We know of the need for balance in all things and the attraction of opposites that brings about the greatest changes and births something greater than the sum of its parts as a result. The recognition of masculine and feminine, God and Goddess is one that strengthens the foundations of following a Wiccan Path. This is the goal of acknowledging not only the feminine/Goddess-based energetics, but also realizing the need for the seed of the masculine/God to provide the catalyst and complete the cycle of creating new form that is both prevalent in nature and within our spiritual selves.

In working with these dualistic energies we are utilizing the streams of force (masculine principle) and form (feminine principle) that flow within us. When we call upon our feminine or Goddess natures we empower those parts of our self that are intuitively based; that align with the heart and serve to nurture. These are the energies that give form (the container of the womb) to the flow of force.

When we call upon our masculine or God-like nature we open to the strength and instinct for survival. This energy is that which aligns with the source of our courage and our connection with the density of the earth and its creatures. These are the energies of force (discharge of the seeds of insemination) that needs containment and direction of this dynamic outpour.

As these two energies coalesce and are brought to a place of equality in need and intent, the magick of exchange and the opening of heart is infused with instinct towards right action and informed productivity. The energies of great force are held within the structure of creative form and the resultant product is the creation of potent and life changing magick.(Sounds very much like, baby makes 3!)

Polarity

Each hovering within their own nature
Each compelled to seek the other for completion.

One containing the mirror
Divided yet equal while
Opposite yet united in
Discord and separation.

Splintered cells that once held
The magnetic nature of wholeness
And Graceful Duets Of Form And
Mass moving in rhythm guided
As curious travelers towards the
Destination of a harmonious soul.

This harmony exerts its cunning charms
And the similarities of spirit contained
Within each that calls itself one
Magnify and extend reaching beyond
Its true measure forcing the issuance
Of the scale’s final decree.

And what is the final discourse of this dual nature
In which all is bathed and purified to be reborn
In the shadow of its own reflection?

The final comfort taken in the vision of the
Opposing quality held in the supple vise of
The Divine’s Universal Law.

According to the Hermetic Laws:

The Principle of Polarity

Everything is Dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites like and unlike are the same; opposites are identical in nature, but different in degree; extremes meet; all truths are but half-truths; all paradoxes may be reconciled.

The Law of Polarity is the Universe filling what would be the void. It is the recognition of one state of being because of the acknowledgement of its polarized or opposite state of being. Each of these states being one in the same except for minute and un-observable differences which become more overt as the scale between each widens. Emptiness is the absence of fullness just as fullness is the absence of emptiness. They are both lacking in what the other has abundance of. Similar to the Principle of Correspondence (or resonance) like attracts un-like that is alike defined by the degree of its difference. 1.

It is a law of nature that all must have its opposite. And, as is played out in nature (the hermaphroditic animals), from the one, two shall be made to ensure continued life and the creation of a third force/form. In the realm of the Divine, the Limitless All becomes the two of God and Goddess and it through this polarity that we may find our return back to that Source.

The Great Rite

The Great Rite is the union of the God and Goddess as symbolized by the powerful energies of fertility and fecundity. It is magick in its most potent form as it draws from the seed of the phallic God and the catalytic womb of the Great Mother, combining those energies to manifest life giving energy. It is the affirmation of the act of creation and cycle of that creative force that flows through all of the Cosmos. This is the catalyst for manifesting form from the union of magnetic opposing energies.

In ritual magick the Great Rite may be symbolically carried out in representation of the magickal tools of the athame (phallus/masculine) being submerged into the chalice (womb/feminine). Traditionally this is performed by the High Priest and the High Priestess as God and Goddess (or those members within the ritual who have invoked the God and Goddess) and accompanied by the statement (or slight variation upon):

As the chalice is to the woman (High Priestess)
And the athame is to the male (High Priest)
So their union is in perfect Love and perfect Trust (both together)
So Mote It Be!

This signifies within the ritual space that the combined and polarized energies of God and Goddess are working through the magick that has been called into being and the union of those energies will insure that all present and future workings will be fruitful and blessed.

In certain circumstances, The Great Rite may be performed by way of the actual physical act of sexual intercourse. This practice is used as a component of sex magick or sacred Tantra. It is not specific to a Wiccan practice and is generally not used as part of routine ritual work. Because of the intimate nature and ethical issues surrounding this form of practice, the participants should never be underage, unwilling partners or more importantly simply complying with the wishes of the leadership of a coven or other group. Some couples who routinely work as magickal partners will use the literal interpretation of The Great Rite as a means of combining their energies towards more potent manifestation of the magickal work they are undertaking. In the case of sacred Tantra, historically, the priestess and priest were specifically trained in the techniques of retaining and building the founts of raw energy produced during sex and then at the appointed time culminating that release in an energetic wave towards specific healing and renewing workings.

The Wheel of the Year

The Witch’s Wheel of the Year includes eight Sabbats that are celebrated throughout the course of a year. Each of these Sabbats weaves the cycle of exchange between the energies of the Goddess and the God; each bringing forth one of the Triune patterns- Maiden/Youth- Mother/Father or Crone/Sage.

As we move through the Wheel the Divine Couple merge, blend, interact one upon the other and sustain creation. We will study more about the specifics of God and Goddess in our next lesson. The most commonly known Sabbat that exemplifies the Sacred Union of the Divine Couple is that of Beltane.

Beltane occurs seasonally just after the Spring Equinox. It is the time of union of the Goddess as Maiden and the God as Youth. It marks the time of the strengthening of the solar energies and the response of the Goddess as consort, lover and fertile womb for the quickening of new life. The maypole is commonly used in this ritual and signifies the potency of the phallus and the life that will issue forth from its seed. The earth, in which the erect maypole stands is the womb of the sacred feminine and as we dance round the maypole, weaving the energies of the colored ribbons we are weaving the energy of conception and the exciting and stimulating of the sperm and the receptive opening of the cervix.

We will learn more of the Divine Couple and the use of the masculine and feminine within to call forth the creation of the Divine child of life that is an aspect of our being.

Foundations of Practice:
Meditation: Sitting with Deity

Resource:
1. The Kybalion by the Three Initiates

Next Week’s Post
Pantheons