The Horned God of the Witches

by Jason Mankey

  Like many of the rituals in this book, this rite is built around the idea of reciprocity. The gods are not simply an ATM machine for us to utilize when we have a problem or obstacle to overcome; our relationships with them require that we give as well as receive. If I’m going to ask a god for something, I should be prepared to give them something in return, and what I give them should mean something to me. If you see the gods as energies or powers without consciousness, then give your offerings to the power of the earth and the natural world instead.

  Offerings should be meaningful, but they should not be a burden or put you in any sort of jeopardy. No god who has your best interest in mind is going to ask for all of your rent money or for you to sacrifice your cat. A “meaningful” offering is simply something within your means that you value. Giving the Horned God a bottle of cheap beer that you would never drink is not meaningful. Pouring half a glass of good wine onto the ground in honor of the Horned One is a meaningful offering!

  For the rituals in this book, I’ve decided against including the “opening frame” in every rite, which means the quarter calls, cleansings, circle castings, etc., are not on these pages. For those looking for such things, they can be found in thousands of other books and online in various places. If you like my writing (and I hope you do!), you can find dozens of differing setups for your ritual space in my book Witch’s Wheel of the Year: Rituals for Circles, Solitaries & Covens. This ritual is designed for the solitary Witch, but can easily be adapted for groups. Just be sure to buy enough supplies for everyone involved.

  Ritual Supplies

  For this ritual you will need:

  At least two acorns or other large seeds (You’ll be placing these in the ground, so you might also need a garden trowel, though I find a large spoon usually works pretty well.)

  A small bowl of earth/soil (if you’re doing this ritual indoors)

  A glass of wine or other beverage (What’s important here is to pick a drink that you truly enjoy. That could be wine, cider, beer, whisky, or your favorite latte. What’s most important is that it’s a drink you value. It doesn’t have to be alcoholic.)

  A skeleton or other ornamental key (If a key is not possible or you simply hate keys, a stone will work here as well.)

  A glass of water

  Cakes and ale (food and drink for grounding after the ritual)

  Whatever ritual tools you normally use

  The Rite

  Set up your ritual space and then ask the Horned God to join you. If you are in a public (or semi-public) space, you don’t have to say the words below out loud. Instead, you can simply read them silently while projecting their intentions outward. Say or read:

  This day I seek the Horned One! I call to him as the god of the earth and the protector of the wild spaces. I reach out to him as the god of love, lust, and life; he who wants us to be happy and fulfilled. I seek the god of balance, of life and death, who holds us all in his hands.

  Great Horned One, I wish to walk with you and experience your mysteries! Be a part of my life in this world and the next. Stand beside me so that I might know you and receive your blessings. I call to you of my own free will and ask you to be here with me if it pleases thee.

  To the Horned God I say, “Hail and welcome!”

  After calling the Horned God, close your eyes for a moment and tune in to the world around you. Does everything feel calm, or at least as it should? If, after calling the Horned God, it suddenly starts raining or a bunch of people come traipsing into your ritual space, that may be a sign that this is not the time to seek the Horned One. Gods don’t always communicate through words like human beings do, so pay attention to your surroundings. Notice the breeze, the sun or moon, and everything that’s around you. If all is as it should be, then proceed with the rite.

  Begin by picking up your acorns (or seeds) and holding them in your dominant hand. Feel their energy pulse and flow in your hand, and think about how a tiny acorn grows to be a mighty oak. Once you’ve felt the power of the acorns in your hand, set them down and then, using your trowel or spoon, dig up a little bit of the earth near you. You don’t have to dig very deep into the ground; just enough that your acorns will rest comfortably in the earth. Don’t be worried about getting your hands dirty either. Take a moment to feel the dirt and soil you are digging up.

  Now place your hands in the dirt and your acorns in the spot that you’ve dug up (or in the jar of soil, if you’re indoors). Take a moment to notice the energy of the earth that comes from the ground. Feel the earth’s power, its warmth and its pain. Draw that energy up into your body, through your hands, through your arms, and then into your body. Even if it’s cold outside, that energy should feel warm and comforting. Once the earth’s energy is inside of you, push some of your own energy into the ground and into the acorns nesting there. Say or read:

  Guardian of the wild spaces, defender of the earth, Lord of nature’s cycle, I have felt your power come to me in the earth. I have felt your power in the smallest seed and have touched your mysteries in the dust. As a follower of the Horned One, I am a part of this world, not separated from it. I have dominion only over myself and swear to be the best steward of this world that I can be. I give my energy to the earth and take energy from the earth. As a Witch, it has always been thus and always will be this way, for the heartbeat of the earth is the pulse of the Horned God!

  To you, Great One, I leave this acorn as a symbol and an offering. I am of the web! And I take this acorn with me as a reminder of who and what I am, and of my promise made this night. [Take your one remaining acorn out of the ground.] Horned Lord, bless this seed and may it pulse with your power! As we have shared our energies together this night, may I know you as you now know me. So mote it be!

