The Horned God of the Witches

by Jason Mankey

  This book is full of history that endeavors to explain the origins of the Horned God as we know him today. There are also rituals, spells, and other activities designed to help build a relationship with that figure. But the Horned God doesn’t live in the pages of books; he lives in the woods, in the wild spaces, on our altars, and in our hearts. We can only come to truly know the Horned One by working with him in the ways that make sense to us. So if you truly want to feel the power of the Horned One, mutter a prayer to Faunus, pour a libation to Dionysus, or perform a ritual in honor of Old Hornie, however you see them.

  Hail the Horned One, the God of the Witches!

  [contents]

  Acknowledgments

  I feel like every book I write these days presents its own unique challenges, but this one in particular was especially difficult. The Horned God is an endless source of historical fascination to me, but the Horned One is also a very real presence in my life. I didn’t want to write just a history book or just a book of rituals; I thought it was important to include both of those aspects in this work. I also tried to approach the historical part as honestly as possible, without sounding like I’m an unbeliever.

  The Horned God is a fascinating piece of modern mythology yet with very real ties to the ancient world. Hornie has also appeared to Modern Witches in a variety of guises, and I wanted to explore as many of those as possible in three hundred pages. I don’t know if I’ve really succeeded in any of my goals, but I do feel like I gave it my best shot.

  This book went through several drafts (which is completely different from my past books), and at one point I scrapped most of it because it was quickly starting to feel less like an approachable book and more like a term paper. If you think this version is long on history and footnotes, the first draft was much worse, and far too clinical. Perhaps more importantly, it completely failed to capture my love for old Horn Head. I’m not sure if this later draft is really that much better, and if you fell asleep on footnote number 212, I’m sincerely apologetic.

  This is my seventh book for Llewellyn, and I can’t thank the people there enough. Somehow they make my scribblings both presentable and readable. Hats off to my amazing editor Elysia Gallo, who knows exactly when something is lacking and when it’s not. Elysia has probably been far too indulgent of me, with my knack for writing long books and my unwillingness to cut anything. (She thought the Krampus section could be shorter. I thought it could be longer!)

  This book was months overdue by the time I turned it in, a victim of my difficulty in writing it, an insane travel schedule, and the depression that came about by writing a large chunk of it during COVID-19. But E was already sympathetic, and the extra time I got for this book made it better. Besides, by the time this is published, I’ll have released seven books in just six years; it’s hard to get blood from a stone. Thank you, E, you are the best at what you do and one of my favorite people to boot.

  The name Andrea Neff is not a well-known one in Pagan circles, but she’s the genius who edits all of this stuff line by line and removes all of my many typos. She also has to go through all of my footnotes, a thankless and time-consuming job. She has my sympathy and deserves yours too. I’ve been working with Andrea since The Witch’s Athame in 2016, and during that time she’s come to feel more like a collaborator than an editor. Words cannot express my appreciation.

  Bill Krause is the publisher at Llewellyn, and ultimately he decides what gets the go-ahead when it comes to printing stuff. That he has felt the need to print seven books with “Mankey” on the cover is still beyond my wildest dreams. He’s also a great guy to hang out with while sharing a dram of Scotch.

  My love of the Horned God in the Pagan and Witch communities is not an isolated thing, and I’ve been inspired by many others. One of the most important of those voices is John Beckett, whose love for Cernunnos feels nearly limitless. John inspires me to be a better Pagan and a better person. Gwion Raven is one of my best friends on the planet, and his devotion to C is so large that it takes up his entire back (it’s a tattoo). I love you both, I really do.

  I have a really good Pagan writing support group, and a few individuals who need to be named specifically. Astrea Taylor was a major help during the writing of this book just by being generally fantastic and supportive and willing to text or talk on the phone when I found myself plagued with doubt. Laura Tempest Zakroff remains one of my favorite people in the world, and judging by her art (she did the cover!), she knows the Horned God better than I do. That you were the one to do the cover art for this book, Tempest, means more to me than I can put into words. Thank you for the huge impact you’ve had on my life. I wouldn’t be here without you.

