“
Hasn't there always been a moon?"
"Bless you. Not in the slightest. I remember the day the moon came. We looked up in the sky--it was all dirty brown and sooty gray here then, not green and blue...
”
”
Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane)
“
All futures are tinted by the way in which you choose to view them.
”
”
Cat Hellisen (Mother, Crone, Maiden)
“
Here is the last truth of Saints: We will always choose the path which brings us the most power.
I spread my arms, and let the wind tip me.
”
”
Cat Hellisen (Mother, Crone, Maiden)
“
love that you cannot leave is not love.
”
”
Gwen Benaway (Maiden, Mother, Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes)
“
Yet he’s still scared. What is he afraid of?” “Same thing every powerful man is afraid of.” The Crone shrugs. “The day the truth comes out.” “The day he gets what’s coming,” says the Maiden. The Mother meets Agnes’s eyes and Juniper sees something pass between them, the gleam of a tossed blade. “Us.
”
”
Alix E. Harrow (The Once and Future Witches)
“
Seeing into the future is not a straight line. You are given the choice of a hundred paths through a treacherous swamp. Some will lead you safely onwards, others drown you, and sometimes it’s hard to tell which is which,” my mother says.
”
”
Cat Hellisen (Mother, Crone, Maiden)
“
I anoint you with this sacred oil in the name of Brighid
Triple Goddess
Maiden, Mother, Crone
”
”
Wendy Wildcraft
“
Maiden, Mother, and Crone, Guard the bed that I lie on, One to watch, One to pray, One to keep the shadows at bay.
”
”
Alix E. Harrow (The Once and Future Witches)
“
Carry us home, mother, through all our journeys.
”
”
Gwen Benaway (Maiden, Mother, Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes)
“
What is he afraid of?”
“Same thing every powerful man is afraid of.” The Crone shrugs. “The day the truth comes out.”
“The day he gets what’s coming,” says the Maiden. The Mother meets Agnes’s eyes and Juniper sees something pass between them, the gleam of a tossed blade. “Us.
”
”
Alix E. Harrow (The Once and Future Witches)
“
You will experience the triple Goddess—Maiden, Mother, and Crone. These phases are symbolic to, not just your own life, but life as a whole. Birth, life, and death. As women, it is important to understand you are the cycle.
”
”
Emma Mildon (Evolution of Goddess: A Modern Girl's Guide to Activating Your Feminine Superpowers)
“
Goddess Rising
This is for the women
Who have walked with hidden shame
Stirring like all is well
Though weighted down in pain.
This is for her Inner Child
Who longs to forget
Her innocence stolen
Body, soul and spirit rent
into pieces- fragments-broken-bent
This is for the Maiden
Longing to belong
-To another -
In hopes
to make right the darkened wrongs
Not realizing-blinded by oozing wounds
Her own innate delicious power
Thick within her womb
This is for the Mother
Breaking eons of fettered chains
For the children she has birthed
Through blood and breaths of change
She calls them Redemption
Regardless of their names
This is for the Crone
Who called her shattered pieces Home
To herself-
To all her luminous bodies
Where she never dared to feel
Making strong her bones
Crushing~ oppressors
With the swaying of her hips
Her hands soaring like doves
Honey dripping from her lips
This is for the Wild Woman
Who traversed the Underground
Leaving her footprints
While taming the Hellhounds.
Like a seed breaking fallow ground
Emerging fruitful garden
No longer bound
By the nightmare of the past
Awakened from the Dream-
Of Separation
SHE. IS.- merging realms between.
This is for the woman, for the Goddess
For me
For you
Rising from our ashes
Making ALL things new~
”
”
Mishi McCoy
“
As women, we can embody all aspects of the Triple Goddess simultaneously (Mother, Maiden, Crone) at every stage of our lives. The elements of feminine mystique, giftedness, and strength are available to us through the spirit as much as the body.
”
”
Elizabeth S. Eiler (Singing Woman: Voices of the Sacred Feminine)
“
The moon’s three phases of new, full, and old recalled the matriarch’s three phases of maiden, nymph (nubile woman), and crone. Then, since the sun’s annual course similarly recalled the rise and decline of her physical powers – spring a maiden, summer a nymph, winter a crone – the goddess became identified with seasonal changes in animal and plant life; and thus with Mother Earth who, at the beginning of the vegetative year, produces only leaves and buds, then flowers and fruits, and at last ceases to bear. She could later be conceived as yet another triad: the maiden of the upper air, the nymph of the earth or sea, the crone of the underworld – typified respectively by Selene, Aphrodite, and Hecate. These mystical analogues fostered the sacredness of the number three, and the Moon-goddess became enlarged to nine when each of the three persons – maiden, nymph, and crone – appeared in triad to demonstrate her divinity. Her devotees never quite forgot that there were not three goddesses, but one goddess; though, by Classical times, Arcadian Stymphalus was one of the few remaining shrines where they all bore the same name: Hera.
