Charge of the Father

Author: Crystal Rose

There once lived a woman called Doreen Valiente who loved the Goddess. She was so close with the Goddess that she connected with Her spirit and was inspired to write a piece of writing which would be loved among the Pagan community for decades to come. In nearly every Esbat, Wiccaning, Handfasting or Drawing Down the Moon ritual, High Priestesses would chant this poem to the skies. It has become the closest thing that Pagans, Witches and Wiccans have to divine scripture - the Charge of the Goddess.

Since then, Witches all around have been influenced by the Charge as well as other scriptures such as the Wiccan Rede and the Law of the Three. The Charge has also been adapted by various authors and there are many versions of it now: Charge of the Dark Goddess, Charge of the Crone, even a Charge of the Chocolate Goddess! The Charge by Doreen Valiente but adapted by Starhawk is probably the most popular version. But in all, Her message is the same and it inspires freedom to us all and gives us the determination to practice The Craft in love and without fear of persecution. But what does the Charge of the God do for us?

Is there a Charge of the God recited in Paganism to the same level as the Charge of the Goddess? Throughout the years there have been many authors who have attempted to compose a Charge of the God which would complement the Charge of the Goddess, but not one has been written yet that has been adored as much as the Goddess’s. The most popular Charge of the God I’ve read is the one that reads ‘My law is harmony with all things…�?by an unknown author. I read that one and then compare it to the Goddess and it amazes me how much shorter it is in comparison to Doreen Valiente’s masterpiece. Her Charge of the Goddess in its full version can cover the whole of one webpage, whereas the Charge of the God covers barely a quarter. Whenever I read it, I always wish I knew who wrote it so I could speak to them and ask, “Did you mean for this to be so much shorter than the Charge of the Goddess? Do you not like the God as much? Poor old Hornie.�?But it’s true. Poor old Horned God, always playing second fiddle to the Goddess. Isn’t he supposed to be equally loved?

People will be reading this and thinking, “But the God has a whole load of Scripture written about him! The Bible, the Qu’ran, the Torah!�?But is the God in those scriptures Our Horned God? Is it Cernonnos who says “No one will be gay, for I hate gays!�? Is it Odin who threatens to send us to hell if we don’t put total blind faith in Him? So many Witches ignore vocal praise of the God with the reason that He gets all the praise in Christianity. When does he? When He is called the Devil? When He is described as a source of all evil who wants to destroy us all? Oh yes, He is so lucky! Yes, the Goddess does need to be brought back into society, but so does something else: that important aspect of the Divine Masculine that has been forgotten for so long.

I’m not talking about the Great God who is the mighty King above all things and is totally obsessed with power and control over all under him. I’m not talking about a vengeful, smiting God. I’m talking about a God who is tender, who is compassionate, who is loving (and NOT just in the sexual way!) and who is a Father. As a Gnostic Witch, I believe the Godhead is a Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Goddess within God, also called the Holy Mother Spirit. The Son is a metaphor for the neutral ‘child spirit�?within us all and connects us to the Creators and connects all mortals to God as His/Her children. The Father is, to us, the male God. But society, religion and patriarchy have darkened the image of a ‘father�?to an emotionless, strict and almost abusive image. This is not how I see the Father. The Father to me is a true, loving and nurturing male figure. A true father is a man who loves his children more than the physical ecstasy he received in conceiving them. Anybody ever heard the saying, “Any man can father a child, but only a real man can be a child’s Father�? I believe that statement. The God didn’t just help the Goddess create us and He isn’t just there so the Goddess doesn’t get lonely. He is involved with us, His children, intimately, delicately and protectively, just as much as the Goddess.

