Editing Horned God

{{Short description|Deity in Wicca and some forms of Neopaganism}}
{{about|the Wiccan deity|gods with horns or antlers on their heads|Horned deity}}
{{Infobox deity
| type     = Neopagan
| name     = Horned God
| god_of   = God of nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting
| image    = [[File:Horned-God-Symbol.svg|150px]]
| caption  = 
| abode    =
| symbol   = 
| consort  = [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Triple Goddess]]
}}
{{Wicca|expand=Deities}}

The '''Horned God''' is one of the two primary deities found in [[Wicca]] and some related forms of [[Neopaganism]]. 
The term ''Horned God'' itself predates Wicca, and is an early 20th-century [[syncretism|syncretic]] term for a horned or antlered anthropomorphic god partly based on historical [[Horned deity|horned deities]].<ref>Michael D. Bailey ''Witchcraft Historiography (review)'' in Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft – Volume 3, Number 1, Summer 2008, pp. 81–85</ref>

The Horned God represents the [[god (Wicca)|male part]] of the religion's [[Wiccan ditheism|duotheistic theological system]], the [[Prince consort|consort]] of the female [[Triple goddess (Neopaganism)|Triple goddess]] of the Moon or other [[Mother goddess]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.druidry.org/library/gods-goddesses/horned-god-unofficial-autobiography |title=from the library of the Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids |publisher=Druidry.org |access-date=2014-02-25}}</ref> 
In common Wiccan belief, he is associated with nature, wilderness, sexuality, hunting, and the life cycle.<ref name=farrargod>{{Cite book|title=The Witches' god: Lord of the Dance |publisher=Robert Hale |location=London |first=Janet |last=Farrar |author2=Farrar, Stewart |year=1989 |isbn=0-7090-3319-2 }}</ref>{{rp|32–34}} Whilst depictions of the deity vary, he is always shown with either [[horn (anatomy)|horn]]s or [[antler]]s upon his head, often depicted as being [[Theriocephaly|theriocephalic]] (having a beast's head), in this way emphasizing "the union of the divine and the animal", the latter of which includes [[human]]ity.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Horns of Power |publisher=Avalonia |location=London |first=Sorita |last=d'Este |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-905297-17-7}}</ref>{{rp|11}}

In traditional Wicca ([[British Traditional Wicca]]), he is generally regarded as a [[Dualistic cosmology|dualistic]] god of twofold aspects: bright and dark, night and day,  summer and winter,  the [[Holly King and Oak King|Oak King and the Holly King]].  In this dualistic view, his two horns symbolize, in part, his dual nature.  (The use of horns to symbolize duality is also reflected in the phrase "on the horns of a dilemma.") The three aspects of the Goddess and the two aspects of the Horned god are sometimes mapped on to the five points of the [[Pentagram]] or [[Pentacle]], although which points correspond  to which deity aspects  varies. In some other systems, he is represented as a [[triple deities|triune]] [[god]], split into three aspects that reflect those of the Triple goddess: the [[wikt:youth|Youth]] ([[Warrior]]), the [[wikt:father|Father]], and the [[Sage (philosophy)|Sage]].

The Horned God has been explored within several [[psychology|psychological]] theories and has become a recurrent theme in [[fantasy]] literature.<ref name="encyclopedia_of_fantasy">
Clute, John ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy''
{{Cite book
|title=The Encyclopedia of Fantasy
|publisher=Orbit
|first=John
|last=Clute
|author2=Grant, John
|year=1997
|isbn=1-85723-368-9}}
</ref>{{rp|872}}

==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>

==In psychology==

===Jungian analysis===
[[File:Gehörnter Gott, Enkomi.jpg|thumb|upright|Bronze figurine of a "Horned God" from [[Enkomi (archaeological site)|Enkomi]], Cyprus]]

Sherry Salman considers the image of the Horned God in [[Jungian]] terms, as an archetypal protector and mediator of the outside world to the objective psyche. In her theory the male psyche's 'Horned God' frequently compensates for inadequate fathering.