  When I have questions about the Craft or just feel like I’m wandering lost in the woods, I tend to text Thorn Mooney. Not only is Thorn a great source of moral support, but she’s also my go-to when I have questions about Wiccan-Witchcraft. Misha Magdalene’s approval of this book means the world to me, and I hope it takes us a step further to a better and more inclusive Witchcraft. Kelden has been my guide to the world of Traditional Witchcraft for the past four years or so. No one writes about the subject with such clarity. We also share nerdy obsessions with much of this stuff. Special thanks to Angus McMahan for instigating the Green Mile of the Horned God, I still get shivers when I read the words from that rite.

  I have an extended writing community to thank, too: Heron Michelle, Lilith Dorsey, Phoenix LeFae, Mat Auryn, Devin Hunter, Storm Faerywolf, Martha Kirby Capo, Sorita d’Este, Madame Pamita, Christopher Orapello, Tara-Love Maguire, Patrick Dunn (thank you so much for your gorgeous translation of the Orphic Hymn for Pan!), and the dozens of other people I’m forgetting. Special thanks to those who have helped during my many Horned God rituals over the years, including Kirk Thomas, Utu Witchdoctor, Vicki Vaughn, and Pam Pamdemonium. I know I’m forgetting lots of other people here again, but it’s late as I write this, and this book is very much overdue.

  Much appreciation to Bali and Geraldine Beskin at the Atlantis Bookshop in London, and Christina Oakley Harrington at Treadwell’s also in London. It both blows my mind and makes the world seem so much smaller that I know people in London, and they seem to like me. Book signings at Atlantis have been some of the best moments of my life.

  Pat and Paul at Artes & Craft in Michigan don’t only make the best incense in the world, but have also been extremely supportive and encouraging the past five years. Thank you both. My first “home bookstore” was Triple Goddess Books in Lansing, Michigan. Dawne and Alan went to Ari and I’s wedding. The connections run deep! Closer to home today in California there’s Leigh’s Favorite Books, run by the amazing Leigh Odum. Leigh’s hosted my first-ever book signing. Last but not least, thanks to Susan Diamond and Wolf at Serpent’s Kiss in Santa Cruz, California, for throwing the absolute best book launch parties.

  There are a lot of great Witch and occult bookstores out there. The ones listed here are among my favorites. I’m a child of books and wouldn’t be here without them.

  Dad, you continue to be great. There’s nothing much else to say. This is my seventh book; can you believe that? I sometimes have to pinch myself.

  So many Pagans, so many festivals over the years. To everyone I’ve met, chatted with, shared a drink with, or most especially talked about the Horned God with at ConVocation, HexFest, Brushwood, Starwood, Earth Warriors, Pagan Unity Festival, Heartland, Mystic South, Pagan Spirit Gathering, Paganicon, Wiccan Fest, PantheaCon, Hexenfest, and all the other festivals I’m forgetting, this book would not exist without you.

  Special thanks to Christopher Penczak, who inspired this book way back in 2005. You probably don’t remember that, Christopher, but I’m a lot like Pepperidge Farms: I always remember. You are an inspiration to many of us out there.

  Back in my Witchling days, I wrote an early version of this book called simply The Horned God. It wasn’t completely terrible, but it wasn’t good ei
ther. If you bought a copy of that book, I’m especially appreciative. My friend Sable Aradia (a terrific author herself) gave it a very favorable review a few years ago, leading me to believe she must have ingested several hallucinogens while reading it. Anyway, your kind words inspired me to give a Horned God book another shot. Thanks to Sable and everyone who had kind words to say to me on my first attempt at writing a book.

  As always, I’m most indebted to my beautiful and loving wife, Ari, who puts up with my book writing with patience and grace. As I write these words, her sleep is most likely being plagued by the clickety-clack of my mechanical keyboard as the clock approaches midnight. Why she puts up with me, I’ll never know, but I’m grateful she does. I love you, my dear.

