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For awhile now I've pondered the similarities and differences between the mythos of the Horned God, and his dualistic nature, and the mythos of the Oak King/Holly King - with their obvious dualism... One of the reasons that I'd pondered their interconnection, assuming there was any, was because that while I had encountered the Horned God in two different 'personas' (while "knowing" they were, ultimately, the same - as is the nature of dualistic gods...), I had found little information written about Cernunnos which agreed with this. Yes, there was mention of his various titles - but not specifically which addressed the very different energies... For example, the Lord of Death - which I'd come to call the Horned God in his dark persona - had black rams horns, black legs - of some variety - and wore a black cloak-like thing. His eyes were also black... he was very entropic, dark... his eyes pulled you in like the void... and he was very, very sexually potent - in a sort of frantic, well, animalistic kind of way... The Lord of Life - his light persona - had stag horns (which is the typical depiction - tho a ram-headed snake rod is associated with him), brown legs, a bare - tho hairy chest (human hairy, not animal hairy), and soft, green/brown eyes - like the forest around us (oh, I'd met his 'other' in a cave...) He was kinder and gentler... more paternally, with gentle wisdom and a friendly demeanor. I felt more in the presence of a wise guide... I knew that these were both the Horned God and not the Holly/Oak King because of different representations and energies... I had briefly met the Holly King previously, and he was more the typical older (not old or feeble or ancient... just older) - white haired, horn free (of any kind) - the typical "winter man" sort of vibe... However - there was something about the discussion on the dualism of the Holly/Oak Kings that I didn't find in the writings on Cernunnos... see, most of the writings, particularly of the neo- bend, make Cernunnos the consort to the Great Goddess, which they usually depict as the moon. This was just, well, all wrong to me... Also, because there's only one God in the Wheel of the Year - they associate the cycle of the sun with Cernunnos as well, suggesting that the light persona of the Horned One is 'merely' a younger version... and the dark persona is when he's older and dying - but this wasn't the feel that I got from it at all... For one, both personas appeared to be roughly in their 30s... and the whole idea that the Horned God necessarily follows the sun's cycle was also something I could never just blithely accept... I also had problems with certain versions of the Holly/Oak King myth... in that I didn't feel that they "battled" for control, per se... Also, I didn't like the division of the year that usually went with it - with the Oak King gaining control at Yule. Again, this was based mostly on solar events - which I felt to be a mistake... Also, I felt that the Holly King reinged at mid-winter... and that this was the height of his power - not the end of it... And I felt the same regarding the Horned God... that the Beltaine/Samhain division wasn't quite right... In browsing, I found this: "Another version of the Holly King and Oak King symbolism, is that they do not directly switch places twice a year, but rather both live simultaneously. The Oak King is born at Yule, and his strength grows through the spring, peaks at Beltane and then he weakens and dies at Samhain. The Holly King lives a reverse existance, and is born at Midsummer, waxes more powerful through the summer and fall, to his peak at Samhain. His influence then lessens until Beltane, when it is his turn to pass away. In this perspective, the two Kings enjoy a more intricate interplay of power and is perhaps a better illustration of their duality. At any given time, they both exist but have varying levels of influence throughout the year. " (from about.com) While this isn't 100% how I would necessarily describe it - tho I'm not entirely sure how I would - this held a stronger resonation for me... In that they both exist simultaneously, and it's their spheres of influence which wax and wane... (I wouldn't necessarily worry about the whole born/dying thing...) And this was the same way that I felt about the Horned One... Also, I didn't feel that the gained or lost power at the Beltaine/Samhain split - but that their spheres of influences were strongest during those times... and that at other times, it was a matter of degrees... in that there's not a particular time when one takes over for the other, but it's a gradual changing... More recently, I found this write-up about the duality of Cernunnos: "Druids, magicians and mystics have long witnessed Cernunnos under two aspects: (1) first, as a passive icon of Earth-Peace, standing in a clearing or near a well or spring at the edge of the wilderness, and (2) second, as the virile, potent, wild representative of the masculine side of Earth-Power, raging into our circle and our imaginations from somewhere other than ‘here.’" (from isis books) This was pretty much the same way that I'd felt them - as listed above... and so, now, I'd had my first "confirmation", as it were, to the duality... But then I was left with all these similarities between them... both having seasonal influences or effects... both having similar cycles and mythos... but still having different energies... I was trying to figure it out in a way that would put my probing mind at east... I just wanted to be able to put my finger on what, exactly, was different... what made them different... And yesterday it sort of hit me, as it were... a theory, at least, for the time being... The Holly/Oak King, imo, are the male embodiments of those seaons of nature - winter and summer, specifically... at least those are the high times of their reign... The Horned One, on the other hand... is Lord of the Forest, Lord of the Animals, Lord of the Hunt... all these things... and I got to thinking that he doesn't represent the seasons, per se - as many seem to suggest - but rather the living things of the earth and how they're affected by the seasons... how they exist in the different times... Well - that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it... For the time being, anyway... |