When first encountered, the figure is a dangerous, 'hairy chthonic wildman' possessed of kindness and intelligence. If [[psychological repression|repressed]], later in life The Horned God appears as the lord of the Otherworld, or [[Hades]]. If split off entirely, he leads to violence, substance abuse and sexual perversion. When integrated he gives the male an ego "in possession of its own destructiveness" and for the female psyche gives an effective [[anima and animus|animus]] relating to both the physical body and the psyche.<ref>
{{Cite book
|title= The Inner World of Trauma
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Donald
|last=Kalsched
|year=1996
|isbn=0-415-12329-1}}
</ref>

In considering the Horned God as a symbol recurring in women's literature, Richard Sugg suggests the Horned God represents the 'natural Eros', a masculine lover subjugating the social-conformist nature of the female shadow, thus encompassing a combination of the [[Shadow (psychology)|shadow]] and animus. One such example is [[Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights)|Heathcliff]] from [[Emily Brontë]]'s ''[[Wuthering Heights]]''. Sugg goes on to note that female characters who are paired with this character usually end up socially ostracised, or worse—in an inverted ending to the male hero-story.<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=Jungian Literary Criticism
|publisher=Northwestern University Press
|first=Richard
|last=Sugg
|year=1994
|isbn=0-8101-1042-3
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780810110427
}}
</ref>{{rp|162}}

===Humanistic psychology===
Following the work of [[Robert Bly]] in the [[Mythopoetic men's movement]], [[John Rowan (psychologist)|John Rowan]] proposes the Horned God as a "[[Woodwose|Wild Man]]" be used as a fantasy image or "sub-personality"<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=Discover your sub-personalities
|publisher=Routledge
|first=John
|last=Rowan
|year=1993
|isbn=0-415-07366-9}}
</ref>{{rp|38}} helpful to men in [[humanistic psychology]], and escaping from "narrow societal images of masculinity"<ref name=rowanhealing>
{{Cite book
|title=Healing the Male Psyche
|publisher=Routledge
|first=John
|last=Rowan
|year=1996
|isbn=0-415-10049-6}}
</ref>{{rp|249}} encompassing excessive deference to women and [[paraphillia]].<ref name=rowanhealing/>{{rp|57-57}}

==Theories of historical origins==
[[File:Star_Carr_headdress_cropped.JPG|thumb|A red deer headdress from [[Star Carr]].  Many of the 20 other headdresses have more complex sets of antlers.]]
[[File:The Sorcerer cave art. Sketch of Breuil's drawing. Photograph. Wellcome M0008769.jpg|thumb|upright|Sketch of Breuil's drawing]]
[[horned deity|Many horned deities]] are known to have been worshipped in various cultures throughout history. Evidence for horned gods appear very early in the human record.  The so-called [[The Sorcerer (cave art)|Sorcerer]] dates from perhaps 13,000&nbsp;BCE.  [[Star Carr Frontlets|Twenty-one red deer headdresses]], made from the skulls of the [[red deer]] and likely fitted with leather laces, have been uncovered at the Mesolithic site of [[Star Carr]].  They are thought to date from roughly 9,000&nbsp;BCE.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.teachinghistory100.org/objects/about_the_object/mesolithic_headdress |title=British Museum headdresses |publisher=Trustees of the British Museum |access-date=2018-01-17 }}</ref>  Several theories have been created to establish historical roots for modern [[Neopagan]] worship of a Horned God.

===Margaret Murray===
Following the writings of [[suffragist]] [[Matilda Joslyn Gage]]<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=Woman, Church and State
|publisher=Forgotten Books
|first=Matilda
|last=Gage
|year=2008
|isbn=978-1-60620-191-6}}
</ref> and others, [[Margaret Murray]], in her 1921 book ''[[The Witch-Cult in Western Europe]]'', proposed the theory that the witches of the early-modern period were remnants of a pagan cult and that the Christian Church had declared the god of the witches was in fact [[the Devil]]. Without recourse to any specific representation of this deity, Murray speculates that the head coverings common in [[inquisition]]-derived descriptions of the devil "may throw light on one of the possible origins of the cult."<ref name="MurrayWitch">{{Cite book|author-link=Margaret Murray |last=Murray |first=Margaret |title=The Witch-cult in Western Europe (1921)|year=2006|publisher=Standard Publications|isbn=1-59462-126-8}}</ref>

