Maiden

The threefold Goddess: Meditations on Maiden, Mother, Crone and Hag

When I talked about the moon, I talked about the three faces of the Goddess: maiden, mother and crone.
The maiden roughly corresponds to the age of a woman between childhood and childbirth – without taking both parts overly literal. She is the virgin, the woman without attachments, without dependants, who has the freedom to do as she wills without having to take others into consideration. The maiden Goddess values her freedom, defends it and puts it to good use.
A mythological example is the huntress Artemis. She hunts on her own, or with her maidens. Woe betide any man that dares to invade her privacy. On the other hand, she gifts the results of her hunt to the people who would go hungry throughout the winter otherwise.
(It should be noted that the threefold Goddess of maiden, mother and crone is a relatively modern concept that cannot be found per se in ancient mythology. Ancient Goddesses might or might not fit into the scheme, but the concept itself was not usual. Additionally, the correspondence of the three forms of the Goddess to different ages or phases of life does not mean that we can turn towards one of these forms only, depending on our own age. On the contrary, we all need the freedom of spirit of the maiden, the nurturing abilities of the mother, the wisdom of the crone.)
The moon correspondence of the maiden is the waxing moon, and in this week's meditation, we are going to meet Her by travelling to the crescent moon.