THE GODDESS
She is the Earth Mother and Mistress of Magic; she is
all that is beauty and bounty. What the God
inaugurates, the Goddess realizes. He impregnates her
with the seed of desire and she gives birth to
reality.
The Goddess is the intuitive and instinctive side of
nature. Her inconceivable powers of transition and
transformation radiate like translucent beams of
celestial light, for she is the mystery and magic.
Beneath her full, round moon she has been, and still
is, invoked as Arianrhod, Diana, and Hecate by those
seeking her favors. Everything psychic and mysterious
belongs to her alone.
THE MOON GODDESS
It was the moon that lit the way for early humans.
The moon glowed in the night sky. Its light helped
guide hunters, warriors, and travelers safely through
the dark and back to their tribes.
As our ancestors looked to the heavens, they saw how
the moon waxed and waned, how night turned into day,
spring into summer, and summer into winter. They saw
the seas ebb and flow, plants bring forth grain, and
life burst forth from the womb. Everything in nature
seemed to move in harmony with the phases of the moon,
including the women's menstrual cycles and pregnancy.
The Great Goddess worshipped in Old Europe became
equated with the moon, in whose divine light she was
reflected. As the moon waxed and waned, so did the
inherent power of the Goddess.
The waxing moon was perceived as teh Maiden aspect of
the goddess, the virgin in charge of her own life,
true to her own nature, and under the influence of
none. This was the time of dreams, challenges, and
spiritual potential.
When the moon reached its full, pregnant glory, it was
perceived as the Mother. Here we find the nurturer,
the giver of life and bringer of death, the Goddess's
most powerful, and certainly most venerated phase.
This was the time of great fertility and increased
psychic awareness. It was a time usually set aside to
visualize and formulate physical desires.
The waning moon saw the decline of light and was
associated with the Crone, who symbolized the
manifestation process and was associated with wisdom.
What was conceived on the full moon was realized
during the waning moon. This was also a time of
contemplation and realization of personal
accomplishments.
Once the moon completes its three major phases, it
passes into a period of transition known as the New
Moon. This three day period was, and still is,
considered the time of Echantress or Temptress - a
time of great mystery and magic.
THE MOTHER GODDESS
The Mother Goddess is an extremely complex image, as
well as one of the most powerful figures within the
Wiccan religion. She is the epitome of feminine
beauty, fertility, and the ability to nurture. In
Pagan times the Mother Goddess ruled over the
fecundity of humans and animals, and was often
referred to as the Lady or Mother of Beasts.
To our Pagan ancestors, the Mother Goddess was both
loved and feared. She was the serene benefactor in
charge of life, fertility, and regeneration. As the
Great Mother she brought forth life, and as the
Terrible Mother she ruled over death and destruction.
It was because of this duality thta teh Mother Goddess
was associated with the powers of light and darkness.
Throughout Old Europe the Mother Goddess embraced a
wide range of activities. Besides her affiliation
with fertility, she was also the embodiment of
maturity and abundance. To express these qualities,
images of the Mother Goddess were endowed with larges
breasts, swollen bellies, and full buttocks.
The concept of nurturing, with its ability to
transcend the harsh realities of life and express
unconditional love, brings many people to the Goddess
of Wicca. Once they are embraced by the Mother
Goddess, their connection to the potential of the
manifestation process is reawakened. When this
happens, people become able to connect with their own
nurturing potential, which develops spiritual
maturity.
In the Wiccan religion, to invoke the Mother Goddess
is to awaken the primreview feminine nature within.
The essence of the Goddess is then able to penetrate the
very fiber of the individual, opening his or her mind,
heart, and soul to all that is love, life, and wisdom.
The act of invoking the Mother Goddess unites the
senses with the ultimate feminine power and force of
all creation.
THE TRIPLE GODDESS
The Triple Goddess can be found in almost all
mythologies. She is at once virgin, mother, and
crone, the waxing, full, and waning moons. She
represents all that is feminine, enchanting, ripe, and
wise. In the ancient mystery traditions, the Triple
Goddess was associated with water, weaving and war.
Some of the best examples of her threefold nature can
be found in Greek, Celtic, and Norse mythology.
The Greeks envisioned the Triple Goddess in the form
of the Moirae or Fates. They were born from the great
goddess Nyx and belong to the earliest stratum of
divinities. They were known as the Spinners of Fate,
who spun out the days of human life as if they were
yarn. The length of this yarn was decided entirely by
them. Even the great god Zeus could not go against
their decrees.
