On Thursday,
Mrs. B wrote about the
Maiden-Mother-Crone debate and began a discussion about how people work the Triple Goddess into their own view and whether it really works for people at all.
Allyson's comment rang true for me. I see the Maiden, Mother and Crone as aspects of one entity, just as each of us carries these aspects with us throughout our lives, whether or not we demonstrate them all the time. So, I do not find the Maiden-Mother-Crone archetypes to be limiting. I like to work with symbols and concepts rather than absolutes across the board in my practice.
I feel that manufacturing new, more specific language to be more inclusive, often tends to do just the opposite. I have heard of people that feel like the term "crone" has negative connotations, like warts and cackling and all that goes with it. I could come up with equally unappealing images of the "maiden" - traditionally shrinking, ineffectual, inconstant and vain. I think that the fact that these terms have positive and negative associations makes them better symbols. Old age is not always beautiful and youth is not always strong or kind. I want my Goddess to be capable of manifesting the whole range of human reality. If certain traditional words carry historical connotations, I feel like that is part of our inheritance as well. I want to work with that in an accepting way, just like I must accept that sometimes age is cruel or that sometimes people are less than the ideal. I don't want to be misinterpreted here. If someone wants to envision "The Princess" instead of the Maiden in their personal practice and that person has opinions about who "The Princess" is, I would not presume to criticize. However, I don't think that we need to change the basic concept of the Goddess movement-wide to accommodate that. I also have no illusions about the Triple Goddess being around since the beginning of time. I am alright with the idea that modern paganism is not that old. That being said, we do have concepts that were of great formative value to the modern movement and in most cases I would personally prefer that those concepts remain more or less recognizable. It adds continuity for me.
Then I got to thinking about my personal vision of the Triple Goddess. My Maiden aspect is fresh, fleeting and idealistic and all about innocence and beauty. My Mother is hard working, prepared, protective, preserving, steady, patient and compassionate. My Crone is...well, this post really got me thinking about what the archetype of Crone means to me.
After reading Mrs. B's post I had a dream about my Mother who recently became a Grandmother and lost her own Mother. So, to me she is very much the Crone in my life. I was in a fancy restaurant like I only see on TV with the elegant, round tables for two, with wine and lots of sparkling and candles. It was evening and I was having dinner with my Mother who was a business woman in my dream. She looked like someone out of Brothers and Sisters, which is not who she is in real life at all. We were having lobsters and chanterelles. Beyond this being an indication that she was wealthy and successful in my dream, because they are expensive things, these two things were foods that my family seasonally acquired from nature that I have warm, fuzzy memories about. These two things represent memories of generosity, benevolence, family solidarity, and harmony with nature. Before I had this dream I would have said that My Crone is introspective, content, and wise. After having this dream, though, I feel like I know My Crone better.
My Crone is accomplished and generous with her wealth and advice. She is selfless. More selfless, even than My Mother, because My Mother sacrifices for her child, but My Crone's Self is actually diminishing. She is a refuge and she is a representative of the past.