”
”
Robert Graves (The Greek Myths: The Complete and Definitive Edition)
“
I am the Maiden,” said Hecate in a chorus of three voices. “I am the Mother. I am the Crone. I am all phases of a woman’s life—all her power—and I will suffer no man to cross me.
”
”
Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Wrath of the Triple Goddess: The Senior Year Adventures, Book 2)
“
It would be easy to think of the Hempstocks as the “triple goddess” (the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone) of popular mythology. In what ways do they conform to those roles? In what ways are they different?
”
”
Neil Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane)
“
To My Priestess Sisters
To my priestess sisters: the keepers of mysteries, the medicine women, the story keepers and story tellers, the holy magicians, the wild warriors, the original ones, the ones who carry the ancients within the marrow of your bones, the ones forged in the fires, the ones who have bathed in thier own blood, the heroines who wear thier scars as stars, the ones who give birth to their visions and dreams, the ones who weep and howl upon the holy altars, the avatars, the mothers, maidens and crones, the mystics, the oracles, the artists, the musicians, the virgins, the sensual and sexual, the women of our world-
I honor you. I stand for you and with you. I celebrate both your autonomy and our sisterhood of One. We are many. We are fierce. We are tender. We are the change agents and we are radically holding and clearing space for the bursting forth of the holy seeds of the collective conscience and consciousness. We are manifestors and flames of purification and transformation. We are living our lives in authenticity, vulnerability, transparency and unapologetically. We are committed to integrity, impeccability, accountability, responsibility and passionate love.
We are here on purpose, with purpose and give no energy to conformity, acceptance or approval. We are the daughters of the earth and the courageous of the cosmos.
Priestess, keep living your life passionately, raising the cosmic vibrations and lowering your standards for no one. You are brazenly blessed and a force of nature. Nurture yourself and one another.
You are a crystalline bridge between realms and uniting heaven and earth. You are a priestess and you are divinely
anointed, appointed and unstoppable.
”
”
Mishi McCoy
“
Bella resettles her spectacles. “But the spell to call back the Lost Way of Avalon. It required a maiden, a mother, and a crone, did it not?” The Crone shrugs. “Every woman is usually at least one of those. Sometimes all three and a few others besides.
”
”
Alix E. Harrow (The Once and Future Witches)
“
Listen carefully, for I will recite this only once: There's three parts herb, and two parts tree, a snippet of golden bough, and a bit of the enemy; combine with sacred alicorn, under the light of a sentry stone, brewed in the blood of Brume, by maiden, mother and crone.
”
”
Christina Mercer (Arrow of the Mist (Arrow of the Mist, #1))
“
Lady of the Moon, of the fertile Earth and rolling seas! You who are the Maiden, with strong heart and youthful spirit. You who are the Mother, with able body and nurturing spirit. You who are the Crone, with wise mind and compassionate spirit. You who are birth, life, love and death. Descend upon my circle, I pray to witness these rites in your honor!
”
”
Robert Westbrook (Turquoise Lady (A Howard Moon Deer Mystery Book 5))
“
Us crones need to sit and stick together. Maidens think they know everything when they have learned nothing. Mothers aren’t much better. The crones, though. Crones know. That’s why people are so scared of us, try to keep us invisible. But that’s when we have the most power. They can’t stop us if they don’t see us. We slip through the net. We’re like ghosts through locked doors.
”
”
Alexandra Benedict (Murder On the Christmas Express)
“
In maiden-mother-crone covens, the mother figure tends to balance out the other two. The maiden says hell, let’s do some unspeakable shit because I’m strong and I’ll survive the consequences if things go wrong, and the crone says why not, let’s do some unspeakable shit because I’m going to die soon anyway, but the mother usually says let’s all chill out and think about this, hedge our bets and play it safe.
”
”
Kevin Hearne (Hounded, Hexed, Hammered - The Iron Druid Chronicles Bundle (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1-3))
“
Each human archetype consists of an identifiable pattern found in every society and, as a potential, within every human being: the Hero, the Wise and Gentle Queen, the Courageous Warrior, the Virtuous Maiden, the Seductress, the Nurturing Mother, the Holy Child, the Young Redeemer, the Rebel, the Tyrant, the Trickster, the Sacred Fool, the Innocent, the Sage, the Crone, the Magician. A given individual will resonate more with some patterns than others, or at a certain stage more with one archetype than another, but in any human community each archetype will be found embodied in someone. The human archetypes represent the patterns and possibilities of being human. Without
”
”
Bill Plotkin (Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche)
“
Celtic spirituality linked the number three with all things divine and so Brigid the Goddess began to appear in lore and image in triplicate form. Contemporary images of Brigid often depict her as maiden, mother, and crone, associating the three sisters with the phases of the moon: waxing, full, and waning, but this is not a correct correlation. Brigid has historically been considered a solar Deity and as three identical women of the same age, sometimes called the Three Brigid Sisters: Woman of Healing (Ban leighis), Woman of Smithwork (Ban goibnechtae), and Woman Poet (Ban fhile). In addition to being the living earth, Brigid was also seen as the living embodiment of spring.
