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(Number 350)
The Threefold Goddess
To understand the concept of Goddess requires more than the ability
to visualize God as a woman. The Goddess concept is built around the
myth and mystery of the relationship between God and Goddess, and
beneath that, and part of it, Her Threefold Aspect ...
Maiden, Mother and Crone.
One of the oldest recognized Goddess forms is the first Greek
Goddess - Gaia, the Earth Mother; the Universal Womb; Mother of All.
The most ancient Goddesses were most often Earth and Mother
Goddesses. The were worshipped and revered as bearers of life ...
fat, healthy, pregnant and fruitful. As the Goddess concept
developed, then came the Harvest Goddesses, who were also Earth
Goddesses. Understand that this was a time when people did not even
understand the basic mechanics of procreation. Life was very sacred
and mystical indeed!
Gradually, myth and mystery developed and revealed themselves,
creating the legend, which we honor, in the modern Wicca Craft.
We recognize the Goddess as the mother of all, including her Mighty
Consort, the God. To Her he is Lover and Son, and together they form
the Ultimate, the Omniverse, the Dragon, the Mystery.
Now that is a pretty tough concept all things considered. Especially
in our society as it sounds rather incestuous. From a mundane
perspective, it gets worse as the Wheel of the Year Turns, and the
Oak and Holly Kings battle ... eternal rivals and sacrificial mates.
In the paragraphs that follow, we will explore the Goddess foundation
concepts and try to reach an understanding of the basis of the
Mystery.
I don't want to get off into all the names of all the Goddesses in
all the mythology in all of history. While that is certainly a noble
endeavor, it is not the objective here. What I do want to do is look
at the Goddess, in whole and in part, and see just who and what She
is.
First and foremost, the Goddess is the symbol of the Cycle of
Everlasting. She is constant, ever present, ever changing, and yet
always the same. She could be compared in that respect to the
oceans.
As a part of that, she is that from which we have come, and to which
we will return. She is the Universal Mother, the Cosmic Womb. While
those are largely symbolic images, as opposed to literal ones, they
are important to bear in mind about any aspect of the Goddess. She
never harms, She is Mother.
One of the most difficult throwback mentalities to dispel in a
student is the difference between "dark and light" and "bad and
good".
Societally, and often religiously, we are trained to see bad and dark
and evil as being the same. Hence, we are also taught to hate and
fear our own mortality. All too often I see practicing Wiccans, who
ought to "know" better, fall back on these concepts when trying to
explain or understand a concept.
The Goddess is dark, she is light, she is birth, she is death, and
she rejoices in all things. With death comes joy, for with death
comes renewal. With life comes joy, for with life comes promise.
With growth comes joy for with growth comes wisdom. Sorrow and fear
are not a part of her, not the way we feel those emotions. She is
incapable of sorrow without joy, she fears nothing, because fear is
not real. It is a creation of the mind.
Whether you see the Goddess as a Warrior Queen, or like the Good
Witch of the North in the Wizard of Oz, She is the Goddess. And She
has many parts and facets which defy comprehension as "One". She
simply IS, and in that, can be whatever you need her to be in order
to establish a relationship with Her. But none of that changes what
She IS.
"I greet thee in the many names of the Threefold Goddess and Her
Mighty Consort. Athe, malkuth, ve-guburah, ve-gedulah, le-olam.
Blessed Be."
So here, at the Circle Door, greeted by the High Priest or Priestess
we first see mentioned the Threefold Goddess. Full-sized covens have
three priestesses who take the specific roles of Maiden, Mother and
Crone, the High Priestess being Mother.
The Threefold Goddess however is NOT three entities, She is one.
Her aspects represent Enchantment, Ripeness and Wisdom.
Taking first things first is usually best, so we shall start with a
look at one side of the Maiden.
Quoting "The Myth of the Goddess" as found in Gardenarian Wicca
(Gerald B. Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, Aquarian Press,
London, 1959.): I will offer the rather cut down version here to
save space.
Now The Goddess, (may Goddesses names have appeared here, from Aradia
to the Greek mythological Goddesses) had never loved, but She would
solve all the Mysteries, even the Mystery of Death; and so She
journeyed to the Nether Lands, (some say the realms of hell or
death).
