Aphrodite sigil full#

7:94–95), in which Jason swears an oath to the witch Medea, saying he would 'be true by the sacred rites of the three-fold goddess.' Another example is found in Ovid's Metamorphosis (Met. 6:700-01), the witches speak of ' Persephone, who is the third and lowest aspect of our goddess Hecate'.

Diana (Artemis) also came to be viewed as a trinity of three goddesses in one, which were viewed as distinct aspects of a single divine being: 'Diana as huntress, Diana as the moon, Diana of the underworld.' Additional examples of the goddess Hecate viewed as a triple goddess associated with witchcraft include Lucan's tale of a group of witches, written in the 1st century BCE. Hecate was represented in triple form from the early days of her worship. Many neopagan belief systems follow Graves' and Gimbutas' proposed figure of a universal, cross-cultural Triple Goddess, and these ideas continue to be an influence on feminism, literature, Jungian psychology and literary criticism.ĭrawing of a Hekataion, depicting Hecate as a triple goddess surrounding a central column.Īccording to Robert Graves, Hecate was the 'original' and most prominent ancient triple moon goddess. Archaeologist Marija Gimbutas also argued for the ancient worship of a universal Triple Goddess in European cultures but, as with Graves, her generalization of these theories to multiple unrelated cultures, and the unsourced homogenization of diverse cultures into one unified cultural and religious figure, has attracted much controversy. The influential Hungarian scholar of Greek mythology Karl Kerenyi likewise perceived an underlying triple moon goddess in Greek mythology. Modern neopagan conceptions of the Triple Goddess have been heavily influenced by Graves, who regarded her as the continuing muse of all true poetry, and who speculatively imagined her ancient worship, drawing on the scholarship, fiction and mythology of his time, in particular the work of Jane Ellen Harrison and other Cambridge Ritualists. The Triple Goddess was the subject of much of the writing of the prominent early and middle 20th-century poet, novelist and mythographer Robert Graves, in his books The White Goddess and The Greek Myths as well as in his poetry and novels. In various forms of Wicca, her masculine consort is the Horned God. These three figures are often described as the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the Moon, and often rules one of the realms of heavens, earth, and underworld. In common Neopagan usage, the Triple Goddess is viewed as a triunity of three distinct aspects or figures united in one being. The Triple Goddess is a deity or deity archetype revered in many Neopagan religious and spiritual traditions.

Waxing, full, and waning moons (modern).

Aphrodite sigil full#

Crescent, half, and full moon (late Antiquity).Crescent, full, and dark moon (original).Goddess of the Moon, the Earth, and childbirth