Have Pagans abandoned the Father God? Absolutely not. While we are known for honoring the Goddess in all her forms, we also revere the God whether we see him as an archetype figure or worship one or more of the gods from different pantheons. Below are descriptions of a few father gods from different cultures.

Brahma: Part of the Hindu trinity along with Vishnu and Shiva. Brahma is the creator aspect of this trinity. He divided into male and female halves in order create mankind. He is depicted as having four heads and four arms. Each head is said to continuously recite one of the four Vedas, a set of sacred texts of India.

The Dagda: The Irish father of the gods whose name translates as the good god. He was a renown warrior and magician. Symbols associated with him are his club, magic harp, and cauldron from which no one left hungry. It was he who allotted to the chiefs of the Tuatha De Danaan the sidhe mounds which later came to be known as the dwelling place of fairies.

Gluskap: Native American (Algonquin) creator god. He made the solar system and mankind out of the body of his dead mother. He eventually defeated his brother Maslum who created things that harm humans.

Odin: This Norse All-Father was a god of battle and death, poetry and magic. From his home in Valhalla, he was king of the race of gods known as the Aesir. He is often depicted with his spear and two ravens, Hugin (thought) and Munin (memory), who kept him abreast of activities on earth.

Our modern term running berserk comes from Odin's inspiration of the berserks in battle, those Scandinavian warriors whose fierce frenzy seemed unstoppable. This war god was also a mystic and seer and gave himself up for sacrifice to gain wisdom. For nine days and nine nights he hung upside down on the World Tree and received the wisdom of the runes in return.

Olorun: A sky father god in Yoruba mythology responsible for creation. Also known as Olodumare. He is not necessarily seen as a certain deity but rather divinity itself, the ultimate life force.

Ra: This Egyptian sun god and creator of mankind and the gods ruled from Heliopolis, the City of the Sun. Pharaohs came to be known as sons of Ra which represented the pattern of divine kingship as seen in many societies. He is sometimes depicted as part human with the head of a falcon. His appearance changes however according to his position in the sky from a young man to an elderly one. Other symbols associated with him are the sun disk and the ankh.

Yu-Huang: One of many variations on the creation god theme in Chinese folklore. He is also referred to as the Jade Emperor. A god of the sky and heaven said in some myths to have created mankind out of clay.

Zeus: This thunderbolt bearing Greek god is famous the world over. He ruled on Mount Olympus and got into all kinds of mischief. He was a feared and respected however by gods and mankind as his anger could be terrible. After Prometheus gave mankind the gift of fire, it was Zeus who sent Pandora and her box of evils in punishment. Then after deciding that mankind was too evil to live, he sent the great flood known as the Deluge. Much like the biblical story, he allowed one family to survive to carry on.

Like the mother goddesses, the role of the father gods changed over time. One shared myth is that the father gods defeated an earlier race of gods to gain their position which possibly points to their emergence from Goddess friendly cultures to more patriarchal cultures. Many went from being weather gods to overseeing war and death.

They didn't always have qualities we associate with fatherhood today. In fact, sometimes they treated their children (the gods and mankind) treacherously. Studying their stories will reveal their often times all too human natures, yet their divinity shines through. Maybe this is just what we need to understand; that even in our darkest moments we have that divine spark within us.


Sources consulted:
Davidson, H.R. Ellis. Gods and Myths of Northern Europe, Penguin Books, 1964.
Ellis, Peter Berresford. Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, Oxford University Press, 1992.
Farrar, Janet and Stewart Farrar. The Witches' God, Phoenix Publishing Inc., 1989.