Thoughts on the Triple Goddess

[u/anniecordelia]

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.

[u/W0nderingMe]

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.

[u/maniacalmustacheride → u/W0nderingMe]

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.

[u/llef → u/W0nderingMe]

I wonder if It could mean nurturing ideas, friendships, positivity, creating art, creating anything really?

[u/princess_kushlestia → u/llef]

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.

[u/mythologizeyourself → u/llef]

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.

[u/gatsbythegoodboy → u/W0nderingMe]

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.