Wiccan Religion

Yesterday I was pondering the deities I resonate with in my practise.  I’m not exactly a die hard traditionalist when it comes down to worshipping the more traditional deities many worship in the Wiccan religion.  What some might see as traditional deities of the Goddess and God for example, are not present on my altar although I respect all.

Instead I have an amazing deity from India who is the God and Goddess combined. Sounds intriguing?  Well, I think so and worshipping such an amazing personality is definitely rewarding and intriguing.

S/he’s called Caitanya Mahaprabhu and is the God Krishna and the Goddess Radha in one body.  The deity is made from wood, but not any old wood.  In India, there’s a type of tree called the Siddha Bakula and a particularly special one grows in Puri which grew from a toothpick planted in the ground by the actual Mahaprabhu him/herself when he appeared 500 years ago in the region.  (I’ll say ‘he’ just to keep it simple.)

From this toothpick the Bakula tree grew and is still there to this day, partly petrified, partly living.  I saw it five years ago.  Six years ago there were terrible storms and a hurricane blew a branch off this tree.  A creative local deity maker spotted a chance to carve dieties from this holy and auspicious branch and yes, you guessed it, it is this branch from which my special Goddess/God deity is created.

Seeing that the Wiccan religion can be pretty eclectic in terms of the deities worshipped, I consider my special one to be part of my Wiccan practise just as any other deity a witch particularly resonates with.