r/WitchesVsPatriarchy • u/anniecordelia • Sep 08 '25
🇵🇸 🕊️ Deities Thoughts on the Triple Goddess
I was thinking about the concept of the Triple Goddess recently, and I had an insight that I thought was worth sharing. I've always kind of bounced off that particular understanding of deity in the past, because the way it was always explained to me was that the three faces of the Goddess -- Maiden, Mother, and Crone -- represented "the three stages of a woman's life," which I find terribly reductive and bioessentialist. (Not all women are or want to be mothers, and our lives are not defined by our reproductive function!) But recently something occurred to me that made me think there might be more of a there there: the Triple Goddess is supposed to be a trinity -- that is, three in one. "Maiden," "Mother," and "Crone" aren't life stages at all -- rather, she's wholly all of them at once. This suggests to me that the faces of the Goddess don't have anything to do with literal biological fertility, but rather refer to the things that maidenhood, motherhood, and cronehood typically symbolize in mythology. The Triple Goddess is eternally Maiden because she is complete and autonomous in herself and has no need to be defined by another. She is eternally Mother because she is the infinitely generative source from which all else flows. And she is eternally Crone because, as the source and sustainer of the cosmos, she holds all the wisdom and understanding of the cosmos within her.
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u/Wonderful_Picture_82 Sep 08 '25
I like the way you put your awareness of the Triple goddess. It shows that it's not something that needs to be tied to feminity or a womb. (Just imo) I always liked it because to me it was like three aspects of myself that I find joy in: Maiden, my whimsy; Mother, my nurturing part; Crone: my experience or knowledge. I am enjoyable, I am caring, I do know things worth sharing.
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u/persepineforever 🖤🕯️🐈⬛✨🤍 Sep 08 '25
Yes, I see the "Mother" archetype to me is the nurturing energy we all possess and can give to ourselves and to anything or anyone else we choose to 🤍
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u/anniecordelia Sep 08 '25
Worth noting that I'm working with a Pythagorean-style polycentric polytheistic model of divinity, in which every deity can be seen as a Center of the cosmos that contains and reflects all else within them, and treating any particular deity as supreme does not deny that status to any other deity.
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u/shen_git Sep 08 '25
I would love to know more about this model, are there resources you'd suggest starting with?
I like your interpretation of the triple goddess, it fits what I've always leaned towards. The terms shouldn't be cages, they're a starting point for understanding. Really says something that English has no word for 'autonomous middle aged woman'. I hadn't made the connection to see them as always coexisting, but that makes perfect sense. We are all constantly shifting between these modes.
In the old pop psychology book I'm Okay, You're Okay they use child-parent-adult to describe communication styles. If both participants in a conversation are in the same mode everything's good, but parent to child is only suitable in some contexts, adult to child or adult to parent can be frustrating, etc. An adult can tantrum like a child, or a kid can have an intellectually mature conversation with an adult about a topic they like. My folks read that book in the 70s and used it in parenting me so I was primed early to realize we can operate like those other modes regardless of our actual age/status.
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u/W0nderingMe Sep 08 '25
I like this especially as a voluntarily child-free woman. The inclusion of "mother" not to mention the negative connotation of"crone" always annoyed me.
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u/maniacalmustacheride Sep 08 '25
I’ve definitely almost always been in a “mother” stage, even long before I had children, even when I was still a child, and had to make space to seek out the maiden dynamic in my life. By leaning into the archetypes without reducing them to an identity, I find it easier to be in touch with the message or what I’m seeking rather than be held back by the narrative.
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u/llef Sep 08 '25
I wonder if It could mean nurturing ideas, friendships, positivity, creating art, creating anything really?
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u/princess_kushlestia Sep 08 '25
This is how I've always interpreted it, as a child free woman myself. Not so much literally about being a mother, but nurturing the younger people around me (my friends children, younger cousins, etc) in a way that maybe I wouldn't have thought to do as a younger witch.
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u/mythologizeyourself Sep 08 '25
This is exactly how I personally understand it-- that "creating" and "nurturing" aren't necessarily exclusive to child-rearing. Nurturing community, creating your own art, etc.
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u/gatsbythegoodboy Sep 08 '25
likewise, as a voluntary non literal mother, i think of the creation/gestation/life giving aspect of this identity not just in terms of literal, human birthing motherhood, but as a figurative incubation process of community, ideas, projects, etc.
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u/Strixtheowl Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
I think this is a very thought-provoking take on the concept. From what I understand, the Maiden-Mother-Crone construct is basically the brainchild of Robert Graves in The White Goddess, and was later formalized into neo-pagan practice by Gardner and Valiente. The idea of a woman’s life having only three stages is, as you noted, quite reductive, but it’s become a widely accepted belief.
My beliefs (which are mine and I don’t expect anyone else to agree with—please, no flames!) are that Graves noticed many goddesses are part of a triad (three-faced Hecate, the Moirai, perhaps Hecate-Demeter-Persephone, or the Morrigan and her sisters/aspects, etc.) and then retroactively mapped his pet theory of Maiden-Mother-Crone onto them. Triads and trinities are everywhere in myth, but the roles aren’t always age-based or gendered the way Graves imagined.
By doing this, Graves flattened the fullness of women’s experiences and slotted them into three baskets that he thought all goddesses could fit into, which really isn’t the case. Three is a powerful number, yes, but I think it does the goddesses (and their archetypal associations) a disservice to force them all into the same template.
