The Charge of the Goddess is one of the central liturgical texts of modern Wicca. In Gardnerian and Alexandrian practice especially, it functions as a sacred address from the Goddess to her witches, usually spoken by the High Priestess after the rite known as Drawing Down the Moon. In that moment, the High Priestess is not merely reading devotional poetry; she is ritually standing as the voice, vessel, or presence of the Goddess within the circle. The Charge is therefore not only a poem, not only a teaching, and not only a historical artifact. It is a living ritual speech through which the Goddess addresses the coven.
The Charge of the Goddess
Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who was of old also called Artemis; Astarte; Diana; Melusine; Aphrodite; Cerridwen; Dana; Arianrhod; Isis; Bride; and by many other names.
Whenever ye have need of anything, once in a month, and better it be when the Moon be full, then ye shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of me, who am Queen of all Witcheries.
There shall ye assemble, ye who are fain to learn all sorcery, yet have not yet won its deepest secrets: to these will I teach things that are yet unknown.
And ye shall be free from slavery; and as a sign that ye are really free, ye shall be naked in your rites; and ye shall dance, sing, feast, make music and love, all in my praise.
For mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and mine also is joy on earth; for my Law is Love unto all Beings.
Keep pure your highest ideal; strive ever toward it; let naught stop you or turn you aside.
For mine is the secret door which opens upon the Land of Youth; and mine is the Cup of the Wine of Life, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen, which is the Holy Grail of Immortality.
I am the Gracious Goddess, who gives the gift of joy unto the heart. Upon earth, I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal; and beyond death, I give peace, and freedom, and reunion with those who have gone before. Nor do I demand sacrifice, for behold I am the Mother of All Living, and my love is poured out upon the earth.
Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess, she in the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven; whose body encircleth the Universe; I, who am the beauty of the green earth, and the white Moon among the stars, and the mystery of the waters, and the heart’s desire, call unto thy soul. Arise and come unto me.
For I am the Soul of Nature, who giveth life to the universe; from me all things proceed, and unto me must all things return; and before my face, beloved of gods and mortals, thine inmost divine self shall be unfolded in the rapture of infinite joy.
Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth, for behold: all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals. And therefore let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honour and humility, mirth and reverence within you.
And thou who thinkest to seek for me, know thy seeking and yearning shall avail thee not, unless thou know this mystery: that if that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee.
For behold, I have been with thee from the beginning; and I am that which is attained at the end of desire.
The Public-Domain Source Passage from Aradia
One of the earliest major source passages behind the Wiccan Charge is found in Charles Godfrey Leland’s 1899 Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. In that work, Aradia instructs her followers to gather at the full moon, worship Diana, learn witchcraft, and mark their freedom in ritual nakedness. This passage is not identical to the Gardnerian or Valiente Charge, but it is one of its clearest ancestors.
When I shall have departed from this world,
Whenever ye have need of anything,
Once in the month, and when the moon is full,
Ye shall assemble in some desert place,
Or in a forest all together join
To adore the potent spirit of your queen,
My mother, great Diana. She who fain
Would learn all sorcery yet has not won
Its deepest secrets, them my mother will
Teach her, in truth all things as yet unknown.
And ye shall all be freed from slavery,
And so ye shall be free in everything;
And as the sign that ye are truly free,
Ye shall be naked in your rites, both men
And women also: this shall last until
The last of your oppressors shall be dead;
And ye shall make the game of Benevento,
Extinguishing the lights, and after that
Shall hold your supper thus:
This passage already contains several themes that became foundational in the Wiccan Charge: monthly gathering at the full moon, worship of the Goddess, the teaching of magical mysteries, ritual freedom, and the idea that nakedness in rite can symbolize liberation rather than shame.
Authorship: Gardner, Leland, Crowley, and Valiente
The modern Wiccan Charge of the Goddess did not emerge from a single hand in a single moment. It is a layered text. The earliest Wiccan version is usually associated with Gerald Gardner and appears to have drawn upon Leland’s Aradia, Aleister Crowley’s writings, and other occult and literary material. Some sources identify Gardner’s early version under the title Leviter Veslis, or “Lift Up the Veil,” and note that it included material adapted from Crowley’s Thelemic writings as well as Leland’s Italian witchcraft material.
The traditional view is that Gardner produced an early ritual version of the Charge, using Leland’s Tuscan witches’ material as one of his starting points. Doreen Valiente later revised it with Gardner’s approval. This is an important point. Valiente did not simply invent the Charge out of nothing, but neither was she merely copying Gardner. She transformed the material. Her revision removed much of the obvious Crowley influence and gave the Charge the lyrical, devotional, and priestess-centered voice that made it beloved across modern Wicca.
Doreen Valiente’s contribution cannot be overstated. Gardner supplied an early ritual text, but Valiente gave the Charge much of its enduring religious beauty. Her version became one of the clearest statements of Wiccan theology: the Goddess is immanent, sensual, lunar, liberating, wise, and present within the body and soul of the witch.
History and Development
The Charge belongs to the early formation of modern Wicca in the 1940s and 1950s. Gardner’s ritual materials were compiled in the context of what became Gardnerian Witchcraft. These materials were not created in a vacuum. They drew from ceremonial magic, Freemasonry-like initiatory structures, folklore, classical paganism, Romantic literature, occult revival sources, and the claim of older witch tradition.
The early Charge appears to have served two connected purposes. First, it gave theological instruction. It told initiates what kind of religion the Craft was: not merely spellcraft, not devil worship, not abstract occultism, but a Goddess-centered, mystery-based path of freedom, worship, embodiment, and joy. Second, it served a ritual purpose. It could be spoken in circle as the voice of the Goddess, especially after Drawing Down the Moon.
