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Triple goddess

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Image:Triple-Goddess-Waxing-Full-Waning-Symbol.png crescent.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|212px|Triple Goddess symbol, representing the three aspects of the moon (waxing [[crescent, full moon, waning crescent) and womankind (maiden, mother, crone)..html" title="Meaning of right|212px|Triple Goddess symbol, representing the three aspects of the moon (waxing [[crescent">thumb|right|212px|Triple Goddess symbol, representing the three aspects of the moon (waxing [[crescent, full moon, waning crescent) and womankind (maiden, mother, crone).">right|212px|Triple Goddess symbol, representing the three aspects of the moon (waxing [[crescent">thumb|right|212px|Triple Goddess symbol, representing the three aspects of the moon (waxing [[crescent, full moon, waning crescent) and womankind (maiden, mother, crone). Image:Triple-Spiral-Symbol.png triple spiral.html" title="Meaning of thumb thumb|right|212px|The [[triple spiral symbol..html" title="Meaning of right|212px|The [[triple spiral">thumb|right|212px|The [[triple spiral symbol.">right|212px|The [[triple spiral">thumb|right|212px|The [[triple spiral symbol. Image:Three-Crescents-Diane-Poitiers.png Diane de Poitiers thumb|right|212px|The three crescents emblem of [[Diane de Poitiers|Diana of Poitiers is occasionally also used..html" title="Meaning of Diana of Poitiers.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|212px|The three crescents emblem of [[Diane de Poitiers|Diana of Poitiers">thumb|right|212px|The three crescents emblem of [[Diane de Poitiers|Diana of Poitiers is occasionally also used.">Diana of Poitiers.html" title="Meaning of thumb|right|212px|The three crescents emblem of [[Diane de Poitiers|Diana of Poitiers">thumb|right|212px|The three crescents emblem of [[Diane de Poitiers|Diana of Poitiers is occasionally also used. Image:Triple-Goddess-Waxing-Full-Waning-Symbol-multicolored.png thumb|right|212px|The Triple Goddess symbol in symbolic colors Certain followers of the Wiccan, Dianic, and Neopagan religions, as well as some archeologists and mythographers, believe that long before the coming of the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, the '''Triple Goddess''' embodied the three-fold aspect of Gaia (mythology) Gaia, the Earth Mother (Roman Magna Mater). A mother goddess was worshipped under a variety of names not only in the Ancient Near East and the Aegean and Anatolia, but also in pre-Islamic Arabia. Descriptions of the relation between Greek Mythology and the Triple Goddess can be found in many of the myths translated in Robert Graves' anthology The Greek Myths and more cryptically and poetically in his book ''The White Goddess''. Graves' theories on the origins of the Greek myths are generally considered highly speculative. His book was also the first time the triple goddess was portrayed as Maiden, Mother and Crone.

Maiden, Mother and Crone
The three aspects of the goddess are The Maiden (Greek Persephone), pure and a representation of new beginnings; The Mother (Greek Demeter), wellspring of life, giving and compassionate; and The Crone (Greek Hecate) wise, knowing, a culmination of a lifetime of experience. These aspects may also represent the cycle of Life-death-rebirth deity birth, life and death (and rebirth). More than anything, though, Neopagans believe that this goddess is the personification of all women everywhere. Many Neopagans claim historical antecedent for their beliefs, with some even holding that in Old European culture Old Europe, in the Aegean civilization Aegean world, and in the most ancient Near East, the Triple Goddess preceded the coming of nomadic speakers of Indo-European languages. In South Arabia the moon-god Hubal was accompanied by the three goddesses, Uzza the youngest, al-Lat ("the Goddess") and Manat the crone, the three crane (bird) cranes. Wiccans often work with the Goddess in her triple form but may sometimes look at a particular goddess as Maiden, Mother and Crone even when there is no historical proof of this. An example of this would be the goddess Hecate, who was originally depicted as three maidens when in triplicate or as an old woman by herself in later times. Another example is the goddess Morrigan.

Maiden
The Maiden represents enchantment, inception, expansion, the female principle, the promise of new beginnings, youth, excitement, and a carefree erotic aura. Maiden goddesses include: Brigid, Nimue, Skuld (Norse Mythology) Skuld, Durga and others.

Mother (neopaganism) Mother
The Mother represents ripeness, fertility, fulfillment, stability, and power. Mother goddesses include: Aa, Ambika, Ceres, Astarte, Lakshmi, Verdandi and others

Crone
The Crone represents wisdom, repose, and compassion. Crone goddesses include: Hel (goddess) Hel, Maman Brigitte, Oya, Sedna (deity) Sedna, Urd (Norse mythology) Urd, Kali, and others.

Lunar imagery
In ''The White Goddess'', Graves said: ''"...the New Moon is the white goddess of birth and growth; the Full Moon, the red goddess of love and battle; the Old Moon, the black goddess of death and divination."''

Fates
Another cross-cultural archetype is the three goddesses of Fate. In Greek Mythology they are the Moirai; in Norse mythology they are the Norns. The Weird Sisters of Shakespeare's ''Macbeth'' and Wyrd Sisters of Terry Pratchett's novel of the same name are believed to be inspired by these Fates. Characters of The Sandman#The Three The three supernatural female figures called variously the Ladies, Mother of the Camenae, the Kindly Ones, and a number of other different names in ''The Sandman (DC Comics Modern Age) The Sandman'' graphic novels by Neil Gaiman play self-consciously on both the triple Fates and the Maiden-Mother-Crone goddess archetypes.

Other trifold goddesses
These goddesses may not fit into any distinctive archetype, but may be sisters. *Brigid *the Furies *the Zorya

See also
*Goddess *Goddess movement *Triforce

External links

- Definition of the three aspects of the Triple Goddess Category:Goddesses Category:Neopaganism Category:Triune Gods see Triple Goddess

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