Why is the goddess represented by 3 different ages?

Answer 1

Goddess is represented by 3 ages. As the Maiden Goddess she Upholds the virtues of innocence. The love of a child, the wonder of the world as seen through innocent eyes, Purity in it's most basic forms are all the maiden's Charges. As Mother Goddess, she upholds the virtues of nourishing, caring, healing and guiding us innocent mortals in our daily lives. The Mother is the same as ANY other mother of a child, there to guide you, love you, teach you and protect you from harm. As Crone Goddess, she is the giver of Wisdom, the judge of our character, the guide for us when we die. As Grandmother she ALSO tends to spoil us, AND rebuke us when the times are appropriate. The Goddess as Maiden, Mother, and Crone represents ALL of that which is considered to be Female. Tender, compassionate, loving, nurturing, healing, teaching us right from wrong, guiding us in everything we do, are ALL a part of her nature. A duty that she GLADLY takes on with total eagerness to assist us mortals in our daily lives. The representaton as Maiden, Mother, and Crone are NOT the only representations of Goddess. She is ALSO represented by the 3 Fates, Clotho, Atropos, and Lachesis, as she spins the thread of our lives, weaves our lives in a cohesive continuum, and measures the length of our lives and cuts it at the appropriate time, when our lessons in this lifetime have been completed. The Triple Goddess concept has existed for thousands of years and these two concepts of her are certainly NOT the only such representations.

There is not much space available here to explain this in much greater detail and, long posts tend to get boring to most readers, anyway. So, I hope that this answers a FEW of your questions. If you wish to know more I would suggest that you go to witchvox.com , or read some of the writings by the better writers on the subject of Wicca and Witchcraft. I would recommend starting off with Raymond Buckland, Scott Cunningham, Amber K, Z Budapest, Ann Moura, Raven Grimassi, and Margot Adler. All are very well known and very good writers. I wish you the best of luck in your searches.

Brightest Blessings,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 2

The Fates had 3 Ages, Representing the Beginning, Prime, and End of Life.

Answer 3

This will probably get me blocked by some offended newb, but....

She's not.

The idea of the maiden, mother and crone was discovered by comparative mythologists (a modern one is Joseph Campbell) as a pattern that is seen in most polytheistic cultures, and she's three separate goddesses....oh, btw, most classical scholars see the wife, daughter and sacred whore as a better archetype....but, well, Pagans already have enough trouble. lol.

Now, that idea hit Early Modern Wicca with the primal initiatrix concept and it exploded......

Then it hit Dianic Paganism and it exploded again....

but some of us, the restorationists, prefer the idea of the primal initiatrix and the phases being phases of a woman's life, idealized by the never aging gods.

Answer 4

The 'goddess' is represented by the three 'ages' of womanhood ... maiden (before having sex), mother (after having a baby, which happened very fast before birth control) and crone ... a woman in 'menopause' who has 'wisdom' and 'gentleness' ...

Answer 5

It is so that people can remember that there is beauty in childhood, beauty in adulthood, and beauty in growing older. The triple-goddess is a symbol of how there is divinity in all age groups.

Answer 6

Why not? Actually it represents the cycles of all living things.

Answer 7

Because there's three stages to life. Youth, middle age, and old age.

Answer 8

It's the stages of a womans life

Answer 9

for reality to work the gods, their Dominions, and humanity must exist in at least three dimensions
Physical, meta-physical, and spiritual are three examples of dimensions; there are others.