  While putting the finishing touches on the version of the book that you now hold in your hands, I suddenly remembered that it was being published on the 100th anniversary of Margaret Murray’s The Witch-Cult in Western Europe. The importance of Murray’s work in the Witchcraft revival is often overlooked. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to suggest that the Craft many of us love so much in all of its forms would not exist without Dr. Murray’s work. I’m often critical of Murray’s claims regarding Witches, but her impact on Witchcraft is undeniable, and she had a similar impact on academia. Thank you, Dr. Murray.

  This book is dedicated to the memory of Dwayne Arthur Sortor, who was my first ever friend in Pagandom. Dwayne encouraged me to write from the moment we met nearly twenty-five years ago, and his impact on my Craft has been enormous. Dwayne passed far too soon in April of 2020, as I was finishing up this book. You will be missed, my friend.

  And finally, thanks to all of you reading these words. These books would not exist without readers, and I remain quite humbled that people are willing to shell out twenty bucks to read the things I write. Thank you for being a part of this journey.

  Io Pan!

  Jason W. Mankey

  April–June 2020 and January 2021

  [contents]

  Bibliography

  There are over two hundred and seventy citations in this book, which I think is a record for me. I’m sorry in advance, but heck, you’ve come this far, so what’s another 4,500 words? Besides, I’ve had people tell me they think my bibliographies are rather fun to read because I include my thoughts on many of the sources I use! In addition to the materials cited in this book, my experiences with and understanding of the Horned God have been influenced by dozens of other writers. Witchcraft is very much a religion or practice “of the books,” and I’m very much a Witch of those books. There are many drawbacks to our modern age, but access to information and books is not one of them. We are living in a golden age of Witch publishing. Dig in!

  Amos, Jonathan. “Ancient Phallus Unearthed in Cave.” BBC News, July 25, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4713323.stm. I’m guessing my father never dreamed I’d be citing something with the title “Ancient Phallus Unearthed in Cave.” I hope he’s proud.

  Anderson, William. Green Man: The Archetype of Our Oneness with the Earth. San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990. Though I disagree with some of the history in Anderson’s book, it’s still wonderful. This book is jam-packed with pictures (many in color) from all over Europe and explores the Green Man mystery inside and out. I will say this often in this bibliography, but I love this book!

  Arnold, Matthew. Complete Poetical Works of Matthew Arnold. Hastings, East Sussex, UK: Delphi Classics, 2013. In the book I quote the poem “Lines Written in Kensington Gardens.” While the works of most poets from the Romantic and Victorian eras can easily be found for free online, citing such poems in a book like this one requires an official source. To read Arnold, one does not have to invest any cash.

  Bacon, Francis. Bacon’s Essays & Wisdom of the Ancients. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Co., 1884. The relevant part here is Wisdom of the Ancients, and not so much the essays. I feel so literary that Francis Bacon is in my bibliography!

  Balter, Michael. The Goddess and the Bull: Çatalhöyük: An Archaeological Journey to the Dawn of Civilization. New York: Free Press, 2005. If you’re looking for an extensive look into Çatalhöyük, then you might be disappointed in this book. The focus here is mostly (but not completely) on the excavations that have taken place there. Those looking for their biases to be confirmed, especially ones pertaining to matriarchal prehistory, will be disillusioned and angry, but for those of you who enjoy a good archaeological yarn (and who doesn’t?), this book is recommended. I’m sure this book is out in paperback; I own the hardcover.

  Barrett, Clive. The Egyptian Gods & Goddesses. London: Diamond Books, 1996. I purchased this in Ann Arbor, Michigan, sometime in the late 1990s. Just commenting because I’ve owned this book for a couple of decades now, and also because Ann Arbor is a very cool city, despite it being the home of the Michigan Wolverines. (Go Green! Go White!)

  Bell, Robert, ed. Ancient Poems, Ballads, and Songs of the Peasantry of England. London: J. W. Parker & Son, 1857. There are probably hundreds of rituals that could be built around the songs in this collection.

  Boardman, John. The Great God Pan: The Survival of an Image. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1996. This is an adorable little book and covers over 2,500 years of Pan imagery.

