Exploring Pan - Dark god of the forest, the trickster, the horned all god.
My connection with Pan
He was the first god that came to me, before I even knew who he or paganism was. I grew up in Heanor and as a child would spend copious amounts of my time in the Shipley woods. BMXing and exploring with my friends and my cousins, building bat boxes in summer camp, and listening to the different bird calls with my uncle who spent time as a ranger. I spent a lot of time in the woods and surrounding countryside, and often I would go alone. But I never felt alone, not truly, there was always something catching my eye and stirring my imagination. I never saw him, not back then, but in hindsight it always makes me smile that I was dancing a merry jig to his tune and protected always.
Who is Pan?
God of the wild, meadows, forests, fertility, rustic music, mountains, shepherds and hunters. He is the protector of the wild and all who dwell there, but also mischievous and lustful.
He is usually depicted as having the lower body of a goat, a man’s upper half, with a goatee beard and horns on his head (sometimes with the full head of a goat) a depiction that we now know as a faun.
What are his associations?
Pan’s elemental sign is Earth and he is associated with the natural world in general, unfortunately for us this means that there is no definitive list of what offerings are, or were used, in his worship. Certainly, a portion of a shepherd’s heard, or a hunters haul, would be sacrificed to appease the god, as was the way in ancient times, but also plants and herbs would be used in worship including:
Ivy – usually crafted into wreaths and garlands to represent his connection to the Earth and also his wild nature.
Pine and fir branches – these where often used to decorate dedicated altars and sacred spaces, Pinecones were used to signify fertility and to welcome Pan’s influence in fertility blessings.
Mandrake – along with the goddess Aphrodite and the sorceress Circe, Pan made use of Mandrake for its aphrodisiac properties. Rituals involving fertility and sexuality would often be performed in Pan’s sacred spaces.
Honey and thyme also feature heavily in Grecian rituals and worship, and Pan was no exception to this rule. The reason for this is that the gods are said to love bees and hold them in high regard, not least because they sustained Zeus as a baby during his time in hiding. As soon as he was born Zeus’ mother Rea hid him away so that his father Kronos could not devour him. The nymph Melissa (which means honey bee) kept the young god safe and nourished him with honey and milk. The gods even used bees as messengers, for they are also said to be the souls of the departed, or indeed those yet to be born.
The ancient Greeks where not known for the use of crystals in deity worship, but modern followers of the pantheon do associate certain crystals with Pan:
Green Aventurine - emits the energy of nature, fertility and growth associated with Pan.
Black Tourmaline – due to the wild and unpredictable nature of Pan, this crystal is used to help ground and balance this energy.
Carnelian - a stone associated with creativity, passion, and sexuality. Associated with the energy of Pan, who was known for his lustful and passionate nature.
His origins.
Pan’s origins are, like a dense dark forest, deeply shrouded in mystery and predate recorded history, at which time pastoral and mountainous tribes worshipped a spirit or goat god that would later become known as Pan when they introduced him to the Greek world. The mountains and pastoral lands that these tribes hailed from later became known as Arcadia, and the Arcadians held Pan as their protector and provider.
In the folklore and stories of Olympia, which are often confusing and sometimes contradictory, Pan was said to be the son of either Hermes and the wood nymph Dryope or Apollo and Penelope of Arcadia, daughter of the Spartan king Icarius. Both Hermes and Apollo are known the be fast footed, Pan inherited this trait and was known to be able to run for miles with tiring.
As a sub note, Homer’s Odyssey writes of Penelope’s infidelity sleeping with 108 suitors in her husband’s absence, reflecting the meaning of Pan’s name in Greek: all.
In both cases it was said that Pan was raised in Olympia and would often delight the other gods by playing his flute, and later became extremely good friends with Dionysus, the god of wine.
In the ancient Egyptian city of Waset now known as Thebes, Callistratus (a Greek rhetorician) writes of a cave being found, in which a marble engraving of a ‘satyros’ (faun) holding a flute in his hands was discovered. Which suggests that, although not worshipped, the ancient Egyptians knew of the horned god, and that he did indeed predate the ancient Greeks.
Stories of the nymphs and pipes
In mythology Pan was often depicted in the company of nymphs. Nymphs, not to be confused with faeries, where minor goddesses of the natural world depicted as beautiful and graceful females with wings, who had a natural ability to turn into plants or animals.
