The Horned God is an image that has been used in a number of pre-Christian religions. From the Greek Pan, to the Celtic Herne, he is the Lord of wild places and the caretaker of animals. He represents the male aspect of nature.
Many uneducated people see this image used by modern pagans, and see our use of the Pentacle (5 pointed star) and assume we are Devil worshipers. Many fundamentalists groups use the negative associations of these symbols to spread this lie, and create fear about our faith. Fear controls knowledge, and rather than learn, people then decide we are evil and must be stopped.
But, Knowledge in turn controls fear. So, I have decided to explain the image of the horned God here, and why some Wiccans of today use it. And why some do not.
As stated before, the image has existed far before the Judeo-Christian tradition. The image was formed because the half-man, half-animal (often a goat, or stag) represented both the Gods dual nature as a deity of both men and beasts, and mankind’s own place in the animal kingdom. We are just as much an animal as the dog or deer, simply of another kind. This picture of the god reinforced that idea.
When the Christian church became established in the world, it began to try and find ways to convert the “heathens” to its faith. Many Pagans believe that many church figures (Mary, for example, and many saints) we simply old Gods and Goddesses with a new name and place. Some even suggest that Jesus was a version of the sun king- a symbolic figure that dies for the life of his people, and then rises again. (This was a representation of the turn of the seasons and the cycle of sunlight) They incorporated some aspects of Pagan worship into their rituals- alter design, candle placement, etc. Other symbols were associated with evil, to frighten the people into the church. Thus, the horned God, who was so strange and threatening to the church, was made into a strange and threatening figure to all.
Now, while Wiccans do not believe in the devil, we respect that the Christian faith does. So I am not trying to say that the Christian idea of the devil is wrong. It exists in the bible as a serpent, a dragon, and many other forms. But only after the begining of the spread of the Christian faith do you find the image of the devil as a manish figure with goat legs and horns. It is very odvious that this image of the devil was taken from the old images of many pagan Gods.
Many modern Wiccans use the Horned God image for many reasons. Some use it to take back the image from the very church that corrupted it. Others use it because they relate to the dual nature depicted in the form. Others use it for its antiquity.
Many other Wiccans don’t use it at all. They realize that a negative dogma has been so deeply laden over it, that they prefer a more human looking, more mainstream, more acceptable image.