[[File:Nejamesa horned god of India.png|thumb|left|Horned God [[Naigamesha]] of the Indian sub-religion [[Kaumaram]]. Possibly from the Shunga period (1st–2nd century BCE), or earlier.]]
In 1931 Murray published a sequel, ''The God of the Witches'', which tries to gather evidence in support of her witch-cult theory. In Chapter 1 "The Horned God".<ref name="MurraGod">{{Cite book|last=Murray |first=Margaret |title=The God of the Witches (1931)|year=1970|isbn=0-19-501270-4|publisher=OUA USA}}</ref> Murray claims that various depictions of humans with horns from [[Europe]]an and [[India]]n sources, ranging from the [[Paleolithic]] French cave painting of "[[The Sorcerer (cave art)|The Sorcerer]]" to the Indic [[Pashupati]] to the modern English [[Dorset Ooser]], are evidence for an unbroken, Europe-wide tradition of worship of a singular Horned God. Murray derived this model of a horned god cult from [[James Frazer]] and [[Jules Michelet]].<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=The Witch in History
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Diane
|last=Purkiss
|year=2006
|isbn=0-415-08762-7}}
</ref>{{rp|36}}

In dealing with "[[The Sorcerer (cave art)|The Sorcerer]]",<ref name=MurrayWitch/>{{rp|23–4}} the earliest evidence claimed, Murray based her observations on a drawing by [[Henri Breuil]], which some modern scholars such as Ronald Hutton claim is inaccurate. Hutton states that modern photographs show the original cave art lacks horns, a human torso or any other significant detail on its upper half.<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=Witches, Druids, and King Arthur
|publisher=Hambledon Continuum
|first=Ronald
|last=Hutton
|year=2006
|isbn=1-85285-555-X}}
</ref>{{rp|34}}  However, others, such as celebrated prehistorian [[Jean Clottes]], assert that Breuil's sketch is indeed accurate.  Clottes stated that "I have seen it myself perhaps 20 times over the years".<ref name="Cave Art Cobblers?">{{cite web|url=http://www.strangehistory.net/2011/07/06/cave-art-cobblers/|title=Cave Art Cobblers? – Beachcombing's Bizarre History Blog|date=6 July 2011}}</ref>

Breuil considered his drawing to represent a shaman or magician—an interpretation which gives the image its name. Murray having seen the drawing called Breuil's image "the first depiction of a deity", an idea which Breuil and others later adopted.

Murray also used an inaccurate drawing of a [[Mesolithic]] rock-painting at [[El Cogul|Cogul]] in northeast Spain as evidence of group religious ceremony of the cult, although the central male figure is not horned.<ref name=MurrayWitch/>{{rp|65}} The illustration she used of the Cogul painting leaves out a number of figures, human and animal, and the original is more likely a sequence of superimposed but unrelated illustrations, rather than a depiction of a single scene.<ref name=triumph/>{{rp|197}}

Despite widespread criticism of Murray's scholarship some minor aspects of her work continued to have supporters.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ginzburg |first=Carlo |author-link=Carlo Ginzburg |title=Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath}}</ref>{{rp|9}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Russell |first=J. B. |year=1972 |title=Witchcraft in the Middle Ages |publisher=Cornell University Press |pages=37 |quote=Other historians, like Byloff and Bonomo, have been willing to build upon the useful aspects of Murray's work without adopting its untenable elements, and the independent and careful researches of contemporary scholars have lent aspects of the Murray thesis considerable new strength.}}</ref>

====Influences from literature====
The popular image of the Greek god [[Pan (god)|Pan]] was removed from its classical context in the writings of the [[Romantics]] of the 18th century and connected with their ideals of a pastoral England. This, along with the general public's increasing lack of familiarity of [[Greek mythology]] at the time led to the figure of Pan becoming generalised as a 'horned god', and applying connotations to the character, such as benevolence that were not evident in the original Greek myths which in turn gave rise to the popular acceptance of Murray's hypothetical horned god of the witches.<ref name=triumph/>

