Witch Path Forward
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Introducing Rose >
      • Articles - Rose
    • Introducing Debi >
      • Articles - Debi
    • Introducing Sarah
    • WPF Founder pictures
    • Media Kit
    • FAQ
  • Our Offerings
    • Ask a Question >
      • Ask a Witch a question >
        • Ask a Witch
      • Ask a Healer a Question >
        • Ask a healer
      • Ask a Pagan Parent a question
      • Question Archive >
        • Questions 2018-2020
        • Questions 2015 - 2017
        • Questions 2012 -2015
    • Readings >
      • Email Tarot Reading
      • Email Rune Reading
      • Email Dream Reading
      • Dowsing Reading
    • The Elemenpals
    • The Spinney Online School
    • Resources >
      • Grimoire >
        • The Witches Rune
        • Sabbats >
          • Imbolc
          • Ostara
          • Beltane
          • Litha
          • Lammas
          • Mabon
          • Samhain
          • Yule
        • The Wiccan Rede
        • The Elements
        • Moon Calendar
        • Moon Phases
        • Correspondences >
          • Herbal Correspondences
          • Oil Correspondences
          • Colour Correspondences
          • Incense Correspondences
          • Crystal Correspondences >
            • Crystals A - B
            • Crystals C - D
            • Crystals E - G
            • Crystals H - K
            • Crystals L - M
            • Crystals N - Q
            • Crystals R - S
            • Crystals T - Z
          • Food correspondences
          • Tree Correspondences
          • Day Correspondences
          • Celestial Body Correspondances
        • Different types of Witchcraft >
          • Kitchen Witchery
          • Ceremonial
          • Green Witchcraft
          • Hedge Witchcraft
          • Christian Witchcraft
          • Eclectic Witchcraft
          • Other Paths
          • Hoodoo
        • Different Craft Paths >
          • Traditional Witchcraft
          • Asatru
          • Satanism
          • Druidism
          • Shamanism
          • Wicca
          • Kemetism
          • Hellenism
          • Neo/Paganism
        • Witchcraft on a budget >
          • Items you find in nature
          • Items you already own
          • Items you can acquire cheaply
          • Items you can make or craft yourself
        • Tools of a witch
        • Consumables of a witch
      • Healing >
        • Healing Paths
        • Subtle Anatomy
        • Healing Tools
      • Divination >
        • Runes >
          • Frey and Freja ætt
          • Heimdall and Mordgud ætt
          • Tiwaz and Zisa ætt
        • Tarot Cards >
          • Major Arcana
          • Pentacles
          • Cups
          • Swords
          • Wands
        • The Crystal Tarot
      • Blogs >
        • Journal
        • Guest Blogs
        • Reviews
      • Our Favourites >
        • Witch Blogs
        • Books and Forums
      • Glossary
  • For Fun!
    • Nature Photographs
    • Memes >
      • More Memes
    • Guestbook
  • Shop
  • Contact Us

Excerpt from "The Pregnant Goddess" by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

8/6/2020

1 Comment

 
Picture
Excerpted from The Pregnant Goddess by Arin Murphy-Hiscock. Copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used by permission of the publisher. All rights reserved.
 
Exploring the Triple Goddess

The triple-aspect concept is a purely human construct, used to help us organize our thoughts. One such classification is obvious: the Mother aspect of the Goddess is the one most clearly associated with pregnancy and motherhood. Goddesses of childbirth tend to also be Mother goddesses, which makes a certain amount of sense, although it is interesting to note that there are also selections of various cultural Maiden and Crone aspects who oversee pregnancy and childbirth. The Crone is experienced, has reached a point where she possibly has had several pregnancies herself, and has delivered others. The association of the Maiden aspect with pregnancy and childbirth is slightly more complex. In our modern society, we tend to assume that the term maiden means “virgin,” or sexually uninitiated, which can confuse contemporary women who expect a goddess associated with pregnancy or childbirth to have at least some firsthand experience of the process. In fact, the Maiden aspect refers more to the idea of a free young woman, beholden to no one and in control of her own life and destiny. Artemis of Greek myth is one such virgin figure who defends and protects women in childbirth. In some versions of her myth she is said to have assisted her mother, Leto, with the delivery of her twin brother, Apollo.
 
These three separate aspects of the Goddess can be problematic when you’re trying to figure out how you fit in. Each aspect possesses several levels and depths of meaning. Often, however, these multiple meanings and associations become overshadowed by the stereotype associated with the aspect.
 
Part of the mystery of the Goddess is that the three aspects are in fact defined by one another. The Mother is a mother as compared to the Crone and the Maiden; the Maiden is a younger woman as compared to the two older aspects. There are no clear-cut divisions between these aspects either. One does not cease being a Maiden at a defined moment or with a specific act. It can be argued that every woman holds all three aspects within herself, with one simply more prominent at any given time. Every woman’s personality and spirit reflect all three aspects simultaneously, and she can call upon any aspect to help her understand a situation or challenge.
None of these aspects are “good” or “bad.” Each aspect encompasses both dark and light. For example, the Mother teaches us to nurture, but an overabundance of nurturing leads to smothering a child’s independence as the mother clings. The natural love of a mother can turn to anger and resentment under certain conditions.
 
Remember: the triple aspect of the Goddess is a relatively modern concept, applied to the goddesses of other cultures in general by neo-pagans. It is by no means a universal formula.

1 Comment
Lesley-Anne Brewster
8/21/2020 06:45:19 am

Part of my family line comes from travelling people, and one of my granny's cousins said that she was told to attend a birth when she was around eleven years old, because that was the only way to find out the reality of it. I wonder how old that custom was.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Witch Path Forward's Guest Blog

    A space for people we respect and admire to have their voice.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed