Editing Horned God (section)

==In Wicca==
[[File:Gundestrup Cernunnos.jpg|thumb|The "Cernunnos" type antlered figure on the [[Gundestrup Cauldron]]]]
In traditional and mainstream Wicca, the Horned God is viewed as the divine male principality, being both equal and opposite to the Goddess. The Wiccan god himself can be represented in many forms, including as the [[Solar deity|Sun God]], the Sacrificed God and the Vegetation God,<ref name="farrargod"/> although the Horned God is the most popular representation. The pioneers of the various Wiccan or Witchcraft traditions, such as [[Gerald Gardner]], [[Doreen Valiente]] and [[Roy Bowers|Robert Cochrane]], all claimed that their religion was a continuation of the [[Paganism|pagan]] religion of the [[Witch-Cult]] following historians who had purported the Witch-Cult's existence, such as [[Jules Michelet]] and [[Margaret Murray]].

For Wiccans, the Horned God is "the personification of the life force energy in animals and the wild"<ref>{{cite web|author = Starhawk|work = News-Week|department= On-faith |url = http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/starhawk/2006/11/some_basic_definitions.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070106163303/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/starhawk/2006/11/some_basic_definitions.html |title =Some basic definitions|date = 2006|archive-date = 6 January 2007}}</ref> and is associated with [[Lord of the animals|the wilderness]], virility and the hunt.<ref name= "Davy">
{{Cite book
|title=Introduction to Pagan Studies
|publisher=AltaMira Press
|first=Barbara Jane
|last=Davy
|year=2006
|isbn=0-7591-0819-6}}
</ref>{{rp|16}} [[Doreen Valiente]] writes that the Horned God also [[Psychopomp|carries the souls of the dead to the underworld]].<ref name="Greenwood"/>

Wiccans generally, as well as some other neopagans, tend to conceive of the universe as polarized into gender opposites of [[masculinity|male]] and [[femininity|female]] [[Energy (esotericism)|energies]]. In traditional Wicca, the Horned God and the Goddess are seen as equal and opposite in gender polarity. However, in some of the newer traditions of Wicca, and especially those influenced by feminist ideology, there is more emphasis on the Goddess, and consequently the symbolism of the Horned God is less developed than that of the [[Goddess (Wicca)|Goddess]].<ref>{{Cite book
|title=New Age Religion and Western Culture
|publisher=State University of New York Press
|first=Wouter J.
|last=Hanegraaff
|year=1997
|isbn=0-7914-3854-6
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/newagereligionwe0000hane
}}</ref>{{rp|154}}
In Wicca the cycle of the seasons is celebrated during eight sabbats called The [[Wheel of the Year]]. The seasonal cycle is imagined to follow the relationship between the Horned God and the Goddess.<ref name="Davy" /> The Horned God is born in winter, impregnates the Goddess and then dies during the autumn and winter months and is then reborn by the Goddess at Yule.<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=The Witches' bible
|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd
|first=Janet
|last=Farrer
|author2=Stewart Farrer
|year=2002
|isbn=0-7090-7227-9}}
</ref> The different relationships throughout the year are sometimes distinguished by splitting the god into aspects, the Oak King and the Holly King.<ref name="Davy" /> The relationships between the Goddess and the Horned God are mirrored by Wiccans in seasonal rituals. There is some variation between Wiccan groups as to which sabbat corresponds to which part of the cycle. Some Wiccans regard the Horned God as dying at Lammas, August 1; also known as Lughnasadh, which is the first harvest sabbat. Others may see him dying at Mabon, the [[Autumn equinox (Northern Hemisphere)|autumn equinox]], or the second harvest festival. Still other Wiccans conceive of the Horned God dying on October 31, which Wiccans call [[Samhain]], the ritual of which is focused on death. He is then reborn on Winter Solstice, December 21.<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=Enchanted Feminism
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Jone
|last=Salomonsen
|year=2001
|isbn=0-415-22393-8}}
</ref>{{rp|190}}

Other important dates for the Horned God include [[Imbolc]] when, according to Valiente, he leads a [[wild hunt]].<ref name="Greenwood">
{{Cite book
|title=The nature of magic
|publisher=Berg Publishers
|first=Susan
|last=Greenwood
|year=2005
|isbn=1-84520-095-0}}
</ref>{{rp|191}} In Gardnerian Wicca, the Dryghten prayer recited at the end of every ritual meeting contains the lines referring to the Horned God:

{{Blockquote|
In the name of the Lady of the Moon,<br>
and the Horned Lord of Death and Resurrection<ref name="Magliocco"/>
}}

According to [[Sabina Magliocco]],<ref name="Magliocco">
{{Cite book
|title=Witching Culture
|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press
|first=Sabina
|last=Magliocco
|year=2004
|isbn=0-8122-3803-6}}
</ref>{{rp|28}} [[Gerald Gardner]] says (in 1959's ''[[The Meaning of Witchcraft]]'') that The Horned God is an Under-god, a mediator between an unknowable supreme deity and the people. (In Wiccan liturgy in the [[Book of Shadows]], this conception of an unknowable supreme deity is referred to as "Dryghtyn." It is not a personal god, but rather an impersonal divinity similar to the Tao of Taoism.)