Pan would often fall hopelessly in love with these nymphs and tales tell of his, often tragic, pursuit of love.
Pan became infatuated with the nymph Syrinx, a companion of Artemis (goddess of the hunt), who rejected his advances and fled into the forest. At the river she prayed to the river gods who turned her into reeds. Pan, on her heels, looked on in disbelief and heartbreak. Not knowing which of the reeds was Syrinx, he gathered an armful, seven in total of various lengths, and bound them together and used them to play his mournful songs of lament. In a variation to this story, Syrinx turned herself into a lilac tree (a specific syringa genus of lilac) of which Pan cut seven branches and bound them together. Nonetheless, the Pan Pipes were created.
Another tale tells of Ekho, a talkative mountain nymph who was cursed by the gods to only repeat the last words spoken to her. Ekho encountered Pan in the forest and was immediately smitten by his beauty and charm. Pan made it clear that he only wanted her for her physical form and nothing more, so Ekho followed him through the woods repeating his words and hoping to win his heart. Eventually Pan became bored of her and banished her to the surrounding caves and mountains, causing her to retreat into a lonely existence, eventually becoming nothing more than a disembodied voice.
The great god Pan is dead.
The philosopher Plutarch writes of the death of Pan. A sailor named Thamus, on his way to Italy, heard a divine voice call out over the seas. “The Great God Pan is dead” it proclaimed, over and over again. When Thamus reached port he rushed to the guards of the emperor Tiberius to impart the news, which was received with groans and laments. Emperor Tiberius was so concerned that he opened an official inquiry into the matter, and when investigators brought back no sign of the god, he was truly declared as dead.
Tiberius was emperor within the lifespan of Jesus Christ, son of Yahweh, and followers of Christ used this news to declare that the final Pagan gods had been defeated, the time of the true all-powerful God was at hand. It’s useful at this point to acknowledge the fact that the image of Satan is a direct reflection of Pan: a cloven footed, horn headed trickster and tempter of man. It denoted the death of an ancient order, and the beginning of a new.
However…
In my heart of hearts, I know that Pan is not dead at all, he has simply receded into that of what he protects, the forest.
There is a more naturalistic explanation to this story. When the dire words “The Great God Pan is dead” was heard by the sailor Thamus, he was in fact travelling through the Mesopotamian region of Sumer. The Sumerians in this region believed in a god called Tammuz that would rise in the Spring and retreat to the underworld in winter. If he rose late from the underworld, then winter would still hold sway and his followers would spread words of warning across the lands and proclaim: “All Great Tammuz is Dead”. A phrase that would hold no meaning to any of those on board Thamus’ ship, being unfamiliar with the worship of Tammuz, so they misinterpreted it as a message from their own gods. With Pan meaning ‘all ‘we can see how that would have easily happened.
Pan’s influence on modern day language and music
Pan is an ancient god, but he is still ever present in our day-to-day modern lives. The word ‘panic’ comes directly from the feeling of unreasoning fear within humans and the sudden scattering or fleeing of animals, that was caused by Pan’s tremendous shouts when he was angered. Using this shout he helped the gods defeat an attack on Olympus by the Titans.
The Greek translation of Pan is ‘all’ which we still use as a prefix to words such as pansexual, pandemic, pantheon, panorama and pandemonium.
In music, the sound of Pan’s pipes has been depicted in symphonies, operas and songs. The most famous of these include the composer Claude Debussy’s piece “Syrinx” which was composed for solo flute players, and "The Great Gig in the Sky" by Pink Floyd who referenced the deity.
The book “Wind in the Willows” and the character Peter Pan of J.M. Barrie’s “The Little White Bird” all share elements and similarities to Pan and his mythology.
So, in a nutshell, that’s Pan. I love him dearly; he’s been a protector since my childhood and a constant presence in my life.
I want to end with some words of caution from the Greek philosopher Plato:
‘Hush now, O wooded hill of the Dryads!
Hush your leaping down from the rocks,
Ye fountains! Hush, myriad-bleating ewes!
