The Witch's Guide to Ritual. Cerridwen Greenleaf

couple can call upon Tara, the “Mother of all Buddhas,” and a man looking for physical love could invoke the lusty Arcadian god, Pan.

      Whatever your spiritual aspirations, there is surely a god or goddess to appeal to for help in your ritual work. With practice, experimentation, and time, you will begin to develop special relationships with deities that you can refine in the days and years to come. I strongly advise caution, common sense, and good manners in any dealings with the deities and denizens of the mythical realms. The friendship of fairies, for example, can be a blessing or a curse. If you call upon the fairy folk and then don’t thank them and wish them well on their way, they may play pranks on you. Unless you work with consideration and cautiousness, The Good Neighbors will give you not-so-subtle reminders. They can make mischief in many ways. If your car keys suddenly go missing after you have invoked the fairies, you know you have been insufficiently courteous.

      The Lord and Lady of Magic

      Wiccan traditions frequently address twin deities and energetic dualities. The early Celtic goddess Danu, matriarch or the Tuatha de Danaan, or People of the Goddess Danu, is one of the goddesses venerated through this modern earth religion. Wicca is based on “the old ways” that hold a sacred connection to earth and to spirit—secrets, legends, and lore from European fertility cults that survived in various forms through the ages. Similar influences can be traced farther back in history to Paleolithic peoples who worshipped a hunter god and a fertility goddess. They represent the twofold principles of feminine and masculine energy inherent in nature. Wicca is enormously popular today, in part because it gives us freedom to create our own way of worshipping. Understanding the primal aspect of nature and the world as revealed in the gendered mysteries and myths, you can begin to plan rituals customized to fit your truest nature.

      The God represents the sun. He is born on December 21, the winter solstice, and grows steadily until June 21, the summer solstice, when his power reaches its fullest. After Midsummer, his power wanes and he expires with the shortening daylight hours. On the longest night of the year, he is reborn again. The God is seen and represented in the physical and tangible. He can be seen in the hunt, in harvest, and it vitality, strength, sexuality, and passion.

      The Goddess is creator of all; the Horned God is her consort. The Great Mother is the keeper of the cycles of birth, life, death and rebirth that are reflected in nature and the seasons. In some modern traditions, the God rules the physical world while the Goddess governs intuition, dreams, and the mind.

      The Triple Goddess is a combination of the Maiden, the young, sweet girl; the Mother birthing us all; and the Crone, the wise older woman. The three faces of the Triple Goddess are reflected by the waxing, full, and waning phases of the moon.

      Invoking the Gods

      Here is a selection of male deities to choose from in your ritual work. Included are some of the more commonly invoked gods and also some rare and obscure powers to consider for ceremonies and incantations. There are many rich resources for further study, such as mythology, which is a real tapestry of humankind’s deepest truths, eternal struggles, and victories. I have learned many stories that have inspired and enriched my spiritual practices from books such as Bullfinch’s Mythology, Robert Graves’s The White Goddess, and James G. Frazer’s The Golden Bough. Reading more about the history and folklore of deities will give you ideas and inspiration for rituals of your own creation.