Nordic Wiccan: Father God

There are literally hundreds of Goddesses and just as many Gods from a multitude of pantheons; each has a different name and a different specialty associated with them. They are called by many generic names, Earth Mother and Sky Father, the Lord and the Lady, or just the God and Goddess, but whatever names you choose to call them by, they are equally important. Each is as necessary as the other and together, they create the balance and energy essential for all living things. It is often said that all Gods are one God and all Goddesses are one Goddess and, together, the God & Goddess are One.

Like the Goddess, the God also goes through stages, The Triple God: Warrior, Father and Sage.

The Father represents security and wisdom, devotion and Spirit, and growth. He is usually mated and is virile and productive. It is the time when men are taking on the responsibilities of adulthood. They are gathering experiences and gaining wisdom from the lessons of life. Historically, a man entered the father phase when he had a child, became a leader in the community, or gave birth to new concepts or ideas. This aspect of the Divine Masculine represents strength, power, authority, leadership ability, protection, responsibility, and courage. He is viewed as the warrior king in some cultures, the wise ruler in others. In modern Western society, he could be seen as the capable corporate executive.

With middle age comes responsibility and with responsibility comes duty. Now the man understands many things the youth did not. He still desires to change it for the better, but will work from his own house, his own family - making things better for the ones he loves and cares for.

The Father God in some early cultures oversaw the crafts, such as those of the smiths who were regarded as magic workers in their own right. Hephaestus, originally a fire God in Lycia and Asia Minor, eventually became the God of craftspeople in Greece. He earned this reputation by constructing palaces for the Gods and fashioning Zeus's thunderbolts. This creative aspect of the Father can also be seen in the figure of Bahloo, the Australian aborigine All-Father, whose job was to create all animals and people with his consort.

He is the Green Man, The Son God, Lord of the Hunt or Oak King. The God becomes Man. He takes a wife. He grows up and sheds a good portion of his youthful way. His arrogance is honed into self confidence and he becomes what he was meant to be. The face of the Lord is in the face of every man and each of them has a different craft. Bel, Apollo, Mithra, Kai, Hymen, Odin and many others. It is in this aspect that the Lord is worshiped most.

Njord is one of the Vanir and the God of seamanship and sailing. He is the father of Freyr and Freya. The King of the Vanir Gods, Njord was directly responsible for bringing the primeval war between the Gods to an end, and in establishing peace between the two tribes. Down through the ages, Heathens have remembered him for this monumental feat, and to this day, still call upon him for peace.

Odin ('All-father') was a shape shifter and frequently roamed the world in disguise. One of his favorite manifestations was that of a one-eyed old man; in the Norse Eddas, the one-eyed man appears regularly as a bringer of wisdom and knowledge to heroes. He pops up in everything from the saga of the Volsungs to Neil Gaiman's American Gods. He was typically accompanied by a pack of wolves and ravens and rode on a magic horse named Sleipnir.

· Apple, pomegranate, peach, raspberry, strawberry, red clover, red rose, mint, iris, jasmine, cinnamon, parsley, daisy, myrtle, orchid, saffron

· The afternoon hours, from noon to sunset

· Summer through the harvest season

· The full moon

I, the father, speaks to you from my heart. I support and protect the children of the Earth and the child within myself. I seek the love of a woman to open my heart and embrace my seed. Join me. Together we can create a new world!