we focus more on the god, and others more for the Goddess, depending on the day. like for Yule we speak of the Oak and Holy kings, and how the God will be reborn with the sun.

i find it's also harder to find information on the God, i remember him being called something similar to maiden mother and crone a long time ago, never found it again. [it was something like 'fawn, steer and stage'] i don't understand why most books on Wicca i've read speak of the two being equal beings, but any further research into the Gods and it's mostly the Goddess. it's just up to each of us to connect with the God on our own.

Thank you, this is a good post. I sometimes personify this triple aspect as the fool, the magician, and the hermit from the tarot.
I think it's interesting to invoke the dual male/female aspects.

Very good thread .It is rarely spoken on this topic .
And I absolutely love the connection between the Tarot characters and the three aspects of the Deity ,which Peyote added .
Aspects within a human ,deity or spirit are often ignored and rather made simple .Yes ,it is done to facilitate understanding ,but we often can not see how things are constantly in motion ,and how they adapt to internal or external changes to reflect inner state of being .Motion is what brings change and development .

Nekoshema, maybe you could elaborate a bit more on what you and your coven do to keep the God prevalent within Ritual? And yes, all of this is with exception to Dianic Wicca, my apologies for not stating that earlier within the post. Also, with the Fawn, Steer and Stag, you're referring to the Youthful, Adult and Wise variations of Pan, which is completely acceptable to a lot of us who are unfamiliar to the concept of the God.
Thank you for that little tidbit, I'll have to do more research into it.
And Peyote, I completely forgot about the association with the Tarot! Thank you for your input.
And as Art said, it is rarely spoken about. Maybe we should dedicate this thread to an open debate about what the role of the God is within Wicca? (Friendly, of course?)

I like this, I'm still only just starting my path in the Craft so I hadn't actually thought about the God, this has given me a lot to think about! Thanks and BB )o(

There are certainly some who view the God in triple form, just as they view the Goddess this way. The most common way that I've heard is Warrior, Hunter, Mage/Sage.

But at least in my opinion, the God is not triple-aspected.

The Goddess has at least three, if not four, aspects just as the moon to which she is linked goes through multiple phases from New Moon to Full Moon and back again.

But the God is traditionally linked with the Sun and the Sun has only two aspect...present in the daytime and absent at night. Thus the God is seen as having two aspects...the Green Man which is the aspect related to the Sun in daylight, and the Horned Lord which is the Sun at night. This is also reflected in the Wheel of the Year where the God is born, grows to maturity (even as the Sun rises from its lowest point at Yule to its Zenith at Midsummer) and the the God dies and goes into the Underworld just as the Sun fades from Midsummer to Yule. This is the Wheel that gave rise to the mythos of the Oak King and the Holly King...the two aspects of the God that rule over the to solar-determined halves of the year.

It's true that many Wiccans omit the God from their rituals and workings. This is sad. Traditional Wicca has always understood that Wicca is at its heart a fertility religion and that it is through the relationship of the God and the Goddess that Creation continues to function. It is very much a religion of balance. Every ritual in both of Traditions in which I have worked included an evocation of both the God and the Goddess as well as a performance of the Great Rite to acknowledge just how important that balance is.

Lark,

Thank you for your comments, and I do respect your beliefs. Many Wiccans that I have known also view the God in a dual form, and He is referred to many, many times as such. The Green Man is the Lord of the Spring and Summer, while the Horned Man is the Lord of the Autumn and Winter. I've seen this association many, many times.

It is also true that the Goddess is seen in four aspects - each with the phase of the moon. But isn't it also true that the Sun goes through four phases? Dawn, Mid-day, Dusk, and Night? This would also say that He is on equal with the Goddess.

When working with the God in Ritual, I've always tried to balance the energies by referring to Him in as many aspects as the Goddess. Which leaves this question - What would the Four Aspects of the God be?

I do believe that it is proper for each of us to develop our own thoughts upon the Goddess and the God. I do not wish this post to cause any hard feelings for anyone, but to merely give more opportunity for us, the Children of the Goddess and God, to develop a better understanding of Them.

You are right, though, Lark. Wicca should be considered a religion that focuses on balance. This is another reason why I ask for people's comments on what they believe the Four aspects of the God could be.

We also have to remember, the Sun is in four different relevant positions during the four seasons of the Year. Would it not be so hard for us to stretch that He is also a quadruple deity? At Dawn, he would be a young boy, just as in spring. By noon, a young man, looking for a love, just like in Summer, by dusk, he might be seen as a father or authority figure, looking to protect his family, just as in Fall, and at night, he is an Elder, a man we would come to for counsel and wisdom, just as in Winter.

These are but only some of my thoughts on the God. I encourage people to post their own thoughts as well. Isn't it Benjamin Franklin that said, "Who is wise? He that learns from everyone,"?

That is certainly a valid way of viewing the God's relationship to the Sun as well, even if it is not the traditional way. Much of our beliefs is about symbology and what certain symbols speak to you on an unconscious level.

I agree that there are grounds to consider four faces of the Goddess. In the Tradition in which I trained, we viewed the fourth face of the Goddess (aligned with the Dark Moon) as the Hag. I'm going to post my take on the Hag as a separate topic here in the Wicca section. You might find it interesting.