I’ve found that most Pagans seem to want to limit their understanding of the God. The Goddess is described in so many images: a Maiden, a Huntress, a Mother, a Queen, a Crone, the Earth which surrounds us, the Moon which shines down to us and the rivers which quench our thirsts. But when the God is described, He is almost always the same: a half-man, half-beast figure with horns on his head. Yes, He is the Horned God, but what about all his other forms? What about falcon-headed Horus? What about white-bearded Zeus or handsome Adonis? Can’t He have similar Triple aspects to the Goddess? A lot of Pagans call His aspects Warrior, Lover and Sage. Sage I agree with and can understand as a male equivalent to the Crone, but the others I have trouble with. Why Warrior? A lot of men are lovers and not fighters. Yes, we Pagans do base our views of the Gods on the image of man and his relationship with nature and the beasts. But if Paganism is ever to grow, then it has to understand how man-kind has grown and the other aspects we are all capable of. And why Lover? Come on, what is the male equivalent of the Mother�?guessed yet? Yes, the Father, is it that hard to say? Don’t think of this as an attack or bash against feminists, I am just trying to bring Our God back into the light in which he belongs. Why should the Goddess be the figure of all love and involvement and the God just be a silent and still image, standing behind her with his arms crossed.

That is why I write my own Charge. When composing my Book of Shadows, I searched high and low for a Charge that suited my view of the God and Goddess the most. Doreen Valiente’s fit with me perfectly. But the Charge of the God that came close to balancing with the Charge of the Goddess was one by David River, which I preferred in comparison to the ‘My law is harmony with all things…�?version. In that version, I always had a picture of a ‘typical masculine�?view of the God as strict, terrible and He seemed to invoke fear more than love. “Let there be fear, anger, weakness, joy, peace, awe and longing within you�?is a line I didn’t like. The Goddess had said to have such beautiful things within me: compassion, beauty, strength etc. Now the God was telling me to be afraid, to be angry. Why was the Goddess telling me to have such positive influences but the God was saying the negative ones? I thought it was a bit unfair to load it all on them. Another line would be “all acts of sacrifice are my rituals.�?Suddenly He reminded me of Yahweh, who demanded that Abraham sacrifice his own son to Him. Again the act of love -- a positive and beautiful act -- is the Goddess’s; but the negative act -- having to prove yourself in blood -- is the God’s.

David River’s version allowed me to see a slightly more understanding and comforting image of the God. His version also had a paragraph which the other version didn’t have -- the paragraph which complements the Goddess�?words “Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, ye shall assemble in some sacred space and adore the spirit of I, who is Queen of all the Wise.�?In this version, the God also proclaimed that He is King of all the Wise, so I felt closer to the God when practicing the Craft, because this was His Craft as well as Hers. He also told me, like She did, to be naked in my rites to show that I was free and not under the “binding laws of culture.�?

Still it did not completely balance with the Charge of the Goddess and that is all which I sought to find. Not a Charge which ‘beat�?the Charge of the Goddess, just one to balance with Hers as a sign that the God was truly equal. So I adapted various parts, just as Starhawk and others have done to Doreen Valiente’s. I didn’t just make up various phrases of random thought. I wrote down these words in deep meditation and in the invoked presence of the God. I let His spirit flow through me and just let the words come out onto the paper. As a Gnostic, one of my images of the Divine Masculine is the Son God, who for me is Jesus. But isn’t the God himself the Son God, as he is son of the Goddess and his own father. The two paragraphs I wrote were from His words in the New Testament. A lot of Pagans will say, “But Jesus isn’t a god to me, I don’t believe in him�?or something similar. I’m not asking you to believe in him or in anything I have written; I am merely stating my beliefs and expressing my thoughts on the God.

Listen to the words of the Great Father, Who of old was called Abba, Pan, Osiris, Yahweh, Cernonnos, Shiva, Odin, Lucifer, Dagda and by many other names:

"In my Temples the youth of swords and shields made willing sacrifices for honour.
Whenever you seek haven in the Spirit, most notably on the Eight Sacred Days of the Wheel, shall you assemble in some secret place and honour the spirit of me, who is King of all the Wise.

There you shall gather, all those who wish to learn the rhythm of nature, yet have not felt its strongest beats, to these I shall teach that which brings joy to the Earth.
Put aside the binding laws of culture, and like those of hoof and horn, thorn and tree, run naked and wild. Sing, dance, make music and love, all in my presence. For mine is the rapture of the mind, mine also is delight in the now. My law is harmony with all things.