{{Main|Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches#Influence on Wicca and Stregheria}}
[[File:Lucifer Liege Luc Viatour.jpg|thumb|276x276px|[[Lucifer]] ''([[Le génie du mal]])'' by [[Guillaume Geefs]] (Cathedral of St. Paul, [[Liège]], Belgium)]]
The reception of ''Aradia'' amongst Neopagans has not been entirely positive. Clifton suggests that modern claims of revealing an Italian pagan witchcraft tradition, for example those of [[Leo Martello]] and [[Raven Grimassi]], must be "match[ed] against", and compared with the claims in ''Aradia''. He further suggests that a lack of comfort with ''Aradia'' may be due to an "insecurity" within Neopaganism about the movement's claim to authenticity as a religious revival.<ref name="Clifton">
{{Cite book
|title=The Paganism reader
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Chas
|last=Clifton
|author2=Harvey, Graham
|year=2004
|isbn=0-415-30353-2}}
</ref>{{rp|61}}

Valiente offers another explanation for the negative reaction of some neopagans; that the identification of [[Lucifer]] as the god of the witches in ''Aradia'' was "too strong meat" for Wiccans who were used to the gentler, romantic paganism of Gerald Gardner and were especially quick to reject any relationship between witchcraft and [[Satanism]].<ref name="Valiente61">{{Cite book |title=The Rebirth of Witchcraft |publisher=Robert Hale Ltd |first=Doreen |last=Valiente |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7090-8369-6 }} Quoted in
* {{Cite book |last=Clifton |first=Chas |author2=Harvey, Graham |year=2004 |title=The Paganism Reader |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-415-30353-2 |page=61}}</ref>

{{main|Witch-cult hypothesis#Post-Murray}}
In 1985 Classical historian [[Georg Luck]], in his ''Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds'', theorised that the origins of the Witch-cult may have appeared in late antiquity as a faith primarily designed to worship the Horned God, stemming from the merging of [[Cernunnos]], a horned god of the Celts, with the Greco-Roman [[Pan (god)|Pan]]/[[Faunus]],<ref name="LuckArcana" /> a combination of gods which he posits created a new deity, around which the remaining [[pagan]]s, those refusing to convert to Christianity, rallied and that this deity provided the prototype for later Christian conceptions of the [[Devil]], and his worshippers were cast by the Church as witches.<ref name="LuckArcana" />

====Influences from occultism====
[[File:Baphomet by Éliphas Lévi.jpg|thumb|upright|The 19th century image of a Sabbatic Goat, created by [[Eliphas Levi|Eliphas Lévi]]. Baphomet serves as an historical model for Murray's concept.]]

Eliphas Levi's image of "[[Baphomet]]" serves as an example of the transformation of the Devil into a benevolent fertility deity and provided the prototype for Murray's horned god.<ref name="Wood"/> Murray's central thesis that images of the Devil were actually of [[deities]] and that [[Christianity]] had demonised these worshippers as following [[Satan]], is first recorded in the work of Levi in the fashionable 19th-century [[Occult]]ist circles of England and France.<ref name="Wood">Juliette Wood, "[http://www.juliettewood.com/papers/Tarot.pdf The Celtic Tarot and the Secret Traditions: A Study in Modern Legend Making]": ''Folklore'', Vol. 109, 1998</ref>  Levi created his image of Baphomet, published in his ''[[Dogme et Rituel de la Haute Magie]]'' (1855), by combining symbolism from diverse traditions, including the ''[[The Devil (Tarot card)|Diable]]'' card of the 16th and 17th century [[Tarot of Marseille]]. Lévi called his image "The Goat of Mendes", possibly following [[Herodotus]]' account<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'' ii. 42, 46 and 166.</ref> that the god of Mendes—the Greek name for Djedet, Egypt—was depicted with a goat's face and legs.  Herodotus relates how all male goats were held in great reverence by the Mendesians, and how in his time a woman publicly [[Zoophilia|copulated with a goat]].<ref>Herodotus, ''Histories'' ii. 46. [[Plutarch]] specifically associates [[Osiris]] with the "goat at Mendes." [http://www.sacred-texts.com/gno/th1/th140.htm ''De Iside et Osiride'', lxxiii.]</ref> [[E. A. Wallis Budge]] writes,