For along his reeden pipe
Now Pan himself is sweeping his supple lip
To waken the sweet cry of the Muse;
And with feet untired for dancing,
About him gathered gleam
The Dryads from the forest,
The Naiads from the stream’
He was the first god that came to me, before I even knew who he or paganism was. I grew up in Heanor and as a child would spend copious amounts of my time in the Shipley woods. BMXing and exploring with my friends and my cousins, building bat boxes in summer camp, and listening to the different bird calls with my uncle who spent time as a ranger. I spent a lot of time in the woods and surrounding countryside, and often I would go alone. But I never felt alone, not truly, there was always something catching my eye and stirring my imagination. I never saw him, not back then, but in hindsight it always makes me smile that I was dancing a merry jig to his tune and protected always.
Who is Pan?
God of the wild, meadows, forests, fertility, rustic music, mountains, shepherds and hunters. He is the protector of the wild and all who dwell there, but also mischievous and lustful.
He is usually depicted as having the lower body of a goat, a man’s upper half, with a goatee beard and horns on his head (sometimes with the full head of a goat) a depiction that we now know as a faun.
What are his associations?
Pan’s elemental sign is Earth and he is associated with the natural world in general, unfortunately for us this means that there is no definitive list of what offerings are, or were used, in his worship. Certainly, a portion of a shepherd’s heard, or a hunters haul, would be sacrificed to appease the god, as was the way in ancient times, but also plants and herbs would be used in worship including:
Ivy – usually crafted into wreaths and garlands to represent his connection to the Earth and also his wild nature.
Pine and fir branches – these where often used to decorate dedicated altars and sacred spaces, Pinecones were used to signify fertility and to welcome Pan’s influence in fertility blessings.
Mandrake – along with the goddess Aphrodite and the sorceress Circe, Pan made use of Mandrake for its aphrodisiac properties. Rituals involving fertility and sexuality would often be performed in Pan’s sacred spaces.
Honey and thyme also feature heavily in Grecian rituals and worship, and Pan was no exception to this rule. The reason for this is that the gods are said to love bees and hold them in high regard, not least because they sustained Zeus as a baby during his time in hiding. As soon as he was born Zeus’ mother Rea hid him away so that his father Kronos could not devour him. The nymph Melissa (which means honey bee) kept the young god safe and nourished him with honey and milk. The gods even used bees as messengers, for they are also said to be the souls of the departed, or indeed those yet to be born.
The ancient Greeks where not known for the use of crystals in deity worship, but modern followers of the pantheon do associate certain crystals with Pan:
Green Aventurine - emits the energy of nature, fertility and growth associated with Pan.
Black Tourmaline – due to the wild and unpredictable nature of Pan, this crystal is used to help ground and balance this energy.
Carnelian - a stone associated with creativity, passion, and sexuality. Associated with the energy of Pan, who was known for his lustful and passionate nature.
His origins.
Pan’s origins are, like a dense dark forest, deeply shrouded in mystery and predate recorded history, at which time pastoral and mountainous tribes worshipped a spirit or goat god that would later become known as Pan when they introduced him to the Greek world. The mountains and pastoral lands that these tribes hailed from later became known as Arcadia, and the Arcadians held Pan as their protector and provider.
In the folklore and stories of Olympia, which are often confusing and sometimes contradictory, Pan was said to be the son of either Hermes and the wood nymph Dryope or Apollo and Penelope of Arcadia, daughter of the Spartan king Icarius. Both Hermes and Apollo are known the be fast footed, Pan inherited this trait and was known to be able to run for miles with tiring.
As a sub note, Homer’s Odyssey writes of Penelope’s infidelity sleeping with 108 suitors in her husband’s absence, reflecting the meaning of Pan’s name in Greek: all.
In both cases it was said that Pan was raised in Olympia and would often delight the other gods by playing his flute, and later became extremely good friends with Dionysus, the god of wine.
In the ancient Egyptian city of Waset now known as Thebes, Callistratus (a Greek rhetorician) writes of a cave being found, in which a marble engraving of a ‘satyros’ (faun) holding a flute in his hands was discovered. Which suggests that, although not worshipped, the ancient Egyptians knew of the horned god, and that he did indeed predate the ancient Greeks.
Stories of the nymphs and pipes
In mythology Pan was often depicted in the company of nymphs. Nymphs, not to be confused with faeries, where minor goddesses of the natural world depicted as beautiful and graceful females with wings, who had a natural ability to turn into plants or animals.
