The Three Goddesses
The Three Goddesses, known collectively as Moirai in Greek Mythology, are known by many names across many cultures and historical periods. The Three Goddesses represent the cyclic nature of human destiny: past, present and future, life and death, creation and destruction. In Hindu literature, this is emboddied in the goddesses Parvati, Durga and Kali. OM - the belief that all things coexist simultaneously - is central to the four thousand year old tradition of which Hinduism and Buddhism are part.
Daughters of Zeus and Themis, their names are: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, known as The Fates. The Fates are old and predate the gods. It is not entirely clear how far their power extends. It is possible that they determine the fate of the gods as well. Not even the most powerful is willing to triffle with them.
The Fates were goddesses who supervised fate in Greek mythology. The ancient Greeks referred to these goddesses collectively as Moirai but also said that the Fates were the three goddesses who were in charge of watching over fate.
The poet Hesiod describes the Fates in his Theogony. According to Hesiod, these goddesses were the daughters of Zeus and Themis, and were therefore the sisters of the Horae (Hesiod also claims, in the same poem, that the Fates were the offspring of Nyx, the goddess of Night). The poet names the Fates as well:
"These are Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos,
and they give mortals their share of good and evil."
(Hesiod, Theogony, 905-6)
Clotho was the spinner, Lachesis was the drawer of lots, and Atropos represented the inevitable end to life. This notion that human fate was spun around a person at birth by divine Spinners - in other words, the Fates - was popular in Greek mythology, poetry, and literature. Indeed, there is a compelling scene in the Odyssey of Homer that alludes to this concept of spinning fate.
The three goddesses who supervised the spinning of human fate evolved into a more concrete concept. The Fates came to be identified as three older females who handled the threads of human life. One of these threads was placed to every person, and each goddess took her turn in manipulating this thread. Clotho selected the thread, Lachesis measured it, and Atropos cut this thread to signify the end of a person's existence.The Fates were known as Parcae (or sometimes, Fatae) in Roman mythology, as Norn in Norse Mythology, and Wyrd in Anglo-Saxon Mythology.
Clotho - the Fate who spins the thread of life; identified with Roman Nona
Lachesis - the Fate who determines the length of the thread of life; identified with Roman Decuma
Atropos - the Fate who cuts the thread of life; identified with Roman Morta
Urd, Urth - Norse goddess of fate: Past
Verdandi, Verthandi - Norse goddess of fate: Present
Skuld - Norse goddess of fate: FutureThe Three Ravens: Totem of The Three Goddesses
The Three Ravens are the totem birds of the Three Goddesses. Ravens have been assigned a powerful role in the myths of many cultures: trickster, creator, messenger, death bringer, to name a few. With fluid grace the sleek black bird moves easily between the worlds of ordinary and non-ordinary reality. His talkative ways serve his human friends. Often he can see upcoming events in time to give warnings or advice. By tradition, ravens have this interest and ability to communicate with humans. Witches often had one as a familiar. The raven's black color is associated with the dark moon phase and the unconscious or repressed elements of the psyche. The number three is sacred to the Goddess. It is symbolic of the three phases of the moon (new, full and dark), the three stages of life (maiden, mother, crone) and the three realms (heaven, earth, underworld).
The Triple Goddess
The Triple Goddess is known and worshiped in Pagan cultures all over the world. She is eternal, yet always in a state of change. Her colors are white for the maiden, red for the mother and black for the crone. The Symbol of the Triple Goddess is the Waxing, Full and Waning Moons. Throughout history the Goddess assumed many aspects though never dying and being reborn she had several faces. She was seen as the, virgin, mother, destroyer, a warrior, huntress, homemaker, wife, artist, jurist, healer and sorcerer. Her roles vary based on belief and practices of the cultures which worshipped her. She's known at times during the Wheel to bear a son who died or was sacrificed only to rise again representing the annual birth-death-rebirth cycle of the seasons. Irish Goddesses who embodies the triple aspect within themselves include: Brigid Ireland/Celtic), the Morrigan (Ireland/Celtic).Maiden The Maiden aspect represents enchantment, expansion, the female principle, the promise of new beginnings, youth, excitement, and erotic carefree aura. She is innocent in ways, but also a enchantress who recognizes the power of her sexuality. Maiden goddesses include: Anatha, Bridgid, Nimue, Kore, Persephone , Caer.
Mother The Mother is ripeness, fertility, fulfillment, stability, and power. The Mother is ripe, full breasted, at the peak of her womanly powers. She is the one who tenderly and lovingly rocks the baby, but she is also the lioness who hunts to feed her offspring nd will fight to the death to protect them. Mother goddesses include: Aa, Ambika, Ceres, Coatlicue, Danu, Demeter, Hathor, Ishtar, Isis, Lakshmi, Nintu.
Crone The Crone is wisdom, and compassion. She is old in age, experience, accumulated wisdom and death. She is the gateway to Death, and the guide to Rebirth. Crone goddesses include: Annis, Baba Yaga, Cailleach, Greine, Hel, Maman Brigitte, Oya, Sedna, Skuld.
