Long before Christianity came along, long before people were called "pagans" for dancing around a maypole, there was an ancient religion. Not just in Ireland (although most of modern-day Wicca is Celtic-based), but also in Egypt, Greece, Babylonia, everywhere. Unfortunately for the indiginous peoples of those lands, their gods they worshipped were usually made to be "evil" when a new conquering nation came along with a new religion. The Old Ways were condemned and the people were made to choose: accept the new religion, or die. And so, this cycle repeated itself through time, when Rome took the Greeks' gods for themselves, when Babylonia was conquered and the earth-mother goddess Tiamat was changed into the evil dragon, when the Christians came to the Celts. Christianity, more so than any other religion, said worship of the Goddess was "pagan", "evil", or even "devil-worsip". So, they removed the Goddess from their religion - if you notice, Christians worship God (like us), Jesus Christ (an aspect of the God - it is exactly the same story as the Egyptian story of Osiris and his son Horus), but there is no female energy in their worship. The closest would be the Catholic reverence of the Virgin Mary, but Wiccans believe that the true "higher power" has female energy as well; hence, our belief and worship of the Goddess. This is history - we are not saying that we hate these people and their religions, for all religions are one; we are merely stating the facts of what happened long ago. It is unfortunate that this occurred, but the good news is that Wicca is making a "comeback", if you will. While many of us are still unnecessarily feared, worship of the God and the Goddess is slowly coming back.
The God is known as many names in Wicca. He is the ruler of the Sun, and is a Triple-God in this aspect. The sun rising (rebirth), the noon sun (the fertility aspect), and the setting sun (death). Please note that death is not a negative idea to Wiccans; we believe in reincarnation and death is merely another stage of life to us that we all must accept. The Death God is most popular during the Celtic-Wiccan Ritual Holiday of Samhein (October 31st) when we honor the dead. This triple-version of the God is not as widely known or used as the triple-version of the Goddess, and He is also known by other names or aspects. As the Fertility God, He rules over sexuality of humans; as the Horned God or Stag King, He rules over hunting; as the God of the Earth, He rules over crops, land, and animals.
The Goddess' most widely used "version", if you will, is that of the Triple-Goddess. She is the ruler of the Moon, and is invoked as the Triple-Goddess most often because of this. In this aspect, Her trinity is: the Waxing Moon or New Moon (the Maid, or freshness), the Full Moon (the Mother, or sexuality), and the Waning Moon (the Crone, or wisdom). This, however, is not Her only aspect. She is also invoked as the Goddess of healing, childbirth, and love. Her consort, of course, is the God (and vice-versa); sometimes, They are known as the Lord and the Lady. Please note, this is *our* way of worshipping Them, and is not the only way. Many Wiccans choose not to worship the God as we do - we, however, feel it is necessary to us to include both the male and female energies.
The following is our belief concerning deities. We honor the God and the Goddess, but also their many aspects. These "aspects" are the deities that most people read about and call "myths". They are not myths, but truth. The God is separate from the Goddess, yet They are one. Their aspects, or deities, are separate - yet one as well. For example, Rhiannon's deity, guide, and mentor is Morgan le Fey, who represents the Crone aspect of the Triple-Goddess. She is separate from the Goddess, yet part of Her as well. This is a hard concept to comprehend for most, and usually takes much meditation to come to terms with this idea.
If you would like to learn more about how all religions truly are one, the best book to read is The Christ Conspiracy : The Greatest Story Ever Sold by Acharya S. While we do not condone the obvious hatred for Christianity in this book, it does have the best information regarding how all religions are connected as well as the truth behind conquering nations' religions versus the indiginous people's religions.