Pan would often fall hopelessly in love with these nymphs and tales tell of his, often tragic, pursuit of love.
Pan became infatuated with the nymph Syrinx, a companion of Artemis (goddess of the hunt), who rejected his advances and fled into the forest. At the river she prayed to the river gods who turned her into reeds. Pan, on her heels, looked on in disbelief and heartbreak. Not knowing which of the reeds was Syrinx, he gathered an armful, seven in total of various lengths, and bound them together and used them to play his mournful songs of lament. In a variation to this story, Syrinx turned herself into a lilac tree (a specific syringa genus of lilac) of which Pan cut seven branches and bound them together. Nonetheless, the Pan Pipes were created.
Another tale tells of Ekho, a talkative mountain nymph who was cursed by the gods to only repeat the last words spoken to her. Ekho encountered Pan in the forest and was immediately smitten by his beauty and charm. Pan made it clear that he only wanted her for her physical form and nothing more, so Ekho followed him through the woods repeating his words and hoping to win his heart. Eventually Pan became bored of her and banished her to the surrounding caves and mountains, causing her to retreat into a lonely existence, eventually becoming nothing more than a disembodied voice.
The great god Pan is dead.
The philosopher Plutarch writes of the death of Pan. A sailor named Thamus, on his way to Italy, heard a divine voice call out over the seas. “The Great God Pan is dead” it proclaimed, over and over again. When Thamus reached port he rushed to the guards of the emperor Tiberius to impart the news, which was received with groans and laments. Emperor Tiberius was so concerned that he opened an official inquiry into the matter, and when investigators brought back no sign of the god, he was truly declared as dead.
Tiberius was emperor within the lifespan of Jesus Christ, son of Yahweh, and followers of Christ used this news to declare that the final Pagan gods had been defeated, the time of the true all-powerful God was at hand. It’s useful at this point to acknowledge the fact that the image of Satan is a direct reflection of Pan: a cloven footed, horn headed trickster and tempter of man. It denoted the death of an ancient order, and the beginning of a new.
However…
In my heart of hearts, I know that Pan is not dead at all, he has simply receded into that of what he protects, the forest.
There is a more naturalistic explanation to this story. When the dire words “The Great God Pan is dead” was heard by the sailor Thamus, he was in fact travelling through the Mesopotamian region of Sumer. The Sumerians in this region believed in a god called Tammuz that would rise in the Spring and retreat to the underworld in winter. If he rose late from the underworld, then winter would still hold sway and his followers would spread words of warning across the lands and proclaim: “All Great Tammuz is Dead”. A phrase that would hold no meaning to any of those on board Thamus’ ship, being unfamiliar with the worship of Tammuz, so they misinterpreted it as a message from their own gods. With Pan meaning ‘all ‘we can see how that would have easily happened.
Pan’s influence on modern day language and music
Pan is an ancient god, but he is still ever present in our day-to-day modern lives. The word ‘panic’ comes directly from the feeling of unreasoning fear within humans and the sudden scattering or fleeing of animals, that was caused by Pan’s tremendous shouts when he was angered. Using this shout he helped the gods defeat an attack on Olympus by the Titans.
The Greek translation of Pan is ‘all’ which we still use as a prefix to words such as pansexual, pandemic, pantheon, panorama and pandemonium.
In music, the sound of Pan’s pipes has been depicted in symphonies, operas and songs. The most famous of these include the composer Claude Debussy’s piece “Syrinx” which was composed for solo flute players, and "The Great Gig in the Sky" by Pink Floyd who referenced the deity.
The book “Wind in the Willows” and the character Peter Pan of J.M. Barrie’s “The Little White Bird” all share elements and similarities to Pan and his mythology.
So, in a nutshell, that’s Pan. I love him dearly; he’s been a protector since my childhood and a constant presence in my life.
I want to end with some words of caution from the Greek philosopher Plato:
‘Hush now, O wooded hill of the Dryads!
Hush your leaping down from the rocks,
Ye fountains! Hush, myriad-bleating ewes!
For along his reeden pipe
Now Pan himself is sweeping his supple lip
To waken the sweet cry of the Muse;
And with feet untired for dancing,
About him gathered gleam
The Dryads from the forest,
The Naiads from the stream’