{{blockquote|At several places in the Delta, e.g. Hermopolis, Lycopolis, and Mendes, the god Pan and a goat were worshipped; Strabo, quoting (xvii. 1, 19) Pindar, says that in these places goats had intercourse with women, and Herodotus (ii. 46) instances a case which was said to have taken place in the open day. The Mendisians, according to this last writer, paid reverence to all goats, and more to the males than to the females, and particularly to one he-goat, on the death of which public mourning is observed throughout the whole Mendesian district; they call both Pan and the goat Mendes, and both were worshipped as gods of generation and fecundity. Diodorus ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/1D*.html#ref32 i. 88]) compares the cult of the goat of Mendes with that of Priapus, and groups the god with the Pans and the Satyrs. The goat referred to by all these writers is the famous Mendean Ram, or Ram of Mendes, the cult of which was, according to Manetho, established by Kakau, the king of the IInd dynasty.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6SBLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA353|title=The Gods of the Egyptians: Or, Studies in Egyptian Mythology|first=Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis|last=Budge|date=28 July 2018|publisher=Methuen & Company|via=Google Books}}</ref>}}

Historically, the deity that was venerated at Egyptian Mendes was a ram deity [[Banebdjedet]] (literally Ba of the lord of djed, and titled "the Lord of Mendes"), who was the soul of [[Osiris]]. Lévi combined the images of the Tarot of Marseilles Devil card and refigured the ram ''Banebdjed'' as a he-goat, further imagined by him as "copulator in Anep and inseminator in the district of Mendes".

===Gerald Gardner and Wicca===
{{Main|Wicca#Theology}}
[[File:Horned God.JPG|thumb|The sculpture of the Wiccan Horned God at the [[Museum of Witchcraft and Magic]] in Boscastle, Cornwall.]]
[[Margaret Murray]]'s theory of the historical origins of the Horned God has been used by Wiccans to create a myth of historical origins for their religion.<ref name="Davy"/>{{rp|110}}  There is no verifiable evidence to support claims that the religion originates earlier than the mid-20th century.<ref name="triumph"/>

Modern scholarship has disproved Margaret Murray's theory. However, various horned gods and mother goddesses were indeed worshipped in the British Isles during the ancient and early medieval periods.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles |publisher=Blackwell |first=Ronald |last=Hutton |year=1991 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780631172888/page/260 260–261] |isbn=0-631-17288-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780631172888/page/260 }}</ref>

The "father of Wicca", [[Gerald Gardner]], who adopted Margaret Murray's thesis, claimed Wicca was a modern survival of an ancient pan-European pagan religion.<ref name="NatureRelToday">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rLYCOOUlsBcC&pg=PA6 |title=Nature Religion Today: Paganism in the Modern World |first=Joanne |last=Pearson |author2=Roberts, Richard H |author3=Samuel, Geoffrey  |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |page=172 |date=December 1998 |isbn=0-7486-1057-X |oclc=39533917}}</ref> Gardner states that he had reconstructed elements of the religion from fragments, incorporating elements from [[Freemasonry]], the [[Occult]], and [[Theosophy (Blavatskian)|Theosophy]], which came together in the [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn]], where Gardner met [[Aleister Crowley]].<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=Teenage Witches: Magical Youth and the Search for the Self
|publisher=Rutgers University Press
|first=Helen
|last=Berger
|author2=Ezzy, Douglas
|year=2007
|isbn=978-0-8135-4021-4}}
</ref>{{rp|27}}

{{Main|Aleister Crowley#Occult}}

Gerald Gardner was initiated into [[Ordo Templi Orientis|the O.T.O.]] by Aleister Crowley and subsequently went on to found the Neopagan religion of Wicca. Various scholars on early Wiccan history, such as [[Ronald Hutton]], [[Philip Heselton]], and [[Leo Ruickbie]] concur that witchcraft's early rituals, as devised by Gardner, contained much from Crowley's writings such as the [[Liber XV, The Gnostic Mass|Gnostic Mass]].

