Wiccan Views of Divinity - "The One" / "The All"

"The One" / "The All"

In addition to the two main deities worshiped within Wicca—the God and Goddess—there are also several possible theological conceptions of an ultimate (impersonal) pantheistic or monistic divinity, known variously as Dryghtyn or "the One" or "The All." This impersonal ultimate divinity is generally regarded as unknowable, and is acknowledged but not worshiped. This monistic idea of an ultimate impersonal divinity is not to be confused with the monotheistic idea of a single supreme personal deity. (Especially since Wicca traditionally honors its two supreme deities, the Goddess and the God, as equal.) This impersonal ultimate divinity may also be regarded as the underlying order or organizing principle within the world; as reflected in similar religious ideas such as Tao, Wyrd, Orlog, Rta, or Fate. While not all Wiccans subscribe to this monistic idea of an impersonal, ultimate divinity, many do; and there are various philosophical constructions of how this ultimate divinity relates to the physical world of Nature. Unlike religions that place a divine creator outside of Nature, Wicca is generally pantheistic, seeing Nature as divine in itself. (The traditional Charge of the Goddess—the most widely shared piece of liturgy within the religion—refers to the Goddess as "the Soul of Nature" from whom all things come, and to which all things return. This theme is also expressed in the symbology of the magic cauldron as the womb of the Goddess, from which all creation emerges, and in which it is all dissolved before reemerging again.)

Wicca emphasizes the immanence of divinity within Nature, seeing the natural world as comprised both of spiritual substance as well as matter and physical energy. Many Wiccans also embrace the idea of the spiritual transcendence of divinity, and see this transcendence as compatible with the idea of immanence. In such a view, divinity and dimensions of spiritual existence (sometimes called "the astral planes") can exist outside the physical world, as well as extending into the material, and/or rising out of the material, intimately interwoven into the fabric of material existence in such a way that the spiritual affects the physical, and vice-versa. (The conception of Nature as a vast, interconnected web of existence that is woven by the Goddess is very common within Wicca; an idea often connected with the Triple Goddess as personified by the Three Fates who weave the Web of Wyrd.) This combination of transcendence and immanence allows for the intermingling and the interaction of the unmanifest spiritual nature of the universe with the manifest physical universe; the physical reflects the spiritual, and vice-versa. (An idea expressed in the occult maxim "As Above, So Below" which is also used within Wicca.)

Given the usual interpretation of Wicca as a pantheistic and duotheistic/polytheistic religion, the monotheistic belief in a single "supreme deity" does not generally apply. However, some Wiccans have become Masons, and Freemasonry requires that the candidate must believe in a Supreme Deity (the candidate's religion need not prescribe this belief in Supreme Deity). For most Wiccans, however, this belief would refer not to a personal monotheistic deity, but rather to a monistic or pantheistic conception of impersonal divinity as expressed in the concept of Dryghtyn. (The exception being feminist Dianic witches for whom Goddess worship becomes a kind of monotheism.) An individual Wiccan's personal devotion may be centered on the traditional Horned God and the Moon Goddess of Wicca, a large number of divine "aspects" of the Wiccan God and Goddess, a large pantheon of individual pagan Gods, one specific pagan God and one specific pagan Goddess, or any combination of those perspectives. Accordingly, the religion of Wicca can be understood as duotheistic, henotheistic, pantheistic, polytheistic, or panentheistic depending upon the personal faith, cosmological belief, and philosophy of the individual Wiccan.