Whilst the Horned God is the most common depiction of masculine divinity in Wicca, he is not the only representation. Other examples include the [[Green Man]] and the [[solar deity|Sun God]].<ref name=farrargod/> In traditional Wicca, however, these other representations of the Wiccan god are subsumed or amalgamated into the Horned God, as aspects or expressions of him. Sometimes this is shown by adding horns or antlers to the iconography. The Green Man, for example, may be shown with branches resembling antlers; and the Sun God may be depicted with a crown or halo of solar rays, that may resemble horns. These other conceptions of the Wiccan god should not be regarded as displacing the Horned God, but rather as elaborating on various facets of his nature. Doreen Valiente has called the Horned God "the eldest of gods" in both The Witches Creed and also in her Invocation To The Horned God.

Wiccans believe that The Horned God, as Lord of Death, is their "comforter and consoler" after death and before reincarnation; and that he rules the [[Underworld]] or [[The Summerland|Summerland]] where the souls of the dead reside as they await rebirth. Some, such as Joanne Pearson, believe that this is based on the [[Mesopotamian]] myth of [[Inanna]]'s [[Inanna#Descent into the underworld|descent into the underworld]], though this has not been confirmed.<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=A Popular Dictionary of Paganism
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Joanne
|last=Pearson
|year=2002
|isbn=0-7007-1591-6}}
</ref>{{rp|147}}

===Names===
[[File:Horned God and Mother Goddess (Doreen Valiente's Altar).jpg|thumb|right|Altar statues of the Horned God and Mother Goddess crafted by Bel Bucca and owned by the "Mother of Wicca", [[Doreen Valiente]]]]

[[Doreen Valiente]], a former High Priestess of the [[Gardnerian Wicca|Gardnerian tradition]], claimed that Gerald Gardner's [[Bricket Wood coven]] referred to the god as [[Cernunnos]], or '''Kernunno''', which is a Latin word, discovered on a [[pillar of the Boatmen|stone carving found in France]], meaning "the Horned One". Valiente claimed that the coven also referred to the god as '''Janicot''',{{needs IPA|lang=en|date=March 2024}} which she theorised was of [[Basque language|Basque]] origin, and Gardner also used this name in his novel ''High Magic's Aid''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Rebirth of Witchcraft |publisher=Robert Hale Ltd |first=Doreen |last=Valiente |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7090-8369-6 }}</ref>{{rp|52–53}}

[[Stewart Farrar]], a High Priest of the [[Alexandrian Wicca|Alexandrian tradition]] referred to the Horned God as '''Karnayna''', which he believed was a corruption of ''Cernunnos''.<ref>{{Cite book |title=What Witches Do |publisher=Robert Hale Ltd |first=Stewart |last=Farrar |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7090-9014-4}}</ref> The historian [[Ronald Hutton]] suggests the term derived instead from the Arabic ''[[Dhul-Qarnayn]]'' meaning "Horned One", as Murray offered in her 1931 book ''The God of the Witches'', a source that likely influenced [[Alex Sanders (Wiccan)|Alex Sanders]].<ref name="triumph">{{Cite book |title=The Triumph of the Moon: a History of Modern Pagan Witchcaraft |publisher=Oxford Paperbacks |first=Ronald |last=Hutton |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-285449-6 }}</ref>{{rp|331}} Prudence Jones has suggested that the name may instead derive from [[Carneia|Karneios]], a [[Sparta]]n deity conflated with [[Apollo]] as a subordinate consort to [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]].<ref name=jones2005>Jones, P. 2005. A Goddess Arrives: Nineteenth Century Sources of the New Age Triple Moon Goddess. ''Culture and Cosmos'', '''19'''(1): 45–70.</ref>

In the writings of [[Charles Cardell]] and [[Raymond Howard (Wiccan)|Raymond Howard]], the god was referred to as '''Atho'''. Howard had a wooden statue of Atho's head which he claimed was 2200 years old, but the statue was stolen in April 1967. Howard's son later admitted that his father had carved the statue himself.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thewica.co.uk/coven-of-atho |first = Melissa |last =Seims |date =2007|title=The Coven of Atho |publisher=Thewica.co.uk }}</ref>

In [[Cochrane's Craft]], which was founded by [[Robert Cochrane (witch)|Robert Cochrane]], the Horned God was often referred to by a Biblical name; [[Tubal-cain]], who, according to the [[Bible]] was the first blacksmith.<ref name="Roebuck">{{Cite book |first=Mike |last=Howard |title=The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition |publisher=Capall Bann Publishing |isbn=1-86163-155-3 |year=2001 }} Chapter One.</ref> In this neopagan concept, the god is also referred to as [[Brân the Blessed|Brân]], a Welsh mythological figure, [[Wayland the Smith|Wayland]], the smith in Germanic mythology, and [[Herne the Hunter|Herne]], a horned figure from [[English folklore]].<ref name="Roebuck"/>

In the neopagan tradition of [[Stregheria]], founded by [[Raven Grimassi]] and loosely inspired by the works of [[Charles Godfrey Leland]], the Horned God goes by several names, including [[Janus|Dianus]], [[Faunus]], Cern, and [[Actaeon]].<ref>{{cite web |author=WiseWitch |title=Wicca- Wiccan Symbols the Ultimate Guide |url=https://witchcraftandwitches.com/wicca-wiccan/wiccan-symbols-ultimate-guide/ |date=5 August 2020 |orig-date=24 October 2017}}</ref>

In the Hinduism, the Horned God is referred to [[Pashupati]], See [[Pashupati seal]].<ref>{{cite news|title=The Hindu- Pashupati and the Harappan seal |newspaper= The Hindu |url= https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/pashupati-and-the-harappan-seal/article65070760.ece/amp/ |date=2022 |last1= Pattanaik |first1= Devdutt }}</ref>