As a Wiccan and Hades devotee, I often get asked how Hades fits into my Wiccan worship. This bleeds into a larger question, which is how deities from other pantheons fit into the Wiccan “duotheism” (a term I’m using loosely, and you’ll see why in a bit). Wiccans are not only allowed, but encouraged to adopt other deities into their pantheons. How can this work?
In order to understand, you first need to learn Wicca’s central theology. The Wicca believe that Divinity exists, but it is so large, so far beyond our mere human understanding, that we cannot comprehend. It is not gendered, not named, neither one force nor many. When facing this Divinity, people broke down the great force into smaller forces: the moon, death, life, earth, ocean, mother, father. All deities, then, are parts of the larger Divinity. We worship Divinity’s aspects in order to grow closer to the whole. This is also why, in Wiccan view, no religions are wrong. All deities can be worshipped, as each one allows us to understand a little more of Divinity. In an attempt to worship as much of Divinity as possible, the Wicca created their own deities made up of ancient archetypes. This is why the Wiccan Gods are both old and new at the same time. The names are new, but the archetypes associated with each deity are old, repeated elements we see throughout all of Paganism. However, even the God and the Goddess can’t encapsulate all of Divinity. This is why other deities are often honored by the Wicca. I understand that this probably sounds off to a lot of you. In explaining this, I’m not asking you to believe it. I’m not even asking you to accept it. I’m just asking you to understand it. This is how Wicca operates as opposed to other Pagan religions. This being said, how other deities exactly fit into Wicca varies by practitioner and tradition. There’s much debate on how to approach different deities in the Wiccan sphere. I’m going to expand upon some of the more common ways Wiccans adopt other deities in respect to the God and Goddess. Of course, there are some theories I’m missing, but these few should expand your understanding of what exactly Wiccans are doing.
I hope you’ve gained a broader understanding of Wicca. I will politely ask to withhold angry comments from this post. While I am always happy to discuss others’ views, this is an informational post, not an “attack Wicca” post. Feel free to message me if you have any questions, or make your own post.
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