Inspirational text often used in the Wiccan religion
The Charge of the Goddess (or Charge of the Star Goddess) is an inspirational text often used in the neopagan religion of Wicca. The Charge of the Goddess is recited during most rituals in which the Wiccan priest/priestess is expected to represent, and/or embody, the Goddess within the sacred circle, and is often spoken by the High Priest/Priestess after the ritual of Drawing Down the Moon.
The Charge is the promise of the Goddess (who is embodied by the high priestess) to all witches that she will teach and guide them. It has been called "perhaps the most important single theological document in the neo-Pagan movement".[1] It is used not only in Wicca, but as part of the foundational documents of the Reclaiming tradition of witchcraft co-founded by Starhawk.
Several versions of the Charge exist, though they all have the same basic premise, that of a set of instructions given by the Great Goddess to her worshippers. The earliest version is that compiled by Gerald Gardner.[2] This version, titled "Leviter Veslis" or "Lift Up the Veil", includes material paraphrased from works by Aleister Crowley, primarily from Liber AL (The Book of the Law, particularly from Ch 1, spoken by Nuit, the Star Goddess), and from Liber LXV (The Book of the Heart Girt with a Serpent) and from Crowley's essay "The Law of Liberty", thus linking modern Wicca to the cosmology and revelations of Thelema. It has been shown that Gerald Gardner's book collection included a copy of Crowley's The Blue Equinox (1919) which includes all of the Crowley quotations transferred by Gardner to the Charge of the Goddess.[3]
There are also two versions written by Doreen Valiente in the mid-1950s, after her 1953 Wiccan initiation. The first was a poetic paraphrase which eliminated almost all the material derived from Leland and Crowley. The second was a prose version which is contained within the traditional Gardnerian Book of Shadows and more closely resembles Gardner's "Leviter Veslis" version of 1949.
Several different versions of a Wiccan Charge of the God have since been created to mirror and accompany the Charge of the Goddess.
^Shelley Rabinovich and James Lewis. Encyclopedia of Modern Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism, p. 41. New York: Citadel Books, 2004
^Orpheus, Rodney (2009). "Gerald Gardner & Ordo Templi Orientis". Pentacle Magazine. No. 30. pp. 14–18. ISSN 1753-898X.
^Cite error: The named reference serith1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
and 22 Related for: Charge of the Goddess information
Tantric Shaivism, the pair of Shiva and Shakti are the ultimate principle (with thegoddess representing the active, creative power of God). Meanwhile,...
expressed in the writings of Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente, the emphasis is on the theme of divine gender polarity, and the God and Goddess are regarded...
opponent Charge (fanfare), played at sporting events Guangzhou Charge, a Chinese esports team in the Overwatch League ChargeoftheGoddess, a text often...
mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological...
examples of poetry largely composed by Gardner and his High Priestess Doreen Valiente, the most notable of which is theChargeoftheGoddess. The Book of Shadows...
ISBN 978-3796546075. Starhawk (1989). The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth ofthe Ancient Religion ofthe Great Goddess. Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0062508140. Stratton-Kent...
A coven (/kʌvən/) is a group or gathering of witches. The word "coven" (from Anglo-Norman covent, cuvent, from Old French covent, from Latin conventum...
texts for Wicca, such as The Witches Rune and theChargeoftheGoddess, which were incorporated into the early Gardnerian Book of Shadows. In 1957, a schism...
deities. The Horned God represents the male part ofthe religion's duotheistic theological system, the consort ofthe female Triple goddessofthe Moon or...
with the Sun and the Horned God; while the chalice represents the magical element of water, associated with the Moon and theGoddess. The union ofthe two...
text in the manner of that deity, in which case the invocation is more akin to ritual drama. The Wiccan ChargeoftheGoddess is an example of such a pre-established...
Hallowmas (1 November). The White Goddess (1948) by Robert Graves suggested that, despite Christianization, the importance of agricultural and social...
The Theban alphabet, also known as the witches' alphabet, is a writing system, specifically a substitution cipher ofthe Latin script, that was used by...
Rudyard Kipling. Doreen Valiente wrote much ofthe best-known poetry, including the much-quoted ChargeoftheGoddess.: 247 In 1948–1949, Gardner and Dafo...
TheGoddess movement is a revivalistic Neopagan religious movement which includes spiritual beliefs and practices that emerged predominantly in the Western...
Faery Wicca is a modern tradition of Wicca. Faery Wicca is not related to the late Victor Anderson's Feri Tradition, which is sometimes also spelled Faery...
Many Wiccans also seek to cultivate a set of eight virtues mentioned in Doreen Valiente's ChargeoftheGoddess, these being mirth, reverence, honour, humility...
ISBN 0-02-864417-4. p. 51 Starhawk (1979, 1989) The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth ofthe Ancient Religion ofthe Great Goddess. New York, Harper and Row ISBN 0-06-250814-8...
homosexuality." ... all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. — Doreen Valiente, ChargeoftheGoddess Wiccan traditions hold a wide range of differing beliefs...
Global Information