" As Above, so below; As within, so without."
This statement means, we as witches acknowledge that what is outside of ourselves is the manifestation of what is inside, and what is inside is a result of the outside. In a sense that means that if the archetypes we see as deity live within us they must live outside as well, We are all part of the universe and if we say the Gods are fiction, we are basically saying we are fiction as well. The thought of Male deity is that all Gods are one God, and we do not hold one God over another.
There are two concepts of the God, Death and rebirth unlike the Goddess who is ever present only her aspects change, the God under goes the sacrifice and the resurrection during the cycle of the years. In almost every religious tradition this concept is found, with Christ and Osiris both were born, sacrificed, and resurrected. Death and Rebirth during the waxing and waning cycles of the year are aspects of the God. The Holly King and the Oak King are the Light and Dark of the year, each is fighting for the favor of the Great Mother and when each is at the peak of there half year reign,, one sacrificially paired with the Goddess and then dies in her arms and is resurrected in the opposite aspect to complete his ruler ship.
Now comes the tricky part of the Great God of the Hunt or the Horned God which is a fertility God, but he is the Oak King and the Holly King the fertility of the year and the Light and Dark of the year; all create one God_ remember all Gods are one God. The Horn God never left he just has other aspects that are required for the cycle of the year. During certain seasons the Goddess is more powerful in her Reign and the sacrificial aspect of the God more vulnerable, all for the purpose of the resurrection aspect of the God. and the fertility aspect of the God mates with the Goddess to be reborn. I composed a simple formula to help my students understand:
Sacrificial Aspect + mating + plus the Great Mother = The resurrection Aspect = the new Reign of the year.
The most important role of the God is the fact that he is the consort of the Goddess.