”
”
Courtney Weber (Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess)
“
Cultures are always built by the telling of stories. Within them are contained symbols and values that can be passed easily through the generations. Thousands of goddess tales are being unearthed and retold, and many new ones are being created. These tales are like threads with which we can weave our magic. In many stories the goddess is described in three phases—the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. This is a wonderful female trinity with infinite correspondences in life and nature. Cycles Three, Four, and Five will deal with each of these goddess-phases in turn.
Some of the old goddess tales were twisted to suit the takeover of male powers, in order to win converts to their new gods. For example, Pandora (All-Gifts) was originally a Great Mother Goddess, whose box (womb, cauldron, cave, cup) was a reservoir of beauty and life-sustaining gifts. Patriarchal myth tells us that Her box contained all manner of destructive demons, which once unleashed upon the world, brought evil and suffering to all. Eve was also a Mother Goddess, whose tree was the Tree of Life. The serpent was her own sensual wisdom, and the apple was her sacred fruit. Athene, whom we are told was born fully grown out of the head of Zeus, dressed in armor and ready for war, was originally the daughter of the matriarchal goddess Metis. (Meter, method, measure, matter, mother…) Both mother and daughter were worshipped by the Amazons at Lake Triton, and were born parthenogenetically—without sperm. The examples of mythic misogyny are endless. Medusa is another; the patriarchs would have us believe that one look upon her face would turn the viewer to stone, because they did not wish us to know her true nature. One source reveals that the Medusae were a tribe of Amazon women; another that their snaky-haired masks were used over temple doorways to protect the Mysteries from irreverent intruders. Whenever we hear about a serpent in myth or fairy-tale, we can usually be sure that it hails back to an ancient Goddess and Her powers. The serpent, before the heyday of Freud and phallic symbols, meant transformation and kundalini energy.
”
”
Shekhinah Mountainwater (Ariadne's Thread: A Workbook of Goddess Magic)
“
Must a thing be bound and shelved in order to matter? Some stories were never written down. Some stories were passed by whisper and song, mother to daughter to sister. Bits and pieces were lost over the centuries, I’m sure, details shifted, but not all of them.” Quinn stands, pacing. “Towers and roses. Maiden’s blood. Crone’s tears. Mother’s milk. Would you really deny your own discoveries? Surely you are not such a coward.
”
”
Alix E. Harrow (The Once and Future Witches)
“
But our theories are so tenuous. Mere…moonbeams.”
Quinn swats her again. “They are perfectly scholarly! Considered, documented, based on reliable sources—”
Children’s stories! Nursery rhymes! Nothing respectable, nothing verifiable!”
Must a thing be bound and shelved in order to matter? Some stories were never written down. Some stories were passed by whisper and song, mother to daughter to sister. Bits and pieces were lost over the centuries, I’m sure, details shifted, but not all of them.” Quinn stands, pacing. “Towers and roses. Maiden’s blood. Crone’s tears. Mother’s milk. Would you really deny your own discoveries? Surely you are not such a coward.
”
”
Alix E. Harrow (The Once and Future Witches)
“
I shall live
I shall be free
Goddess goddess
I am thee...
Mother Goddess, keep me whole
Let thy beauty fill my soul
Maiden Goddess, keep me whole
Let thy power fill my soul
Crone Goddess, keep me whole
Let thy wisdom fill my soul...
Blessed be the Maiden within me
For she bringeth courage and freedom
Blessed be the Mother within me
For she bringeth love and life
Blessed be the Crone within me
For she bringeth wisdom and understanding...
We are the flow, we are the ebb
We are the weavers, we are the web...
I am whole unto myself
Centered in the Kore of me
I shall give and shall receive
Goddess goddess loves me...
Let my magic be.
Let all illness
Be cast from me
Cleansed of all impurity
Free from all wrongs
I may have done
'Til goodness
And love
And I
Are one...
”
”
Shekhinah Mountainwater (The Goddess Celebrates: An Anthology of Women's Rituals)
“
There’s wisdom in an old wives’ tale, and magic in a story.