  Bober, Phyllis Fray. “Cernunnos: Origin and Transformation of a Celtic Divinity.” American Journal of Archaeology vol. 55, no. 1 (January 1951): 13–51. https://www.jstor.org/stable/501179. This is a fantastic paper dedicated to all things Cernunnos. It also contains a lot of pictures, so you can see the other Cernunnos imagery not included in this book.

  Borgeaud, Philippe. The Cult of Pan in Ancient Greece. Translated by Kathleen Atlass and James Redfield. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1988. There are so many footnotes referencing this book in the Pan chapter that I feel kind of guilty about it, but there’s nothing else like this book. For whatever reason, Pan just isn’t on the radar of many scholars, leading me to have to go this route. It’s a terrific book, though, and easy enough to read for an academic text if you want more info on Pan—and I know you want more info on Pan.

  Bowler, Gerry. Santa Claus: A Biography. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2005. Bowler is a one-man Christmas cottage industry, having written nearly half a dozen books on the subject. I don’t agree with all of his thoughts on Santa, but we can’t have everything. I wrote my own book on Yule, Llewellyn’s Little Book of Yule, in 2020. I realize that’s not really relevant, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a plug. If you’ve read this deep into the book, you probably like my work. I also cite Bowler’s The World Encyclopedia of Christmas in the Krampus section. That book was also published by McClelland and Stewart back in 2004.

  Boys-Stones, George. L. Annaeus Cornutus: Greek Theology, Fragments, and Testimonia. Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2018. Cornutus has even more to say about Pan in his work than what I quoted in this book. Boys-Stones translation is also revelatory, and a bit different from previous ones.

  Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical. Translated by John Raffan. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1991. This is probably the standard textbook for armchair historians interested in Greek religion. There’s so much in this book, every time I go back to it, I tend to find something I’ve missed previously.

  Cochrane, Robert, with Evan John Jones. The Robert Cochrane Letters: An Insight into Modern Traditional Witchcraft. Edited by Michael Howard. Milverton, Somerset, UK: Capall Bann, 2002. Most of Cochrane’s letters can be easily found online, but there’s something nice about having them in printed form with notes from Michael Howard.

  ———. The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition. Milverton, Somerset, UK: Capall Bann, 2001. This one features more of Evan John Jones than Cochrane, but I’m probably an even bigger fan of Jones’s work!

  Congail, Mac. “Cernunnos and the Ram-Headed Serpent.” BalkanCelts. 2015 and 2019. https://balkance
lts.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/cernunnos-and-the-ram-headed-serpent/.

  Conway, D. J. Lord of Light and Shadow: The Many Faces of the God. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1997. This book is very much a product of its time, which means a lot of the information in it is not very good. It’s worth pointing out, though, that no one in the Witch community was ever intentionally trying to mislead anyone on matters of history; we just simply didn’t know better back then. That being said, this book is still a wonderful introduction to how people view the God of Wicca.

  Crowley, Aleister. The Equinox: Volume 3, Number 1 (most commonly known as The Blue Equinox, due to its cover being blue), 1919, and Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli (more commonly known as Liber VII ), 1904. The latter can be found on the O.T.O.’s online library: https://lib.oto-usa.org/libri/liber0007.html. Tracking down specific Crowley material can be a frustrating task. That will most likely improve in the coming years, as Crowley’s material is now in the public domain in the United States. Prior to that, much of it was illegally bootlegged, though the O.T.O. has released several fine collections of Crowleyana over the years, generally through the publisher Samuel Weiser. The bits from Crowley included in this book can easily be read online, though I’m hopeful someone will put together a handsome and well-edited edition of Crowley’s poetry over the next few years. Crowley’s influence on Modern Witchcraft cannot be overstated.

  Cunningham, Scott. Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn, 1989. Cunningham’s Wicca has been widely influential and is a well-written and easily accessible introduction to Wicca, but I think a lot of it doesn’t hold up very well in 2021. This was one of the first books to ever include Wicca in the title, and the first book to use that word that attracted a large audience. Over twenty-five years after Cunningham’s passing, his influence is bigger and stronger than ever.