  If your hands are especially dirty, take a moment to clean them off, then pick up your glass full of sacred beverage. Look upon the surface of your drink and then swirl it a bit. As you swirl the drink, let your mind drift a little, and envision all the things you want to do going forward as a Witch. Think of the magick you will work, but also think of the happiness that comes from the Craft.

  Witchcraft is not a cosmic game of “good and bad.” The gods, and especially the Horned God, want us to be happy as long as our happiness doesn’t impede the free will and happiness of others. This means things such as consensual sex (or choosing not to have sex) are to be celebrated and not vilified. Imagine yourself laughing with others and simply enjoying life. The Horned God is not just a god of the earth; he’s a god of the now, and derives pleasure from our pleasure.

  As you swirl your drink and begin to let your mind wander, ask the Horned God for the gift of sight and look deeply into your glass. There you might catch glimpses of the future, or perhaps see an image of him so that you might know him better. Or you might see nothing at all, simply content to envision things within your mind’s eye. When you are satisfied that you’ve seen all (or anything) that you were meant to see in the swirling liquid of your glass, address the Horned One once more:

  I drink deeply from the cup of life. Life is a sacred gift, and I will make the most of it. I will find pleasure when it is freely offered, and I will give pleasure when the time is right. I will find the magickal in the mundane and the sacred in the profane. Through the power of the Horned One, I will live a life that is truly alive and embrace this body of flesh and bone!

  Horned God, bless this drink that I hold in my hands. (Raise your glass in acknowledgment of the Horned God.) Fill it with your power, energy, and lust for life! May its contents warm me and awaken me to all the joys and delights of this world. Let me live as you do, with respect and love for all. So mote it be!

  Take a long drink from your cup and feel the liquid course through your body. Don’t just swallow; take a moment to feel your drink pass over your tongue, down your throat, and into your stomach. Once it’s in your belly, let your drink’s warmth radi
ate through you. It should feel warm and comforting, but it might also make you tingle and feel disoriented for a moment. Slowly take several more sips of your drink, enjoying the sensations it brings. When you have consumed about half of your drink, stop partaking and address the Horned God once more:

  As I receive the blessings of this world, I will also return those gifts. May my love be shared with all those who deserve it! When they arise, may mutual desires be satisfied together! To you, Horned One, I leave this drink, so that it might nourish you as it has nourished me, and so that we might grow together. So mote it be!

  Pour what remains in your glass upon the earth as an offering to the Horned One. If you are indoors, you can pour it into the soil in which you previously placed your acorn. Watch the liquid seep into the ground and visualize it as being accepted by the Horned God as it does so. (If your beverage just pools on the ground, this could be a sign that your offering was not accepted. Try asking him to accept your offering!)

  Once your offering has gone into the ground, pick up your key (or stone) and hold it in your dominant hand. As you hold it, look toward the sky, preferably at the setting sun or the rising moon. Clutch your key strongly and think for a moment about what lies beyond this plane of existence. Though this aspect of the deity is often overlooked, a god of life must also be a god of death, because it’s only through death that new life arises. Say or read:

  Horned God, I wish to walk with you in this life and know that I will walk with you again in the next. Light the way that leads from the world of mortals to the realms of the Mighty Ones, and illuminate the path that leads to the cauldron of rebirth. When the time is right, bring my beloved dead back to me, and when my days here are at an end, let me go unafraid into your realm.

  The realm of the dead, the blessed isle, our place of rest and renewal! Such a journey is not yet for me, but I acknowledge that journey as a part of this life and my existence. I pour this water onto the earth as a reminder of the Cauldron of Death and Rebirth, the cauldron stirred by the Horned One. May I honor all your mysteries and stand strong in the knowledge that you are both a god of the living and a god of the dead. Accept this offering for your cauldron!

  Hold your key, and while you pour the water upon the ground (or into your bowl of earth), let some splash over the key. As the waters touch your key, remember that it is the Horned God who stirs the Cauldron of Death and Rebirth and opens the portal that allows us to depart the world of shadows and reenter this realm. Say or read:

  I take this key with me from this rite as a reminder that the Horned God is a god of two realms. Horned One, may this key serve as an entryway into the world of spirit. When I need to visit with my beloved dead or explore the mysteries of what lies beyond, may this key serve as a way to touch that power. Hail the Dread Lord of Shadows! Hail the Horned One!

  Now take your key and acorn and place them both in your hand. Feel the power of this world in the acorn and the power of the beyond in the key. Notice how their energies mix together while you hold both. As the energies of the key and the acorn enter your body, let them mix with the energy of the wine (or other drink) you consumed earlier. Feel all three of those powers mingle within you.

  When you have felt the energies of the earth, of life, and of death all come together, you have truly felt the power of the Horned God, because he is the lord of all those things. To know him is to know life but also to know death. To know the Horned God is to embrace the world with joy and reverence and to embrace death with courage.