===Romano-Celtic fusion===
Georg Luck, repeats part of Murray's theory, stating that the Horned God may have appeared in late antiquity, stemming from the merging of [[Cernunnos]], an antlered god of the Continental Celts, with the Greco-Roman [[Pan (god)|Pan]]/[[Faunus]],<ref name="LuckArcana">{{Cite book|author-link=Georg Luck |last=Luck |first=Georg |year=1985 |title=Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Collection of Ancient Texts. |url=https://archive.org/details/arcanamundimagic00luck_485 |url-access=limited |location=Baltimore, MD |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/arcanamundimagic00luck_485/page/n24 6]–7}}</ref> a combination of gods which he posits created a new deity, around which the remaining pagans, those refusing to convert to Christianity, rallied and that this deity provided the prototype for later Christian conceptions of [[Devil|the devil]], and his worshippers were cast by the Church as witches.<ref name="LuckArcana"/>

==Art, fantasy and science fiction==
[[Image:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes - Witches' Sabbath - WGA10007.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Francisco de Goya]]'s ''[[Witches' Sabbath (1789)|Witches Sabbat]]'' (1789), which depicts [[the Devil]] flanked by Satanic witches. The Witch Cult hypothesis states that such stories are based upon a real-life pagan cult that revered a horned god.]]

In 1908's ''[[The Wind in the Willows]]'' by [[Kenneth Grahame]], in Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", Ratty and Mole meet a mystical horned being, powerful, fearsome and kind.<ref name="Clifton"/>{{rp|85}} Grahame's work was a significant part of the cultural milieu which stripped the Greek god Pan of his cultural identity in favor of an unnamed, generic horned deity which led to Murray's thesis of historical origins.

Outside of works that predate the publication of Murray's thesis, horned god motifs and characters appear in fantasy literature that draws upon her work and that of her followers.

The 1947 short story "Cwm Garon" by [[L. T. C. Rolt]] (published in Rolt's collection ''Sleep No More'') describes a traveller encountering a remote Welsh village, where the inhabitants worship a demonic entity that appears as a horned god.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
|publisher=Oxford University Press
|first=Ronald
|last=Hutton
|year=2021
|isbn=978-0-192-56228-9}}
</ref>{{rp|275}}

In the novel ''[[Childhood's End]]'' (1953) by [[Arthur C. Clarke]], all humans have a collective premonition, also described as a memory of the future, of horned aliens which arrive to usher in a new phase of human evolution. The collective subconscious image of the horned aliens is what accounts for mankind's image of the devil or Satan. This theme is also explored in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' story ''[[The Dæmons]]'' in 1971,  where the local superstitions around a landmark known as The Devil's Hump prove to be based on reality, as aliens from the planet Dæmos have been affecting man's progress over the millennia and the Hump actually contains a spacecraft.  The only Dæmon to appear is a classic interpretation of a horned satyr-like being with hooves.

In the 1950s TV series created by [[Nigel Kneale]], ''[[Quatermass and the Pit]]'', depictions of supernatural horned entities, with specific reference to prehistoric cave-art and shamanistic horned head-dress are revealed to be a "race-memory" of psychic [[Martian]] grasshoppers, manifested at the climax of the film by a fiery horned god.<ref>White, Eric (1996). "Once they were men: Now they're Landcrabs: Monsterous Becomings in Evolutionist Cinema", in
{{Cite book
|title=Posthuman Bodies
|publisher=John Wiley & Sons
|first=J
|last=Halberstam
|year=1996
|isbn=0-253-20970-6}}
</ref>{{rp|244}}

The 1956 novel ''The Golden Strangers'' by [[Henry Treece]] features a "Hornman", a priest of the "Children of the Sun" tribe. The Hornman performs numerous [[human sacrifice]]s while wearing a hood with stag's horns attached to it. According to historian Marion Gibson, Treece based the Hornman character on Murray's conception of the Horned God.<ref name="gibson">{{Cite book
|title=Imagining the Pagan Past: Gods and Goddesses in Literature and History Since the Dark Ages
|publisher=Taylor and Francis
|first=Marion
|last=Gibson
|year=2013
|isbn=978-1-135-08254-3}}
</ref>{{rp|144}}

