Post by Mysti on Aug 11, 2007 12:10:52 GMT -5
The Triple Goddess
The theme of the Triple Goddess is found in the mythology of all lands. She is Maid, Mother and Crone; Enchantment, Ripeness and Wisdom; the waxing, full and waning Moon.
Behold the three-formed Goddess;
She who is ever three - Maid, Mother, and Crone.
Yet is she ever one;
She in all Women, and they all in Her.
Look on these three, who are one, with a fearless love, that you, too, may be whole.
The nature of the three aspects that make up the Triple Goddess:
First, THE MAID. She is Enchantment, the bright magic of the female principle, the fresh light of dawn that sweeps away weariness with the promise of new beginnings.
She is the adventurous young flame that banishes indifference and leapfrogs obstacles, the lively curiosity that blows the dust off stale knowledge and gives it new perspectives. She is springtime, the first daffodil, the hatching egg. She is excitement, she is the carefree erotic aura that sets men and gods preening themselves. She is unselfconsciousness in a mini-skirt. The huntress, running free through the woods in pursuit of her quarry with her hounds beside her. She is danger if abused; she is joy itself if respected. Her traditional colour is white.
Second, THE MOTHER. She is Ripeness; she moulds life within the womb, gives birth to it, nourishes it, teaches it and slaps its bottom when necessary. She is mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically full-blooded and powerful. She may give open advice or exert shrewd influence which is unnoticed at the time but which achieves its ends. The male principle is both her husband and her child. As mate, she does not tantalize, which the Maid may sometimes do; she will restrain him if the time is not ripe - or if it is, she will give all, transmuting him to gold in the furnace of her love, just as she transmutes his seed into new life. Against anything which threatens what she loves, she is merciless and terrible. And when she destroys the outworn, or whatever impedes the development of that which she loves, she may seem merciless. But that is only in the eyes of those who do not understand her (which sometimes include those whom she loves). She is fertility itself - yet her fecundity, which appears unbounded, is not blind or aimless; it has an overall balance, a symphonic richness, which tunnel vision cannot perceive. It is that overall balance which determines her actions; ephemeral standards of morality or equity, believed eternal by those who hold them, mean nothing to her. Her traditional colour is red.
Lastly, THE CRONE. She is Wisdom, the Jeweled Hag.
She has seen it all; she has compassion for it all, but a compassion undistorted by illusion or sentimentality.
Her wisdom is much wider than intellectual knowledge, though it includes intellect and does not despise it.
Maid and Mother live within her as stored experience, and she within them as potential. (In this sense, the Three are Nine; for each contains all three, though with her own characteristic emphasis.) When called for, the Crone is baby-sitter for the Mother, and chaperon for the Maid, keeping a shrewd eye on both and maintaining the overall balance. To the male aspect she is a steadying influence, and an enriching one if he listens to her; she adds another dimension to his linear-logical thinking and prevents it getting the bits between its teeth. Like the other two, she is Love, but hers is a calm understanding love, complementing the heady love of the Maid and the incandescent love of the Mother.
She too can seem terrible, because she is the gateway to Death.
But she is also the Psychopompos who guides us through it, pointing the way to the new life where she will again be all the Three. Her traditional colour is black.
And now comes the mental leap, the key to understanding. Contemplate each of these aspects in all is complexity, and then try to hold all three in your awareness at once. Realize that the whole spectrum, with its shifting colours, is the one glowing rainbow. To pursue the analogy further - red/orange for the Mother, yellow/green for the Maid, and blue/indigo/violet for the Crone. (Think of that next time you see a rainbow.) Which wave length predominates for you at any one moment depends on your own tuning. But make the effort to grasp the whole rainbow, and you are face to face with the manifold Goddess herself. You are also face to face with Woman, the manifested feminine principle.
The theme of the Triple Goddess is found in the mythology of all lands. She is Maid, Mother and Crone; Enchantment, Ripeness and Wisdom; the waxing, full and waning Moon.
Behold the three-formed Goddess;
She who is ever three - Maid, Mother, and Crone.
Yet is she ever one;
She in all Women, and they all in Her.
Look on these three, who are one, with a fearless love, that you, too, may be whole.
The nature of the three aspects that make up the Triple Goddess:
First, THE MAID. She is Enchantment, the bright magic of the female principle, the fresh light of dawn that sweeps away weariness with the promise of new beginnings.
She is the adventurous young flame that banishes indifference and leapfrogs obstacles, the lively curiosity that blows the dust off stale knowledge and gives it new perspectives. She is springtime, the first daffodil, the hatching egg. She is excitement, she is the carefree erotic aura that sets men and gods preening themselves. She is unselfconsciousness in a mini-skirt. The huntress, running free through the woods in pursuit of her quarry with her hounds beside her. She is danger if abused; she is joy itself if respected. Her traditional colour is white.
Second, THE MOTHER. She is Ripeness; she moulds life within the womb, gives birth to it, nourishes it, teaches it and slaps its bottom when necessary. She is mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically full-blooded and powerful. She may give open advice or exert shrewd influence which is unnoticed at the time but which achieves its ends. The male principle is both her husband and her child. As mate, she does not tantalize, which the Maid may sometimes do; she will restrain him if the time is not ripe - or if it is, she will give all, transmuting him to gold in the furnace of her love, just as she transmutes his seed into new life. Against anything which threatens what she loves, she is merciless and terrible. And when she destroys the outworn, or whatever impedes the development of that which she loves, she may seem merciless. But that is only in the eyes of those who do not understand her (which sometimes include those whom she loves). She is fertility itself - yet her fecundity, which appears unbounded, is not blind or aimless; it has an overall balance, a symphonic richness, which tunnel vision cannot perceive. It is that overall balance which determines her actions; ephemeral standards of morality or equity, believed eternal by those who hold them, mean nothing to her. Her traditional colour is red.
Lastly, THE CRONE. She is Wisdom, the Jeweled Hag.
She has seen it all; she has compassion for it all, but a compassion undistorted by illusion or sentimentality.
Her wisdom is much wider than intellectual knowledge, though it includes intellect and does not despise it.
Maid and Mother live within her as stored experience, and she within them as potential. (In this sense, the Three are Nine; for each contains all three, though with her own characteristic emphasis.) When called for, the Crone is baby-sitter for the Mother, and chaperon for the Maid, keeping a shrewd eye on both and maintaining the overall balance. To the male aspect she is a steadying influence, and an enriching one if he listens to her; she adds another dimension to his linear-logical thinking and prevents it getting the bits between its teeth. Like the other two, she is Love, but hers is a calm understanding love, complementing the heady love of the Maid and the incandescent love of the Mother.
She too can seem terrible, because she is the gateway to Death.
But she is also the Psychopompos who guides us through it, pointing the way to the new life where she will again be all the Three. Her traditional colour is black.
And now comes the mental leap, the key to understanding. Contemplate each of these aspects in all is complexity, and then try to hold all three in your awareness at once. Realize that the whole spectrum, with its shifting colours, is the one glowing rainbow. To pursue the analogy further - red/orange for the Mother, yellow/green for the Maid, and blue/indigo/violet for the Crone. (Think of that next time you see a rainbow.) Which wave length predominates for you at any one moment depends on your own tuning. But make the effort to grasp the whole rainbow, and you are face to face with the manifold Goddess herself. You are also face to face with Woman, the manifested feminine principle.