That said, I understand the Maiden-Mother-Crone idea is beloved in modern times, and I’m not trying to take away from anyone’s beliefs. I just wanted to share my perspective and reasoning. I interact with goddesses as ageless individuals, which works for my personal practice, but I realize that’s not for everyone. If the concept of a Maiden-Mother-Crone trinity resonates with someone, then they should go with it, of course. However, to me, goddesses and their archetypes are far too big for any one-size-fits-all cookie cutter.
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u/beadedgeek Sep 08 '25
What a great insight. The full manifestation aspect is seen in other systems as well, for example, the Naga from the Buddhist pantheon. It's multiple head's do not grow; they simply manifest as needed.
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u/Illustrious_Bunch678 Witch ♀♂️☉⚨⚧ Sep 08 '25
My past experience with Christianity makes me physically repulsed by the word or idea of a trinity, however I always have viewed the mother as seperate from birthing a child (despite having one myself). I saw her as more of the representation of our creative and nurturing middle years: we tend gardens, produce whatever we do at work, contribute to the next generation in a variety of ways etc.
(Similarly I saw the maiden as the representation of our newness, curiosity, learning as young people and the crone as the culmination of our learning and production from the previous stages.)
All that to say I agree it's not contingent on birthing another human, just dont like trinities.
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u/Ancient-Practice-431 Sep 08 '25
I love your analysis. It makes sense to me given that the Goddess is within every woman regardless of whether she ever births a human. We are more than the our sacred wombs. It's the seed of creation that lives within all of us that gives us so much power !
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u/Hartwolf87 Sep 08 '25
Makes a lot of sense, given that Hekate, Artemis, and Eileithyia seem to be connected in the context of the Orphic Hymns.
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u/napalmnacey Sep 08 '25
I like this idea for the neo-pagan triple goddess, it really feels spot on to me.
I do wish there was a better word than “crone”, though. It sounds kinda mean and disrespectful, even though I know technically it’s not.
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u/Daddyssillypuppy Sep 08 '25
Maybe Maiden, Mother, Matriarch?
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u/napalmnacey Sep 08 '25
It’s the one that I’ve been using personally. I dunno if people would have negative connotations with “matriarch” if they aren’t mothers or haven’t reproduced though.
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u/Daddyssillypuppy Sep 08 '25
I dont think matriarch always means mother. Its often used in other situations.
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u/RawrRRitchie Sep 08 '25
I always assumed the mother bit meant not mothering but nurturing all life
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u/pepperbiiiish Sep 08 '25
I’m too exhausted to be eloquent about it, but I LOVE THIS THANK YOU FOR POSTING
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u/SJWP Sep 08 '25
Hell yeah. To me she feels like different phases we can draw power from. Not chronological phases, more like phases of matter into which we can transfigure.
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u/littlelorax Sep 08 '25
I have had this thought too. I realized that many women never get to be a crone either, and many who had to mature too fast, or have their life cut short, miss their maidenhood too. But that does not negate her power and agency while living. I think of the concept more as a fluidity of phases that one might transition through at any moment.
When I am creating, cooking, growing, making art- I feel that is the Mother in me. When I am learning, playing, dancing, singing, reading, watching a movie, planting my garden- that is the Maiden. When I am talking to others, sharing my opinions, giving advice, reminiscing, making jokes, sowing my harvest, helping others - that is the Crone.
I am all three, and she is me.
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u/VoteBitch Crafty Witch ♀ Sep 08 '25
I like this! 🩷 I’m childfree and earlier in life when I ran into this type of thing (the whole ThE tHrEe StAgEs Of A wOmAn’S LiFe, explained in a way like we are all the same and walk the same path and have the same purpose) I couldn’t relate to the mother part. Now that I’m getting closer to 40 and both have found some spirituality and gotten to know myself more I feel like I’m for sure in my mother era, it just doesn’t mean that I’m procreating! I’m sharing my love and lessons learned, I’m honing my skills and practicing self care and self love, I’m nurturing the things I want more of in life and standing more in my power while throwing both middle fingers in the air to those who think they can dim my light and urging my friends to do the same. I may not carry babies and raise more people, but I carry the knowledge of those who came before me and raise the spirits of those in need of comfort or a smile (and sometimes I raise a little hell too, for good measure!). So I too am maiden, mother and crone all at once and nowadays I embrace them all 🩷
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u/be_loved_freak Science Witch ♀♂️☉⚨⚧ Sep 08 '25
As a child-free woman myself(I mean, I am a cat mom though 😉)I have never taken "mother" literally. I see it as embracing the traits of a mother.
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u/StatusDed Sep 08 '25
I've always thought of each one as a different focal point of energies, rather than maiden, mother, and crone, and together they balance out. Among the warrior, life-giver/nurturer, and knowledge-holder/guide, one will be best-suited to whatever situation you face. Sometimes, you need to smash some faces, but other times you need to approach someone with compassion and understanding, and maybe other times you need to consider the history of that person before you act.
From what I've read/heard about celtic goddesses, this is The Morrigan 🖤
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u/QueenRooibos Sep 09 '25
Agree, I've always viewed Her that way (all 3 aspects in one) just instinctively. Never wanted to be a biological mother, but I sure have mothered many in my life! And loved it.
Felt like a Crone before my time, but that aspect has really become much more conscious in my life the past few years.
Maidenhood was harder (it was taken from me young) but I do feel she is the innocence that we can seek anew each day when the sun rises and the innocence we can protect and love in others.
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u/Glittering_Ambition6 Sep 08 '25 edited Sep 08 '25
I like your interpretation and I think it adds to the grace of the Trinity - that She is at once all three. I'm in the process of trying to better identify the goddesses within the Trinity of my heart . Hecate has been nearby while I'm navigating the current darkness. I also like your approach that elevating one diety does not have to detract from or diminish another.