The Guardian(s) of the Portals, (some say the God of this Otherworld,
sometime the Horned One or simply the Dread Lord of Shadows)
challenged her, "Strip off thy garments, lay aside thy jewels; for
naught mayest ye bring with thee into this our land."
So She laid down Her garments and Her jewels and was bound, as were
all who enter the Realms of Death the Mighty One. Such was Her
beauty that Death himself knelt and kissed Her feet, saying, "Blessed
by thy feet that have brought thee in these ways. Abide with me, let
me place my cold hand on thy heart." She replied "I love thee not.
Why dost thou cause all things that I love and take delight in to
fade and die?"
"Lady," replied Death, "it is Age and Fate, against which I am
helpless. Age causes all things to wither, but when men die at the
end of time I give them rest and peace, and strength so that they may
return. But thou, thou art lovely. Return not; abide with me."
But She answered, "I love thee not."
Then said Death, "An' thou receive not my hand on thy heart thou must
receive Death's scourge."
"It is Fate; better so", She said, and she knelt, and Death scourged
Her and she cried "I feel the pangs of love."
And Death said, "Blessed be" and gave Her the Fivefold Kiss,
saying, "Thus only may ye attain joy and knowledge."
And he taught Her all the Mysteries. And they loved and were one,
and he taught Her all the Magicks.
For there are three great events in the life of Man: Love, Death and
Resurrection in a new body, and Magick controls them all. For to
fulfill love you must return again at the same time and place as the
loved one, and you must remember and love them again. But to be
reborn you must die, and be ready for a new body; and to die you must
be born; and without love you may not be born. And these be all the
Magicks.
So there in the Gardnerian Myth of the Goddess we have her Maiden
aspect, seeking, searching and opening Herself to the mysteries. But
it is well to remember that the Goddess Herself is a mystery, and the
primary gift of the Goddess is intuitive Wisdom.
Beltaine (Bealtain) is the only Sabbat where the Goddess is entirely
devoted to the Maiden. Here, She revels in the enchantment, in the
joy of coming into fullness and mating with the God. Here, She is
maiden bride and we can most easily understand that facet of the
Maiden aspect. I should probably note here that some see this
festival as maiden turning into mother, with the maiden being in full
at Candlemas.
Youth, newness, innocence and beauty are fundamental facets of the
Maiden aspect. But beneath those are seeking, and love, and love of
seeking. There is more to understand of the Maiden though.
Enchantment does not end with maidenhood, it is simply the beginning
of the Mystery of Life, for that, above all, is what the Goddess
stands for.
In Circle, in the Balanced Universe, the Maiden takes her place in
the East. In examining this most comfortable quarter, you learn more
about the Maiden Aspect. East (Air) rules the free mind and
intellect. It is the place to seek the ability to learn and to open
spiritually, to open your mind and find answers. It is a masculine
quarter, ruled by intellect, and analytical logic, but She brings to
it an intuition, which is required to use these to best advantage.
"The river is flowing, flowing and growing, the river is flowing back
to the sea. Mother carry me, a child I will always be. Mother carry
me, back to the sea."
This Circle chant, sung in joy, sung in sorrow, is a cry to the
Mother Aspect for comfort and warmth, a power chant calling upon the
steady power and fullness of the Mother and a plea for guidance.
While the Earth Mother, and the fully aspected Goddess are placed
North in the Earth quarter, the Mother aspect alone belongs in the
west.
Comfort and love rule here. Emotions, sorrow, joy, tears, these
belong to the ripeness of the Mother. Caring and loving for all her
children, watching in pain and pride as they struggle to gain their
own, knowing full well She could reach out and do it for them, but
being both bound and desirous to let them do it for themselves.
There is a considerable difference, as you might have interpreted
from the above, between the Earth Mother and the Mother Aspect of the
Goddess. That is why we've started with Her quarter, because it
reveals the limitations of the Aspect.
The Mother aspect is ripeness, the ancient bearing of fruit, child
and grain. She represents emotion and sexuality. The Goddess in
that aspect is most of the altar (as discussed in the Great Rite
lesson.) It is interesting to note the practice in numerous ancient
cultures of lovemaking or outright sex magick in cornfields to help
make the corn grow.