The [[Philip José Farmer]] novel ''[[Flesh (Farmer novel)|Flesh]]'' depicts a future society where the protagonist, Peter Stagg, adopts the role of the "Horned King". The Horned King serves as a figure of male fertility to a goddess-worshipping female priesthood, and resembles Murray's conception of the Horned God.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Understanding Contemporary American Science Fiction: The Formative Period (1926-1970)
|publisher=University of South Carolina Press, 1990
|first=Thomas D.
|last=Clareson
|year=1990
|isbn=978-0-872-49689-7}}
</ref> {{rp|143}}

In some of [[Rosemary Sutcliff|Rosemary Sutcliff's]] novels, including the medieval-set novel ''[[Knight's Fee (novel)|Knight's Fee]]'' (1960) and the [[Arthurian]] novel ''[[Sword at Sunset]]'' (1963), several of the heroes worship a stag-antlered deity called the Horned One. The depiction of this deity is similar to that given in Murray's writings.<ref>{{cite magazine
| first= C. W.
| last= Sullivan
| date        = May 1987
| title       = Review: "Sword at Sunset"
| magazine    = Fantasy Newsletter
| location    = Boca Raton
| publisher   = Florida Atlantic University
}}
</ref>{{rp|48}}
<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Embracing the Darkness
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|first=John
|last=Callow
|year=2017
|isbn=978-1-786-73261-3}}
</ref>{{rp|203}}

Murray's theories have been seen to have had influence on the horror film ''[[The Blood on Satan's Claw]]'' (1971), where a murderous female-led cult worships a horned deity named [[Behemoth]].<ref>
Hunt, Leon (2001). "Necromancy in the UK: Witchcraft and the occult in British horror", in
{{Cite book
|title=British Horror Cinema
|publisher=Routledge
|first=Steve
|last=Chibnall
|author2=Petley, Julian
|year=2001
|isbn=0-415-23004-7}}
</ref>{{rp|94}}

In the fantasy novel ''Too Long A Sacrifice'' by [[Mildred Downey Broxon]] (1981), a male character, Tadhg, is an [[avatar]] of a benevolent Horned God.<ref>{{cite magazine
| first= Joan
| last= Grant
| date        = March 1985
| title       = Review: "Too Long A Sacrifice"
| magazine    = Fantasy Newsletter
| location    = Boca Raton
| publisher   = Florida Atlantic University
}}
</ref>{{rp|26}}

[[Marion Zimmer Bradley]], who acknowledges the influence of Murray, uses the figure of the "horned god" in her feminist fantasy transformation of [[King Arthur|Arthurian myth]], ''[[Mists of Avalon]]'' (1984), and portrays ritualistic incest between King Arthur as the representative of the horned god and his sister [[Morgan le Fay|Morgaine]] as the "spring maiden".<ref>
{{Cite book
|title=The Search for a Woman-centered Spirituality
|publisher=New York University Press
|first=Annette
|last=van Dyke
|year=1992
|isbn=0-8147-8770-3
|url=https://archive.org/details/searchforwomance00vand
}}
</ref>{{rp|106}}

In the [[Richard Carpenter (screenwriter)|Richard Carpenter]] television series ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' (1984), [[Robin Hood]] is taught and guided by a [[shamanism|shaman]]-like figure called [[Herne the Hunter]] (a figure from English legend). Herne wears a headdress of a horned stag's head. Carpenter stated in an interview that Herne was based on the [[Modern Paganism|Pagan]] idea of the Horned God.<ref>
{{cite magazine
| first= Abbie
| last= Bernstein
| date        = February 1990
| title       = Legends of the Hooded Man : Richard Carpenter interview
| magazine    = Starlog
| location    = New York
| publisher   = Brooklyn Company, Inc.
}}
</ref>{{rp|33}}

