Wiccans are free to worship any god or goddess of any pantheon - not only of their own religion but of any other religion as well. But there are certain gods and goddesses who have earned recognition across all the communities.
One such goddess is Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Her statues are found all over the world. Her pictures appear on greeting cards sent by the lovers on every possible occasion.
Venus is the Roman counterpart of Aphrodite. She was originally associated with gardens and fruitfulness, but she took all the attributes of Aphrodite later on. She loved god Vulcan. Her temple is built in the city of Lavinium where her cult is widely followed.
Venus took many incarnations As Genetrix, she was known as the mother of the Roman civilization. As Venus Victrix, she assumed the role of a warrior. As Venus Felix, she is regarded as the goddess of fortune. Julius Caesar believed that his family of Juli directly descended from Venus.
Like Aphrodite, Venus had love affairs both with several mortals and divine personalities. She procreated with Mars, the god of war. Venus is always depicted as a paragon of youth and beauty with a curvy body and knowing smile.
Yet another popular god is Herne, the god of wild hunt. He is also regarded as an aspect of Cernunnos, the Horned God. There goes a story in Berkshire, England that Herne was a hunter. He was employed by King Richard II and became his favorite. He aroused jealousy among the other men who conspired to accuse him of poaching on the King’s land. He was falsely charged with treason and declared an outcast. He was so anguished that he hung himself from an oak tree, which later became known as Herne's Oak.
According to another lore, Herne goes out hunting every night chasing the game of Windsor Forest.
Like Herne, Artemis is regarded as the Greek goddess of the hunting and childbirth. Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and the Titan Leto. Her twin brother was Apollo and like her brother, Artemis had several divine traits.
As a huntress Artemis is often portrayed as carrying a bow and a quiver full of arrows. It is an interesting paradox that while she is a huntress, she is also a protector of forests and its young creatures. She was fiercely protective of her divine virginity. She felt outraged if someone tried to violate her chastity.
When you are at discord with your friends or when the things go out of balance, you have to seek the blessings of Loki, the Norse prankster god. Loki is considered god of tricks in Norse mythology. He is mentioned as the Prose Edda meaning a "contriver of fraud". He is also described as a member of the Odin clan.
Loki, in fact, is not a full-fledged god. He is just a demi-god. His assistance is invoked when there is a need to create trouble for other gods, men and the remaining world.
Loki can change his form and appearance as often as he likes. He can take the form of an animal or change his sex. He meddles with the affairs of other just for the fun of it. There is an anecdote that Loki once disguised himself as a milkmaid and spent eight years milking cows and nobody could find the truth about him.
Loki was married to goddess Sigyn, but he could have sex with anyone that struck his fancy. Once he disguised himself as a mare and mated with a powerful stallion. He thus mothered Odin's magical eight-legged horse Sleipnir.
Demeter is the goddess of grain and harvest in Greek mythology. Her daughter Persephone attracted the eye of Hades, the god of the underworld who abducted her. Demeter became so furious that she caused the crops on the earth to die and go dormant.
She did get back her daughter but the later had eaten six pomegranate seeds. She was, therefore, cursed to stay underworld for six months of a year. This is when the earth dies, beginning at the time of the autumn equinox. It becomes green and the life begins to flow once again at Ostara.
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