”
”
Joanne Harris (Maiden, Mother, Crone: A Collection)
“
The past, present, and future; the young, middle-aged, and old; and the maiden, mother, and crone in one. Good times. I
”
”
Kaitlin Bevis (Persephone (The Daughters of Zeus 1))
“
Maiden. Mother. Crone.
”
”
Sarah J. Maas (Throne of Glass)
“
Thrice by thrice thorn of rose What the fuck is thrice? I know I’m a witch and this sounds like my jam, but there are some old-as-shit terms that even I don’t understand. One quick internet search and okay, thrice means three, which I guess I should’ve assumed. So thrice by thrice…three by three—nine. Maiden, Mother, and Crone, they could’ve just said nine.
”
”
Laura Thalassa (Bespelled (Bewitched #2))
“
I am made of bones and ghosts and the deepest shadow of the darkest night. Hecate, the Necromancer; Maiden, Mother; Crone; Guardian of Crossroads. I am the Witch of All the Night, the Wielder of the Shadowed Forbidden Magic.
”
”
Heidi Hastings (Hades and Persephone: The Golden Blade)
“
This,” (she pointed her index finger at it), “is the triple goddess symbol.” “Okay. But what does it mean?” he asked. “It has a couple meanings, actually. It represents the waxing, full, and waning moons. They’re symbolic for the three phases of womanhood—maiden, mother, and crone.
”
”
Robert Sanborn (In Your Dreams)
“
I was in the prime of my time as the maiden, the magic of the middle – not yet the mother and far from the crone. My supple, small breasts were not yet deflated from years of nursing sweet babies. My strong, smooth stomach hadn’t expanded in the mysterious, magical way it would, to grow another human. My skin was yet to be speckled in white spots, ravaged by too many summers. As the years passed, my looks would fade, the lines around my eyes would grow deeper, and I would become a different kind of beautiful.
”
”
Dana Da Silva (The Shift: A Memoir)
“
Holy Goddess,” I whispered into Jai’s hair, which smelled like soap and sun-bleached linen. “Maiden, Mother, and Crone, I pray to all your aspects. Relieve this girl’s burden.
”
”
Maria Turtschaninoff
“
A named thing is a tamed thing, and my people are wild forever.
”
”
Joanne Harris (Maiden, Mother, Crone: A Collection)
“
For what we give freely on Midsummer’s Day will return to us a hundredfold.
”
”
Joanne Harris (Maiden, Mother, Crone: A Collection)
“
As ye reap, so shall ye sow.
”
”
Joanne Harris (Maiden, Mother, Crone: A Collection)
“
Women have the waxing and waning of the moon to guide them. Maiden. Mother. Crone. But men? They have no such dramatic transitions. No monthly bleed governed by the Moon. No menarche. No menopause. No dramatic bodily rites of passage.
”
”
Dipa Sanatani (The Little Light (The Guardians of the Lore #1))
“
the Maiden is asked for assistance in the waxing phase, the Mother at the Full Moon, and the Crone when the Moon is on the wane.
”
”
Lisa Chamberlain (Wicca Moon Magic: A Wiccan's Guide and Grimoire for Working Magic with Lunar Energies (Wicca for Beginners Series))
“
I am the Maiden,
the Mother,
and the Crone.
”
”
L. Starla (Winter's Maiden 1 (Winter's Magic #1))
“
The widespread vision of Her as a Triple Goddess also expressed the cycle of birth-death-rebirth. The original God-in-Three-Persons, the Goddess was believed to manifest both successively and simultaneously as Maiden, Mother, and Crone. As Maiden, She guarded and expressed the beginnings of life and its early development; in this aspect She was seen as a young girl or the Kore. Her Mother aspect referred not necessarily to the biological condition of having a child but connoted the fruition of life, its maturity, in this aspect, She was seen as a mature woman. As Crone, She was seen as most powerful of all, for it was the Crone, representing the aging and end of life, who made the link between life and death; in this aspect, She appeared as an old woman or skeletal hag.
But the destruction of life brought about by the Crone was also an initiation into Her most profound mystery: that, out of death, She would create new life. Thus were the Crone and the Maiden inextricably linked and the cycle repeated and ongoing. In Her triple form, the Goddess, also bestowed a meaningfulness and even sanctity to each phase of a woman's life. Unlike our culture, which values only a woman's youthfulness, earlier cultures valued the aging woman. In the vision of the Old Religion, it was the Crone who carried the most wisdom and power.
”
”
Kathie Carlson (In Her Image: The Unhealed Daughter's Search for Her Mother)
“
The Crone is the final stage of the Goddess and while it is not as new and fresh as the Maiden, not as powerful and strong as the Mother, it is a wise and formidable spirit.
”
”
Gillian Nolan (Wicca for Beginners: A Guide to Real Wiccan Beliefs, Magic and Rituals)