by Dave Hughes

Created on: September 13, 2010

The Role of Hermeticism in Wiccan Magic: Gods and Goddesses

Neo-Paganism and Wicca as practiced by the many newly forming sects share the complexities of exactly which deities, if any, they honor. Having only the thinnest connection with any ancient occult tradition, most prefer to follow a path that meets the needs of the members of that particular sect with little regard for any historical information beyond the names and brief description of various gods and goddesses.

By their actions, some groups follow the words of an old Celtic saying paraphrased as " the gods are best honored by mastering them". These folks view the gods as tools to their success in any number of operations, with some conducting what would best be described as magic rituals while others follow a more relaxed association with the gods similar to that found some among Christians who believe they have a guardian angel.

Other groups worship any number of configurations of deities from a single supreme being to the Lord and Lady pairing so essential to human procreation and, thus, Creation itself. Many see the God and the Goddess as aspects of the All, an entity that defies human description in much the same way that humans are viewed by ants or, more accurately, microbes.

Among these people, the All is in and about everything in existence. The philosophy is best described in a small work, "The Kybalion" by Three Yogis who wrote the book anonymously in order to pass on the nature of the universe as seen by Hermeticism and to provide rules under which all of the universe is structured so that Man would have the intended free access to them on order to affect virtually any change including those considered "magical".

Tradition states that Hermes was the author of the Emerald Tablet, a work so significant in ancient times that the Rosetta Stone is literally a billboard advertisement for the tablet written in three popular languages of the time to ensure its message got across.

The tablet can be summed in one simple statement; "As above, so below." While its reverse has been challenged by future ceremonial magicians bound to the Kabala, the tablet also proclaims its validity, placing human existence on an equal playing field with the entirety of existence regardless of its exact scientifically defined nature.

Many Wiccans follow the tenets of Hermetic philosophy and especially aware of the tablet's message; that the universe (and whatever may lay beyond our grasp) is a continuum with absolutely

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