Valiente’s revision came after her initiation into Gardner’s coven in the 1950s. She recognized that some of Gardner’s material leaned heavily on Crowley, whose tone and reputation she felt were not ideal for the Craft. Her revision made the Charge less Thelemic and more Wiccan in devotional voice. The result was a text that could stand not simply as occult instruction, but as liturgy.
What Changed Over Time
The movement from Leland to Gardner to Valiente involved several major changes.
Leland’s Aradia passage is revolutionary, anti-oppressive, and folkloric. It speaks in the voice of Aradia, daughter of Diana, instructing witches to gather in secret, learn sorcery, and become free. Its tone is raw and defiant, born from a narrative of class oppression and resistance.
Gardner’s early Charge drew from that material but placed it within a ritual and initiatory Wiccan frame. The Goddess was no longer only Diana of Leland’s Tuscan material. She became the Great Mother known by many names, invoked through the Wiccan circle and addressed to the witches of the coven.
Valiente’s version refined the theology and poetry. It emphasized the Goddess as the soul of nature, the beauty of the earth, the mystery of the waters, the joy of the heart, and the freedom of the body. It preserved the famous Wiccan affirmation that acts of love and pleasure are sacred to the Goddess, while shaping the text into something more solemn, beautiful, and ritually powerful.
Later versions continued to appear in other Wiccan, Neo-Pagan, feminist, and eclectic traditions. Some are close to Valiente. Some expand the Goddess language. Some remove traditional elements. Some adapt the Charge for solitary practice. But the Gardnerian-Valiente form remains the classic.
Theological Importance
The Charge matters because it expresses Wiccan theology in liturgical form. It is not a systematic creed. It is not a list of doctrines. It is a sacred speech. Its theology is poetic, embodied, and ritualized.
First, the Charge teaches the immanence of the Goddess. She is not distant from the world. She is encountered in moonlight, earth, water, body, desire, beauty, and mystery. This fits the broader pagan view that the cosmos is alive and that divinity is not “up there” separate from creation, but present through the living organism of the world.
Second, the Charge teaches sacred embodiment. The body is not treated as fallen, dirty, or shameful. The body can be a temple, a sign of freedom, and a vessel of divine presence. This is one of the sharpest contrasts between Wicca and religions that treat spirit and flesh as enemies. In the Charge, the Goddess does not call the witch away from life. She calls the witch more deeply into life.
Third, the Charge teaches joy as a religious principle. Traditional Wicca is a mystery religion, but it is not a religion of grim denial. It honors beauty, pleasure, rhythm, dance, song, love, and ecstasy as sacred modes of communion. This does not mean careless indulgence. It means that joy, rightly held, is part of the Goddess’s presence.
Fourth, the Charge teaches freedom joined to reverence. The Leland passage speaks explicitly of liberation. Gardner and Valiente preserve this current in a more initiatory and devotional tone. The witch is not a slave before divinity, but a participant in mystery. The Goddess teaches, blesses, and awakens.
Use in Traditional Wicca
In traditional Wicca, the Charge is most closely associated with Drawing Down the Moon. In that rite, the High Priest invokes the Goddess upon or within the High Priestess. The High Priestess then speaks as the living representative, vessel, or embodiment of the Goddess within the circle. This is why the Charge is not merely a devotional reading. It is a ritual act.
Ideally, the High Priestess knows the Charge by heart. Reading it from a page may be acceptable in some settings, especially in teaching or informal practice, but in traditional ritual the memorized Charge carries a different power. It allows the priestess to speak directly, with presence and authority, rather than appearing to recite from outside the mystery. The words are meant to rise from within the rite.
Its use also reinforces the central role of the High Priestess in traditional Wicca. The Charge is one of the clearest ritual moments in which the priestess becomes the living icon of the Goddess. It is not simply symbolic in the weak sense. In the logic of the rite, the Goddess is truly present through her.
Importance to Gardnerian and Alexandrian Craft
For Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca, the Charge is one of the defining pieces of liturgy. It carries theology, ritual authority, and emotional memory. Many religions have creeds; Wicca has ritual poetry. Many traditions define themselves by commandments; Wicca often defines itself through sacred encounter. The Charge is one of the places where that encounter is given words.
It is also important because it helped establish the Goddess at the heart of modern Wiccan identity. Wicca is not merely ceremonial magic with seasonal decorations. It is a pagan religion centered on the polarity of Goddess and God, nature and mystery, body and spirit, moon and sun, life and death. The Charge gives voice to the Goddess side of that polarity with unusual power.
The Charge also functions as a bridge between old and new. It draws from Leland’s Aradia, from occult revival literature, from Gardner’s ritual construction, and from Valiente’s poetic genius. It is not ancient in its present form, but it is rooted in older mythic and magical currents. That is typical of Wicca itself: modern, but not rootless; created, but not artificial; shaped by human hands, yet capable of carrying genuine mystery.
A HearthCraft Reflection
For HearthCraft Wicca, the Charge should be approached with reverence, historical honesty, and living discernment. We do not need to pretend that the modern Charge was handed down unchanged from antiquity. Its power does not depend on false antiquity. Its power lies in the fact that it became a vessel. Gardner gathered the materials. Valiente refined the voice. Traditional covens embodied it in circle. Generations of witches have spoken it under moonlight until it became part of the living memory of the Craft.
The Charge reminds us that the Goddess is not an abstraction. She is near in the body, in the moon, in the waters, in the forest, in the hearth, in love, in freedom, in wisdom, and in the deep places of the soul. It teaches that Wicca is not merely belief, but encounter. It is not merely ritual performance, but communion.
At its best, the Charge does what all true liturgy does: it opens a door. Through that door, the witch hears not only words about the Goddess, but the Goddess speaking.