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The Lord
(Horned God)
As
discussed in "The Lady", early civilization initially only recognized
the female's role in relation to divine power and reproduction of each
species.
Then, as
human societies developed, the duties of the the men: like hunting for
food, and protection from invading tribes of humans and other
carnivores, gave birth to the Deity of the Hunt - typically
represented by a male figure with animal features such as horns,
hoofs, pointed ears etc. Eventually man discovered the relationship
between sex and pregnancies and realized that it took both man and
woman to create life. They then looked around and discovered that all
of nature required male and female to reproduce. In this way the
balance and duality of all life on this planet, was recognized,
understood, and ultimately, celebrated. This lead to many legends describing fertility celebrations occurring at the spring
gathering and again in late Autumn. Each of these coinciding with a spring
hunt to bring food to the tribe after a cold desolate winter. And in
the Autumn to provide meat for the tribe during the winter months.
These particular hunts were celebrated at their conclusion, with the
bravest and best hunters taking the role of the "God", and joining in
union with their "goddess". This is still represented in Pagan
tradition today via the "Great Rite" ritual.
The lord is the consort of the Goddess, a symbol of male energy,
providing balance within the universe, in the form of the divine. He
is the lord of the woodlands, the hunt and animals.
He is
a gentle lover, a compassionate hunter, a loving father and a strong
warrior who fights for justice. He is the lord of wild things, the
life force that runs through us all, men and women alike.
He is a positive
male force that we can all call upon, and reminds us of the beautiful
balance between male and female that is positive in a world free from
stereotypes of male behaviour.
The Horned God is the lord of life, death and the underworld. He
is the Sun to the Goddess' Moon, the "yang" to her "Yin". He rules
with or alternatively, over the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. He
is born at the winter solstice, unites with the Goddess in marriage at
Beltane, then dies at the summer solstice to be re born again at Yule.
The God
was depicted in the earliest times, as a stag standing upright on
hind legs with the upper body of a man, the figure is celebrating
what appears to be a hunt and wooing a woman. This is clearly seen
in the paintings discovered in the Caverne des Trois Freres at Ariege,
France, which provides evidence of the first views of the Horned
One.
Neolithic God
paintings & carvings appeared in caves around 4300 B.C. These
figures were horned figures, human like in appearance. Oldest image
was the Horned God, with stag horns, representing the Lord of the
forests. His first appearance was the Alps, in southern old Europe.
When people started to settle and cultivate crops, the stag horn
God/Hunter/Gather became the Goat horned God of the farming
communities. At this point he took on human understanding. He still
remained the wild nature of the stag as seen in the God Pan,
however, he had more rationality. Originally, he was the Horned
One. In Latin, Cornuno (Cornu - means horn; uno means one), the
basis for the name Cernunnous. When the Celtic merged with the
Romans, he was known as Danius (Latin Divanus - Divine One), and as
Dionysus (Divine One of Nysea). The Celts called him Myrddin or
Suibhe Geilt, Cernowen or Hu Gadarn.
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