Calling Deities for ritual and spell work (A Rite)

This week we will discuss calling the deities for ritual and spell work
Just like we use the energies of herbs and crystals, the elements, elementals, and familiars to help us in our spell work we also call the energies of chosen Deities.
Once you have decided your INTENT, chose moon phase, days and planets, herbs, oils, crystals, elements to help us in this intent.

You may also call a God and or Goddess.
You do not have to use the same God or Goddess each time.
So for a spell needing courage and fortitude you may call Athena or for a spell for fertility you may call Persephone.
As well as choosing Deity for spell work we also choose Gods and Goddesses for ritual and celebration.
Some Wiccans use the generic Lord and Lady of the triple goddess in one of her aspects, other are drawn to a few particular gods and goddesses.
Choosing your Personal God & Goddess can be difficult to grasp for anyone who is new to their path, and has little to no concept, of whom or what the Gods & Goddesses are and what they mean to them.

In this situation, the first thing to do is hit the books or the internet and do some reading, use the information to familiarize yourself with a selection of Gods & Goddesses and the different Pantheons.
You could use a single pantheon and draw on a god or goddess form that pantheon

I prefer to draw on the one I feel closest to.
So for some things I may use a Norse God and other times a Celtic one.
It may be that Isis and Cernunnos appeal to you, both are from different Pantheons but that doesn't matter, your guiding Deities don't have to be from the same Pantheon.
Nor do they have to be the only ones you work with in the future.

There's a lot of confusion caused by the sheer number of Deities to choose from,
but don't get too bogged down with the choice.

If you think that working through all the different Pantheons to find 'the one' is too difficult to start, then just think of the God & Goddess as single entities, you may decide this works for you and continue this way on your Path for good.

Many people do, there is a belief amongst some Pagans that all Gods are one God, and all Goddesses are one Goddess, meaning that it doesn't matter which Deity you work with as they're all really the same ones.
Whatever anybody tells you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with worshiping one God and Goddess.

I first started on my Path I was very unsure, in ritual, and when seeking guidance, I simply referred to them as the Lord and Lady.
In time, my God & Goddess made themselves known to me.

Today I work with a variety of Gods & Goddesses depending on what spell or ritual I'm doing.

If you feel that you want to work with more than one God & Goddess, and feel that they are all individual and not just one and that you would prefer to work with one specific God or Goddess or a set of Gods & Goddesses then you can, but how do you choose
One way to find your personal deities is to meditate, and ask that a your God & Goddess make themselves known to you.

Then watch your life carefully for any signs of the God and Goddess trying to get your attention.
Don't forget that the Path you've chosen is unique and personal to you and experiences are different from one person to the next.
So if there doesn't seem to be any signs or you can't master the art of meditation, then it's up to you to take the matters into your own hands, and find your God & Goddess yourself.
You could use the same exercise that we used to contact our spirit guide and totem animals
or you could study and research pantheons. Look again at the various Pantheons and get a feel for them.

Choose a God or Goddess that you feel would suit you, for example if you have an affinity with cats and Egypt, Bast would be an ideal candidate to research for your Goddess. I often find that people are drawn to their God and Goddess through many different reasons.
Some think that because it wasn't given to you whilst meditating or in ritual that somehow it means less.

I don't agree I think just like you are drawn to Wicca you are also drawn to your gods and goddesses.

You may even have been fascinated by them from childhood and they may have been in your daydreams where you made stories about them.

How I Found My God & Goddess

I thought it would take me ages to find my God & Goddess, but after less than a year on my Path,
I realized that a few Gods and Goddesses kept featuring in my thoughts all the time.
After reading about these gods and goddesses I found that these were my personal deities at this time.

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 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 his name and his image, which appears on numerous stone carvings and other artifacts throughout Europe.
He appears crowned with stag's 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 worshiped 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 goes back to very ancient times.

Cerridwen was originally worshiped 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 warrior - not a war monger 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

Homework
Write a paper on 3 different Pantheons; each Pantheon should have at least three gods and goddesses.
Give as much detail as you can.

This would count as a Pantheon Rite # 2. Other than the sacred values rites that are outstanding
The Sabbat rites that will be done in due course.
This is the last of the rites for initiation!