Goddesses and Gods.wps - Welcome to Our Temple

She is the Universal Mother, the Cosmic Womb. While those are largely symbolic
images, as opposed to literal ones, they are important to bear in mind about any
aspect of the Goddess. She never harms, she is Mother.
One of the most difficult throwback mentalities to dispel in a student is the difference
between "dark and light" and "bad and good". Societally, and often religiously, we are
trained to see bad and dark and evil as being the same. Hence, we are also taught to
hate and fear our own mortality. All too often I see practicing Wiccans, who ought to
know know better, fall back on these concepts when trying to explain or understand a
concept.
The Goddess is dark, she is light, she is birth, she is death, and she rejoices in all
things. With death comes joy, for with death comes renewal. With life comes joy, for
with life comes promise. With growth comes joy for with growth comes wisdom.
Sorrow and fear are not a part of her, not the way we feel those emotions. She is
incapable of sorrow without joy, she fears nothing, because fear is not real. It is a
creation of the mind.
Whether you see the Goddess as a Warrior Queen, or like the Good Witch of the
North in the Wizard of Oz, she is the Goddess. And she has many parts and facets
which defy comprehension as "One". She simply is is, is
and in that, can be whatever you
need her to be in order to establish a relationship with her. But none of that changes
what she is is. is
"I greet thee in the many names of the Threefold Goddess and her Mighty Consort.
Athe, malkuth, ve-guburah, ve-gedulah, le-olam, Amen. Blessed Be."
So here, at the Circle Door, greeted by the High Priest or Priestess we first see
mentioned the Threefold Goddess. Full-sized covens have three priestesses who take
the specific roles of Maiden, Mother and Crone, the High Priestess being Mother.
The Threefold Goddess however is not three entities, she is one. Her aspects
represent Enchantment, Ripeness and Wisdom.
Taking first things first is usually best, so we shall start with a look at one side of the
Maiden.
Quoting The Myth of the Goddess as found in Gardenarian Wicca (Gerald B.
Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, Aquarian Press, London, 1959.):
Now Aradia had never loved, but she would solve all the Mysteries, even the Mystery