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Imbolc 1998
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"Horned One of the wilderness, Winged One of the shining skies, Rayed One of the spen'drous Sun, Fallen One of the Samhain cries- I call amidst the standing stones Praying that You, O Ancient One, Will deign to bless my mystic rites- O fiery Lord of the Blazing Sun". Prayer to the Horned God
Cernunnos (Ker noon os), shown above and again to the right on the Gundestrup cauldron wears an antlered crown and two gold torques, one around his neck and the other in his right hand. In this guise he is accompanied by a stag and holds in his left hand a horned serpent.Around them stand horned animals, what appears to be horses, a dog, and a human figure astride a large fish. The cauldron itself signifies the universal womb of the Goddess, in this instance, planet Earth. The cauldron in question features a composite of eleven images, a number associated with the Earth Goddess in modern witchcraft lore. The circular rim of the cauldron symbolizes cyclical time and continuity. |
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As the Greek God Pan, he is All/Everything. He was worshiped chiefly as God of woods and fields, of flocks and shepherds, dwelt in grottos, and wandered through the mountains and valleys chasing the nymphs for amusement, or leading their dances. The title of Lord of the Dance is shared by both Pan and Cernunnos. Sylvanus and Faunus were Latin deities whose characteristics were like those of Pan, and many consider them as the same god under different names. Pan was, according to some sources, said to be the son of Hermes and the Goat Amaltheia (from whom the Cornucopia, the Horn of Plenty, was severed). |
"By the flame that burneth brightly, O Horned One! We call Thy name into the night. O Ancient One! Thee we invoke by the Moon-led sea! By the standing stone and the twisted tree. Thee we invoke where gather thine own By the nameless shore, forgotten and lone. Come where the round of the dance is trod Horn and Hood of the Goat Foot God! By moonlit meadow, on dusky hill When the haunted wood is hushed and still, Come to the charm of the chanted prayer, As the moon bewitches the midnight air Evoke Thy powers that potent bide, In shining stream and the sacred tide In firey flame by starlight pale, In shadowy host that rides the gale. And by the ferndrakes fairy haunted Of forests wild and woods enchanted And come? O come! To the heart-beat's drum! Come to us who gather below When the broad white Moon is climbing slow Come to us who gather to the heaven's height We hear thy hooves on the wind of the night! As black tree branches shake and sigh, By joy and terror we know Thee nigh We speak the spell Thy power unlocks At Solstice, Sabbat and Equinox!"
The Wild Hunt is identified with Herne, though several dark goddesses are associated with a nocturnal host including Holda, Diana, Perchta and Hecate. Hecate roams the earth at the dark of the moon, accompanied by her howling black spectral dogs. In Welsh tradition, the Wild Hunt in the ride of the Sidhe Hosts is led by Gwynn ap Nudd, King of the Faeries whose kingdom is Annwn, the Other/Underworld, accompanied by his Faery Host and his Cwn Annwn, white hounds with red ears. Germanic and Norse traditions identify Odhinn as the leader of the Wild Hunt. |
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Charge of The Horned God
"Hark unto me: for I am He who has existed throughout all time. I was there from the beginning; it was my potency that charged the fertility of the Great Mother and created life from her empty womb. Myself it is in the winds that sweep the worlds; myself it is in the flames that give warmth and light to all beings. I am he who provides: the Green Man of field and forest fruitfulness; the lust of the bull that engenders life upon the cow; the strength of the boar that engenders life upon the sacred sow of Ceriddwen; the speed of the stag running free in the forest that no hunter can bring down save he who speaks the sacred words to call unto the spirit of the fleeing stag. I am Lord of the Dance; he who swirls through the starry universe with the world at his heels. I am he who dances on mountain and plain and hearth, and he who captures all things in his dance. And I am also Kernnun the Dark Hunter; he with visage as dark as void and armor bright with flame. My name is Lord of the Hunt; my prey those souls who needs must die and descend into the dark, chthonic depths of my bowel. For I bring life but death also; I am he at the gateway of the worlds, and to me shalt thou come in the end, thou who art my child and my prey."
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