  Once you are confident that you’ve felt all three of the powers you called mingle together, ground yourself by consuming your cakes and ale. Feel your consciousness return to this world, and let the energy coursing through your body seep out and down into the earth. When you are satisfied that you are nearly back to the mundane world, thank the Horned God for joining you in your rite:

  Hail the Horned God! Horned One, thank you for joining me tonight in my rites and allowing me to feel your energy and power. May I walk forward with you and embrace your mysteries. Until we are next together in the circle, I bid you hail and farewell!

  When you’ve returned home, place your key and acorn on your altar or in some other secure space. When you have need of the Horned God and wish to access his power, you can utilize these tokens as a way of doing so. And when you need to feel all of his power, hold them while taking a drink of wine and feeling his many energies blend together.

  Hail the Horned One!

  [contents]

  Chapter Four

  Antlers and Horns and Phalluses

  in the Ancient World

  It was a warm night in late July of 2005, and my wife and I were hosting a party. It was a lot like most of the parties we hosted back then, full of people drinking beer and singing along to the various songs that our community held dear. But it was also unlike any party I’d ever hosted or attended, because everyone there wanted to talk to me about a 28,000-year-old dildo that had recently been discovered in a cave located in Germany’s Swabian Jura mountain range. (In my experience, when you are “the Horned God guy,” you end up spending a lot of time talking about phalluses, horns, and antlers, whether you want to or not.)

  There are two physical attributes that tend to come up more than any others when discussing the Horned God: antlers/horns and phalluses. Obviously, horns are a touchstone with the Horned God; that’s where he gets his name. Phalluses are a bit harder to quantify, but the Horned God is often associated with sex and fertility, and gods like Pan are often depicted with an erect phallus, so it seems natural to connect the Horned God with penises.

  My friends were excited by this particular dildo, and I couldn’t blame them. Anything that is 28,000 years old is rare, let alone a sex toy that predates cities, agriculture, and alphabets! But there’s one other thing I remember in particular about the conversations I had that night: most of my friends had some serious misconceptions about Germany’s oldest dildo.

  I think the biggest misconception most of my friends had about this phallus was its rarity. It’s a rare item not just because it’s genuinely ancient but also because there just aren’t a whole lot of realistic representations of the phallus from 30,000 or even 20,000 years ago. When objects designed to look like a penis do show up in prehistory, they tend to be stylized, abstract, and most often painted.10

  Most of my friends took it for granted that this particular stone phallus was a sex toy too, while the truth of the matter is probably more nuanced. We know, for instance, that ancient people used this stone phallus to knap (sharpen) flints, because there’s scarring on it consistent with that practice. Could it be possible that this particular phallus was constructed as a humorous way to sharpen flints? We have no way of knowing for sure if it was used for physical pleasure, but we do know that it had a practical purpose aside from sexual gratification.

  Even with the scarring on this particular stone phallus, it is likely that it was used as a sex toy. Someone spent a lot of time polishing it, which makes sense if you were going to place it inside a delicate personal area. It’s also a pretty good size for a dildo, measuring about eight inches long and one and one-quarter inches around (20 cm x 3 cm), not monstrously big, nor all that small either.

  There’s one other misconception that seems to surround Germany’s oldest sex-toy: that it was in some way a spiritual item. When we think of phalluses carved from bone, stone, antler, or wood, there’s an assumption that they might have had some sort of religious significance. Curiously, most truly ancient representations of the phallus are quite abstract, with some even appearing winged. They are also painted with some frequency. The abstract nature of these objects suggests even more strongly that they probably have some sort of spiritual function, but there’s no way of ever knowing for sure.

  The Phallus in Prehistory

  Even if we’ll never know the exact meaning behind a 15,000-year-old phallus fashioned fro
m antler, fertility will always be a pretty good guess. It’s likely that male humans understood their role in the procreation process pretty well even 30,000 years ago. In addition, sex has always played a huge role in the behavior of people, so it makes sense that the phallus would take center stage now and again. But for whatever reason, phalluses, and the male gods attached to them, just didn’t seem to mean much to our very distant ancestors (or at least they didn’t feel the need to make representations of them with any frequency). Phallus imagery would become far more popular thousands of years later, after the start of agriculture and the development of cities.

  We know that things suggesting fertility were somewhat common in prehistory. The famous Venus of Willendorf statue, for instance, is probably 30,000 years old,11 and over two hundred other statues with similarly exaggerated breasts and other body parts related to child bearing have been found throughout Europe and into Siberia.12 Most often it’s suggested that these figures are goddesses, and even if that’s not the case, they are stylized enough to suggest a spiritual purpose. I’m sure that men 25,000 years ago were obsessed with their penises, but that infatuation has resulted in a scant number of artifacts.

  As someone who has researched and written about the Horned God for twenty years, I’d like to be able to tell you that there’s a clear line running through history that shows how the veneration of horns and phalluses led directly to the Horned God of today, but history is rarely that straightforward. Instead, we are left with tantalizing clues that suggest some sort of spiritual significance with these items, but it’s never exactly clear.