Keep true to your goals and dreams, use all in your strength to achieve them, let not the cold doubters prevail over you.
For mine is the secret that opens the gates of life, Mine is the Staff of Life, that which is the Tree of Odin, and the Pole of May.

I am the Glorious God, who lights the sacred flame in the hearts of Man. Unto my children, I give the knowledge of life everlasting, and beyond death, I give the promise of regeneration and renewal. I am the only Sacrifice, for I am the Father of all things, and my love blankets and protects the Earth. "

Hear the words of the Son God, the grandmaster whose words are the keys to salvation, whose dance awakes the seasons:

"Let the children come to me, for only they who humbles yet frees themselves like little children will attain the ecstasy of the Light.
For the Light does not come with simple observation. Nor will people say 'Here it is' or 'There it is, ' because the Light is within you.

Let my worship be in the body that sings, for behold, all acts of sacrifice for love are my rituals.
Let there be magnificence and mastery, capability and tenderness, glory and humbleness, merriment and wonder within you. For these, too, are part of the mysteries found within yourself.

And you whose heart does call to me, know that your cries shall not be unheard, unless you forsake the Light; for if that which you long to know, you find not within acts of love, you will never it without.
In truly knowing me, you must recognize that in me all beginnings end, and all endings begin again."

The following explanations are of the words which I wrote myself through my meditations.

“In my temples the youth of swords and shields made willing sacrifices for honour,�?is a testament to the young warriors of Ancient times who gave their lives in battle for their people and the cultures that the God protected and was worshipped by.

“There you shall gather, all those who wish to learn the rhythm of nature, yet have not felt its strongest beats, to these I shall teach that which brings joy to Earth,�?/I> is a promise of the God’s inspiration to us in how we celebrate nature’s beauty and communicate with its spirit through dance, chanting, singing and more.

“Keep true to your goals and dreams, use all in your strength to achieve them, let not the cold doubters prevail over you,�?/I> is an inspiration to always do our best to reach our dreams and not let other people who doubt our capability stop us.

“I am the Glorious God, who lights the sacred flame in the hearts of Man. Unto my children, I give the knowledge of life everlasting, and beyond death, I give the promise of regeneration and renewal. I am the only Sacrifice, for I am the Father of all things, and my love blankets and protects the Earth,�?/I> is pretty self-explanatory. He is the fire of our hearts. By him being the only sacrifice, he dies for us each Samhain only to be reborn to keep the Wheel of Life spinning, to show us death is not the end. And just as the Goddess pours her love upon the earth to enrich our waters and crops, the God’s love blankets us like the ozone layer and keeps us safe from the harsh rays of the sun.

“Hear the words of the Son God, the grandmaster whose words are the keys to salvation, whose dance awakes the seasons:
"Let the children come to me, for only they who humbles yet frees themselves like little children will attain the ecstasy of the Light. For the Light does not come with simple observation. Nor will people say 'Here it is' or ‘There it is�? because the Light is within you.�?/I> Gnostic’s see Jesus as the first Grandmaster and founder of the Gnostic faith. He does not save us from hell, for there is no such place; the closest we get to hell is the pain we suffer here as mortals. His words of love offer enlightenment to free us into Nirvana. In the New Testament, the disciples asked Jesus who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and Jesus said that only he who humbled himself like a little child would even enter the kingdom. The stubbornness and stuffiness of being grumpy old farts does not invite positive energies into the world, does it? The last paragraph is a quote from Luke 17:20-21 that tells us that there is Divinity within ourselves, not hidden far away.

“Let my worship be in the body that sings, for behold, all acts of sacrifice for love are my rituals.�?When somebody loves someone so much that He sacrifices something personal for them, just as the God sacrifices himself each year for his consort and children, it is an act of true devotion.

“And you whose heart does call to me, know that your cries shall not be unheard, unless you forsake the Light; for if that which you long to know, you find not within acts of love, you will never it without.�?/I> We find the power of the God not in selfish acts, nor in acts which harm others. We find Him in acts of love.

This is my piece to the God and every time I read it, I feel his smile on me. Which is all we can ask for when calling to the Divine, right?