Gods & Goddesses

Good God!: Cronus

Cronus was the youngest of the 12 Titans – Greek deities who ruled the world before Zeus. 

The primordial deities Uranus (Father Sky) and Gaia (Mother Earth) were his parents. Uranus prevented all his children from leaving Gaia’s womb. The mother begged her children to do something. All but Cronus were too afraid to act. He escaped Gaia’s womb and used a stone sickle she gave him to castrate his father. He threw the testicles into the sea and it’s said Aphrodite arose from the white foam while blood dripping from Uranus created the Gigantes (giants), Erinyes (furies), and Meliae (nymphs). 

Cronus freed most of his siblings and took his sister, Rhea, as his wife. Together they became king and queen, ruling the universe during the Golden Age of man, a period of harmony, prosperity, and bliss. 

Because he seized power from his father, Cronus feared a prophecy that predicted his son would overthrow him. To prevent that, he swallowed his children as soon as they were born. Rhea was able to hide baby Zeus on the island of Crete and fed Cronus a stone wrapped like a baby. As an adult, Zeus forced his father to cough up his siblings. According to one legend, after his defeat, Cronus was made king of Elysium, an eternal paradise for heroes and others the granted immortality by the gods. 

Before the Olympians arrived, it was not practice to build temples to worship the Greek gods. Cronus did appear in some art as an older man carrying the instrument used to castrate his father. 

According to newworldencyclopedia.org, “In Athens, on the twelfth day of the Athenian month of Hekatombaion, a festival called Kronia was held in honor of Cronus. The nature of the festival was decidedly agrarian, as it occurred after the final grain harvest…” thus Cronus was considered the god of agriculture. During this celebration social mores were suspended, and in some cases, masters would serve their slaves who were allowed to participate in the festivities. Some neopagans still celebrate this festival. 

The Romans knew him as Saturn, who was the god of time along with many other things. Cronus, too, is associated with time, cycles, and the inevitable of change so you could turn to him for help with time management, transition, and issues around aging and mortality.

Grain, bread, fruit, wine, and representation of the harvest are appropriate offerings when honoring Cronus. A sickle and representations of the harvest could be used to symbolize him.

About the author:
As an eclectic solitary practitioner, I travel the country in a converted school bus and share magick with those I meet. Find me at https://thewitchonwheels.com/ and on Facebook.