The Coven of the WildWood honours the Divine in all things. As Pagans, our view and experience of Divinity is a deeply animistic and pantheistic one. We see and feel the Divine in Nature, as the very resonance of the physical plane, the earthly realm, is simply a lower vibratory expression of the holy continuum that is Life. We regard the concepts and powers of Spirit, Consciousness, the Divine etc., as almost synonymous which each other, though in truth they reveal and represent varying manifestations of that Ultimate Reality, which is both unknowable and yet intimately a part of all of us.

We are also polytheistic in our workings in that we invoke a variety of deities that we feel exude both personality and individuality, implying some sense of differentiation between each other. The pseudo-monistic belief that each God is simply a reflection or aspect of a greater, transcendent deity is not one that our coven fosters. Though we understand and cultivate the principle of the Archetype, we are also aware, from our own experiences with trance-channelling and invocation, that the Gods are more than psychological facets through which our humanity can access hidden spiritual powers lying latent within.

Many Wiccan groups and covens celebrate a dynamic ditheism – the God and the Goddess - and these two are generally associated with the fertility cults of Western Europe under the guise of various local divinities (i.e. Frey and Freya). The Witches of the WildWood however revere what we call the Sacred Four - the Weaver, the Green Man, the Crescent-Crowned Goddess and the Stag-Horned God. These beings are primal forces who exist within the deep unconscious and of course the natural landscape itself (celestially as well).

We know our patron God and Goddess as the mysterious Green Man and the illustrious Weaver. They are old deities who existed long before the temples were built to Zeus and the Olympian entourage. They are not merely archetypes wavering before us seductively entrancing, but powerful forces that choose to remain shrouded in order to encapsulate their immense providence. They have appeared to us within visions while connecting to our heartland the WildWood, and communicate clearly to us through our circle-work.

The Weaver is she who rides (and suspends) the cycle of the Wheel. She is the Grandmother of Fate, Sovereign of Space, the Weaver of the Web of Life. She has no particular associations relating to planetary spheres or days or colours etc, and this is because she is unmasked, unveiled, but also shrouded in her grey mystery.

The Green Man is an old God-form. His face is sculpted into the masonry of some of the oldest cathedrals in Europe. He is generally seen to be the foliate mask, curled oak leaves stemming from his mouth. He is the essence of the Forest itself. The Hooded One, Grandfather of Time and the flourishing of Nature.

She of the lunar mystery we call the Crescent-Crowned Goddess. She is the changing of the tides of the sea, the passage of the faces of the moon, the midnight silence and darkest hour. She is illumination, enlightenment and intuition. Queen of Heaven and Queen of Hel; the shaman-priestess who parts the veils between the world. She is silver-bright inspiration and oaths forged true. She is Sister to us, the singer of the sacred songs.

He of the solar mystery (the rising and falling; death and rebirth) we call the Stag-Horned God. He is the rhythm of the Land, the pulse of power that charges the soul to live Life passionately to the last breath. He is the sacrifice of the harvest, the ebb and the flow. He is the Lord of the Dance, born forth from the Unknown into the Light and given the staff and the drum to create the music that empowers his creativity. His antlers remind us that he is wild and free, the hunter and the hunted, the prey, as well as the predator. He is Brother to us, the blood in our veins.

 These are the Sacred Four, the Old Ones of the WildWood. They empower and inspire us, reminding us that the Gods are more than flimsy notions of pre-Christian myth. They are beings of raw power and force, holding within themselves the keys to the doors of the hall of mysteries. We are blessed to have them, and they us. All on the spiral-path dance together freely and on equal terms. Blessed Be~