The Goddess Kali, or Transcendental ConsciousnessIn primitive Hindu mythology, Kali was one aspect of the goddess DEVI, who was sent to earth to destroy a race of demons.Kala (time) is the power which makes use of and destroys worlds. Kali is the energy , represented as a goddess associated with Shiva, when he decides that one era is over and plunges the worlds into darkness, where they sleep in complete bliss.Eternal night is a measure of absolute time, as Shiva (the root "shin" means sleep) is the one who makes all the world sleep. In the microcosm of our individual lives absolute night is the ultimate light which comforts us when we are plunged into distress.Only Kali, the power of time , (unaware of the fear that she inspires in those who defy her ) has also the power to protect those who appeal to her for help and put their trust in her.Kali, the black one, (who is the incarnation of darkness) thus has 2 aspects :
When all is destroyed and time comes to an end, the true nature of eternal night will be revealed to us as great happiness and infinite peace.
Tara, the Goddess of Two FacesThe star in the Night of Anger (Krodha-ratri)
OR the BEAUTIFUL WOMAN called the STAR WHO SAVESTara is regarded as the second object of Hindu transcendental consciousness. Also she is the great goddess of Tibetan Buddhism.
" She is the great void, the STAR from which everything was born and who leads towards the unending cycle of liberation … " (Mahasundari Tantra) ." It is she who deserves to be served by the Great Being (Brahma), the Immanent (Vishnu) and the Transcendent (Maheshvara). It is she who creates, nurtures and destroys the world, maintains the Universe, who removes the fear which is inherent in all existence; she is the supreme energy which can prevent us from being reborn indefinitely . She is the vessel which allows us to cross the Ocean of the world. " ( Tantra from the Tararahasya, Kalyana, Shaktianka ).
Like Vishnu and Shiva, Tara can appear as a creature of GREAT BEAUTY, who can command the King of kings, who reigns over the vast universe…Or like a shrew with 4 hands standing on a cadaver, she holds a severed head in one hand, a sword in the second, a blue lotus in the third and in the fourth a begging bowl. Her disheveled red hair has blue venomous snakes twisting around in it. Her red flashing eyes remind us of the flames of hell and Her forehead is decorated with a crown of blanched bones.She is a terrible vision, which changes fom great beauty to a nightmare full of horror…Already considered to be the Star Mother in the Brahmanda Purana in a less frightening form, she is especially revered by the Jains and the Buddhist monks , who practice fasting and have totally renounced the world.For the White Robed sect (Shevtambara), She is like a fairy who protects the prophet Suvidhinatra.Seeing the worthlessness of earthly life as the end of the universe, sages leave behind this life of illusion and lose themselves in the void of the Immense Unchanging form.
Siddharatri, the Goddess of the SpheresThe 3 worlds having appeared, Shiva's power awakens and from his look gushed forth the sunlight , which created a young goddess of 16 years: the image of perfection, of amazing beauty.Quickly, Siddharatri bloomed and became the resplendent " Goddess of the Spheres ", wife of Shiva-with-the-three eyes. She became the power of knowledge, of the Night and of realization. Sovereign of the universe, she is honored as the Queen of queens (Raharajeshvari).The " All-powerful goddess of the Spheres " has a crescent moon on her forehead and her smile which gives a feeling of confidence and hope to all who call on Her.She wears on her head 3 attributes which show her Complete Power :
Two of her hands dispel fear and seem to be giving and the two other hands hold a noose and a hook for guiding elephants. The fact that she holds a large club in one hand proves that the cult to this great goddess probably started before the Iron Age.
The personality of other ancient goddessesIt is difficult to give an exact date for these ancient pre-Vedic goddesses, as their origins are lost in the darkness of prehistory.
The Brahmins and Buddhist monks did not want to destroy these ancient cults but instead showed them in different forms to inspire the people, (who were often illiterate), to follow the example of the gods along the long, difficult road towards self-realization and nirmala .
Other ancient goddesses had several aspects, bad and good :
Kundalini is the path to the divine Nirvana .The word spirit comes from the Latin "spiritus" which means breath, the wind, (as with the word Yahweh, YHWY " the Wind" in Hebrew scriptures.) In India this breath is called Brahma Chaitanya, the breath of God .The word " religion " comes from the Latin religare, meaning to unite or bind .The word Union is ultimately the search for ones self, consciousness in each individual to help him or her to find their true identity. To achieve this, one must call on " spiritual energy " which is called in Hindu India " the Kundalini ".When the mother goddess Kundalini is awakened, she shows the path in our memories towards union with SHIVA, the reflection of the Father God in the sky. This is why searching for equilibrium in one's self is a decisive step which raises our thoughts above the vanity of the materialistic world. It is a kind of second birth, a contact with another world: the SPIRITUAL world, which leads to eternal life.
" I turn towards the Goddess and now I am ONE with God .
I have risen above the cycle of reincarnations…" (Adi Shakti)Man must lay aside his intellectual nature (which symbolizes the serpent) in order to awaken his second nature: the bird who flies into the sky. At Dahomey, Marwu-Lisa, the creator of the gods is represented as a creeping serpent, being both masculine and feminine.Gods and Goddesses of the Hindu & Buddhist Pantheon
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07/07/2005
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