Brigid is the major triple goddess in Celtic
mythology. She had three distinct facets: poetry,
smithing, and healing. She brought inspiration to
those who worked with music and poetry. She aided
those who crafted metal and weapons by working with
fire. She also nourished those who brought comfort to
the sick by giving them the power to heal.
In Norse mythology, the Triple Goddess appeared as the
Norns or Wyrd Sisters. They were known as they
Urd(past), Verdandi (present), and Skuld (future).
They were the spinners who sat at the well of Urd,
which was located at the roots of the World Tree,
Yggdrasil. Because they came from the earliest of
times they were able to dispense their fate upon gods
and humans alike.
The triplicity of the Goddess is an important concept
within the Wiccan Religion. In her manifestations as
the Virgin, the Goddess has no connection with the
masculine. However, when she ripens into the Mother,
the Goddess beomes a faithful wife or the harlot who
takes on many lovers. With the passage of time her
fertility wanes, but not her life experience. Thus,
the Goddess if transformed into the Crone of knowledge
and wisdom. It is through the understanding of these
three aspects of the Goddess - birth, life, and death
-that we learn to nourish and sustain our own inner
resources.
SELECTED WICCAN GODDESS
Brigid: Celtic Triple Goddess. She is the embodiment
of poetry, inspiration, and divination. Brigid was
originally a sun and fire goddess known as Brigid of
the Golden Hair. Because of her connection with fire,
Brigid was associated with inspiration and the art of
smith craft. Brigid was also an important fertility
goddess. She was called on during birth to protect
the mother and the child. Brigid's symbols include
the spindle, flame, well, ewe/lamb, snake and bell.
Cerridwen: Celtic Mother Goddess. Cerridwen,
associated with Astarte or Demeter, is the mother
goddess of the moon and grain. She is especially
known for her fearsome death totem, a white,
corpse-eating sow. Cerridwen's harvest celebrations
express her ability to both give and take away life.
Her symbols nclude the cauldron, cup, sow, and hound.
Diana: Roman Moon Goddess. She was the patroness of
hunters and guardian of the forest where her sacred
grove stood near Aricia. In Rome, she joined with
Janus, a god light and the sun, serving as a consort
depicting teh light of the moon. Diana's symbols
include the bow and arrow, sandals, magical weapons,
the dog, and the stag.
Demeter: Greek Earth Mother. As the goddess of
vegetation, she was founder of agriculture and the
civic rite of marriage. Her mysteries, called the
"Thesmorphia," were held each April and her cult
center was Eleusis, south of Athens. Demeter's
symbols include the basket, scepter, torch, water jug,
sheaf of wheat, and cow.
Hecate: Greek Triple Goddess. To the Greeks, Hecate
was one of the oldest embodiments of the triple moon
goddess. She held the power over the heavens, earth,
and the underworld, where she was in control of birth,
life, and death. Hecate was the giver of visions,
magic, and regeneration. Hecate's symbols include the
key, rope, double-edged dagger, cross triangle, besom,
crossroads, hound, and torch.
Isis: Egyptian Mother Goddess. Isis is the
personification of the Great Goddess in her aspect of
maternal devotion. Isis was probably the greatest
goddess in Egypt and was worshipped for more than
3,000 years. Her influence was not confined to Egypt
and spread to Greece and the Roman Empire. Isis was
the female principle of nature and therefore a goddess
of a thousand names. Isis's symbols include the Thet
(knot or buckle), scepter, cup, horns, mirror, snake,
and girdle.
Rhea: Cretan Mother Goddess. Her name probably means
Earth, and she was usually depicted as a huge, stately
woman surrounded by animals and small, subservient
human males. Rhea was incorporated into Greek myth as
a Titan, one of the second generation of deities. She
was recognized as the goddess of the living earth.
Rhea's symbols include the torch, brass drum, double
ax, and fruit bearing trees.
The Morrigan: Celtic Triple Goddess. The Morrigan is
the terrible hag goddess of Celtic legen. She bears
some relationship to the Furies and Valkyries of Norse
Myth. She appears as a triple goddess of battle and
depicts the harsh, unrelenting warrior side of teh
Celtic soul. The Morrigan's symbols include the
raven, crow, battle ax, shield, and spear.
When working with the Wiccan goddesses, keep in mind
primary characteristics: Moon Goddess represents
spiritual illumination and is the essence of magic and
mystery; Mother Goddess represents the
sensual/nurturing side of the feminine nature and is
filled with grace; and the Triple Goddess exemplifies
enchantment, seductiveness, and wisdom.
Source: Exploring Wicca: The Beliefs, Rites, and
Rituals, of the Wiccan Religion
by Lady Sabrina