The Dark Mother should also be placed here, although culturally, I
have a tendency to think of the Dark Mother as more in keeping the
Crone Aspect. It is a bit of work to see the Dark Mother in the
West, to separate Dark Mother from Crone, but it is worthwhile. If
you have any background with the tarot I would suggest you take it in
that context, it is beyond the scope of this text.
Our exploration of the Goddess and Her Aspects brings us now to the
Crone. For me, the Crone is the most fascinating of the Aspects of
the Goddess. Partly I suppose because She is the most mysterious and
paradoxical.
"Blessed Goddess, old and wise, open mine, thy child's, eyes. Speak
to me in whispered tones that I may know the rune of Crones."
With life and growth comes age and wisdom, and the Crone is this in
part. She holds fire and power, which wisely used can be of great
benefit, but hold great danger for the unaware. Hers are the secrets
of death and of life, and the mystery beyond the mystery.
Part of the pleasure in knowing the Crone aspect is that while,
unlike the fully aspected Goddess, She is not also Maiden and Mother,
She does retain the experiences of both those Aspects in order to be
Crone. The Crone, wizened though She is, must still be able to reach
into Herself and recall the innocent joys and high passions of the
Maiden and the love and warmth of the Mother. To be Crone and to not
have forgotten, to still be able to experience Maiden and Mother is,
to me, very appealing. More importantly, to be comfortable in that
Aspect, where you have truth and knowledge but have left youth and
physical beauty behind, and to still `feel' youth and beauty without
being desirous of them is an admirable quality.
Crone is the least paralleled Aspect of the Goddess to our human
society. We discard our old and wise, not understanding their value
as teachers and models, and fearing their appearance as a reminder of
our own mortality.
Knowing Crone is a door we must each open for ourselves for to know
and love Her is to cast aside a great many of our cultural and
societal malteachings.
While the individual Aspects of Threefold Goddess are certainly valid
concepts and paths to knowing Goddess, I should caution that most
mythological Goddess figures are composite Goddesses. Earth Mother
Goddess figures are fully aspected Goddess by definition because they
represent the full cycle of the Wheel. Most other Goddess figures
can be classified as having a dominant (or operative) aspect and
recessive (promised, or in some cases past) aspect. Future and past
should not be taken literally, mythological Goddess figures are
always whatever they are eternally; they do not tend to change (ie.,
age).
Maiden Goddesses possessing their operative in the Huntress or
Warrior aspects most often have a promise of Crone. Maiden Goddesses
expressing their dominance in beauty and/or love usually have their
recessive aspect as Mother. For example, Athena is a Maiden Goddess
with Crone attributes (the combination produces many Mother-type
qualities, and this results in the Crone aspected Maiden being the
most complete of the Mythological Goddesses, with the exception of
Earth Mother Goddesses.) Aphrodite is of course a Maiden Goddess with
Mother attributes.
Similarly, Dark Mother Goddess figures mostly find their promise in
Crone and Light Mother figures their recessive in Maiden. Crone
recessives work the same way, although sometimes it takes a bit of
close examination to find the "hidden" aspect.
One should note that this is not a formula, rather a tool to assist
in examining and understanding Goddess figures and creating one's own
personal spiritual link with Goddess. It is also a useful
consideration when invoking a specific Goddess with purpose in ritual.
The purpose of this simple posting has been to open avenues of
approach in discovering and developing a relationship with Goddess.
For me personally, I do not "believe" in the reality of mythological
Goddess figures as they were presented, but I do believe they are a
valid way to establish communication with Goddess.
I also believe Goddess will appear in whatever form we are most ready
to accept. The real Goddess, perhaps by my belief and changes as
times passes (and this is personal, not trad) is an entity beyond my
comprehension, most assuredly unlike anything I could ever imagine in
true form.
Whether brought about by myself and my inner being, or whether
actually raised in different dimensions and brought to light through
portals of incomprehensible aspects and seen as doors to Otherworlds.
Perhaps She is a force; a presence of power that cannot be understood
by our conscious mind, but knowable from deep within and the
unconscious tracks that lead to the other sides. However, I do find
mythological Goddess figures highly useful for ritual, and of some
help in my personal relationship with Goddess. I can also find great
joy in looking up at the Moon and feeling Her presence and though
that; a union of Her peace and I hope you can too. May the peace of
the Goddess be ever in your heart – Merry Meet….
Blessed Be
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