And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without.

The Three Keys

Dissecting and Interpreting Mythology
and Theological Concepts of the Goddess


I imagine everyone has their own way of interpreting the Goddess. By nature, being a Goddess worshipper fills a person with a sense of empowerment that teachers him/her to trust their instincts and their personal ideas. Perhaps the Goddess inspires us all differently, coming to us in unique ways that teach every individual exactly what they need to learn.

For me it has always been a challenge to order my thoughts when it comes to understanding the Goddess. To me all Goddesses are one Goddess so learning about her different images helps me understand her as a whole. She is all things and sometimes it’s not that easy to wrap my head around her thousands of faces, symbols, etc. The method I use to better my own understanding, and create a sense of order in an otherwise jumbled mind, is what I call the Three Keys System.

First, let me make my personal framework clear. This is the core of my belief system and what I base all of my interpretations on.

• All Goddesses are one Goddess. All deity is one deity.
• The Goddess is all things and everything in nature and life can carry her lessons.
• The Goddess is triplicate; Maiden, Mother, Crone.
• The combination of those three aspects creates the forth or total aspect of Goddess; All-Goddess, Panthea, Great Goddess, etc.
• The All-Goddess aspect is the totality of all things and is the ultimate vision of the Goddess.
• Every Goddess carries the qualities of each the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone though they usually lean further in the direction of one than the others.

Now the things listed above can’t really be called facts. I’m not sure there is much within the realm of religion that can be called wholly factual. I suppose that’s why we have the concept of faith. But does this make them untrue? If perception is reality then the statements of faith above are as true as the sky being blue. Though I see a blue sky a slightly color blind person may think it seems more like a shade of purple. Who’s right and who’s wrong? Well, neither and both at the same time. Both perceptions are completely true, albeit personal truths.

So, after I choose my topic (or my Goddess) that I am going to devote study time to, I research like crazy and put everything I have gathered in one place. I read all of the information as many times as necessary and formulate ideas while specifically looking for keywords that may be ascribed to the Goddess in question. Almost right off the bat I can usually see if a Goddess falls into the Maiden, Mother, Crone, or All categories based on what I know of each.

Then I look at the way this Goddess relates to other deities, if there are other Goddesses involved that can make her triplicate aspects obvious, and examine her relationship to her mate if she has one. I ask myself questions like “what did this Goddess do?”, “what purpose does her myth serve?”, “what are her symbols”, etc.

In between all of this I usually make time to meditate for a few days on the Goddess I am studying. For me it is necessary to spend a lot of time in thought and reflection, allowing the Goddess to send some inspiration along before I come to any conclusions.

The next step is to weed through any keywords I may have come across. I usually take the three most specific or clearly illustrated keywords and elaborate on them. For example, for the Minoan Bee Goddess (Merope) I selected the keywords that jumped out at me the most then jotted down what I felt they meant.

Connection
- It is not good to always be alone.
- Seek connection with other people and with all life.
- Live in harmony with others.

Responsibility
- Live responsibly in co-existence with other people and with nature.
- Work honestly and earn your keep in life.
- Everyone has a purpose.

Humility
- Love is stronger than you.
- Love openly and without shame.
- There is no room for pride in love.

After using the Three Keys System and incorporating the Triple Goddess framework I feel that I have a pretty clear understanding of what this Goddess means to me, or what lessons I needed to gain from her. I can now incorporate this specific Goddess into my vision of the Goddess as a whole and further enrich my spiritual experience.

Your interpretations of individual Goddesses or the Goddess as a whole may be completely different from mine. I trust that the Goddess has a good understanding of us and knows which of her aspects are beneficial to every individual.

For me, the most important part of all of this is to know that the Goddess is ever-present and constant. She cannot be changed. She just is. I find this way of thinking beneficial, especially when participating in theological debates. No one should ever feel their ideas or perceptions are invalid or being threatened by others because it all comes from the Goddess anyway.

We all have different relationships with the Goddess in the way children do with their mothers. Healthy, present mothers know which of their children need to know which lessons and each child is treated as an individual. As we grow mothers teach new lessons, or impart more wisdom in regards to old lessons. It is important to be open to change and an evolution in thought because we never want to be so stubborn in our beliefs that the Goddess can’t teach us more of what we need to know.

So, your unique vision of the Goddess is just as valid as any other. So long as you are enriching your own experience of your Mother, there can be no wrong answers to your questions.

4 comments:

twoflyingdogs said...

I think your approach is great. I love the way you come to know and learn from the many representations of the Goddess. I feel the same, that they are all reflections of the one Goddess/Deity. I also think that the divine is greater than anything we can imagine. I believe we have moments of clarity in knowing the Goddess and glimpses of that greatness around us and within us. As temporal beings, I think there will alway be something just beyond our grasp. Maybe that's a good thing. That way we continue to seek and learn - and best of all, to be amazed.

Grian said...

Thank you Gaia. I agree with you. There is always something there just beyond our grasp that eludes us. And I think you're absolutely right in saying that's a good thing. If we knew it all what reason would we have to continue to seek and grow? At that point it's time to stop reincarnating. :)

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. Many blessings!

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Gaia as well. And personally, I like the fact the journey we're on is never ending.

I like that your so systematic in your approach. I would guess it makes your foundational belief in a goddess much stronger.

I also really like something you do in this process. The goddess has had to teach me this and I still struggle with it sometimes. That is that you give the goddess time to act on your behalf by meditating for few days so that they can inspire you. It is our nature sometimes to want things to happen right away, or jump to immediate conclusions, when the gods may act but they do it in their own time.

Thanks for sharing your process with us!

Grian said...

Thanks Jett. Glad you dug the post.

I know exactly what you mean about jumping to conclusions. There are many times I am sure I've got a face of the Goddess all figured out and then I sit at my altar for a while in meditation and she looks completely different.

The desire for instant gratification seems to be the curse of our microwave generation. I would be lying if I said I didn't want my revelations on the Goddess to come on my schedule. I most certainly do. I want it now or at least in the minute it takes to heat up some cheese whiz. But, I have accepted that I just might have to wait sometimes. Besides, cheese whiz isn't as good as homemade cheese sauce which takes a whole lot longer than a minute to make. ;)