In June 1986, the comic book [[2000 AD (comics)|''2000&nbsp;AD'']] published the first part of a serial story called ''[[Sláine (character)|Sláine and the Horned God]]'', written by [[Pat Mills]] and illustrated by [[Simon Bisley]]. Based in Celtic mythology, the Horned God is identified with [[Cernunnos]] and is the primary antagonist in a story rich with antagonists. He presents as a Fertility God who has largely lost his mind and become nihilistic.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=500 Comicbook Villains
|publisher=Collins and Brown
|first=Mike
|last=Conroy
|year=2004
|isbn=1-843-40205-X}}
</ref> {{rp|282}}

The titular smith of the [[Fay Sampson]] novel ''Black Smith's Telling'' (1990) is depicted as the leader of a benevolent "Old Religion" that worships a Horned God.
<ref>{{cite magazine
| first= Pauline 
| last= Morgan
| date        = March 1985
| title       = Review: "Black Smith's Telling"
| magazine    = Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Review Annual 1991
| location    = Westport, Connecticut
| publisher   = Greenwood Press
}}
</ref>{{rp|505}}

The 1992 ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Lords and Ladies (novel)|Lords and Ladies]]'', by [[Terry Pratchett]], features a King of the Elves who is strongly reminiscent of the Horned God.  Although not worshipped by [[Witches (Discworld)|the witches]] who are the heroines of the book (indeed, quite the reverse), they temporarily ally themselves with him out of necessity.

The 1995 fantasy novel ''The Wild Hunt'' by [[Jane Yolen]] features a supernatural being named the Horned King, who resembles the Horned God, as the novel's antagonist.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Pagan Themes in Modern Children's Fiction
|publisher=Bloomsbury
|first=Peter
|last=Bramwell
|year=2009
|isbn=978-0-230-23689-9}}
</ref>{{rp|51}}

In the popular video game ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]]'', its expansion ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon|Bloodmoon]]'' (2003) has a plot enemy known as Hircine, the Daedric god of the Hunt, who appears as a horned man with the face of a deer skull. He condemned his "hounds" ([[werewolves]]) to walk the mortal ground during the Bloodmoon until a champion defeats him or Bloodmoon falls. When in combat, Hircine appears as a horned wolf or bear.

The historical novel ''The White Mare'' (2004) by Jules Watson, set in Scotland in the year 79&nbsp;CE, features a scene where the heroine is partnered with a priest of the Horned God during a religious ceremony.<ref name="gibson" />{{rp|163}}

The historical novel ''[[Outlaw (novel)|Outlaw]]'' (2009) by [[Angus Donald]], has [[Robin Hood]] take part in a violent [[pagan]] ceremony where Robin plays the part of Cernunnos, here named as the Horned God.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Robin Hood : myth, history and culture
|publisher=Oldcastle Books
|first=Nick
|last=Rennison
|year=2012
|isbn=978-1-842-43247-1}}
</ref> {{rp|76}}

[[Tim Powers]]' novella ''Salvage and Demolition'' (2013) involves a quest for a manuscript written by a being called [[Aker (deity)|Aker]], who is also designated as the Horned God.<ref>{{Cite book
|title=Stay
|publisher=Beccon Publications
|first=John
|last=Clute
|year=2012
|isbn=9781870824637}}
</ref>  {{rp|120}}

The 2015 film ''[[The Witch (2015 film)|The Witch]]'', which takes place in 17th century New England during the latter end of the [[Witch trials in the early modern period|early modern inquisition against witchcraft]] that swept across Europe, deals with an interpretation of the Horned God, which takes the form of Black Phillip, the family goat.

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Dionysus]]
* [[Cernunnos]]
* [[Enki]]
* [[Green Man]]
* [[Herne the Hunter]]
* [[Horned deity|Horned deity (mythology)]]
* [[Horned helmet]]
* [[Krampus]]
* [[Pan (god)|Pan]]
* [[Satyr]]
* [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline}}

{{WiccaandWitchcraft}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Death gods]]
[[Category:Fantasy tropes]]
[[Category:Horned gods]]
[[Category:Hunting gods]]
[[Category:Modern pagan theology]]
[[Category:Mythological hybrids]]
[[Category:Nature gods]]
[[Category:New religious movement deities]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory]]
[[Category:Solar gods]]
[[Category:Wicca]]