The Maiden is considered to be a girl or a young woman who has started menstruation and who is old enough to start making important decisions and taking charge of her life. She is the first aspect of the triple Goddess, the other two being the Mother and the Crone. Unlike the Crone who has both the Maiden and the Mother aspects in her experience, the two aspects of the Mother and the Crone are not yet in the Maiden’s experience. Some things that correspond with the Maiden are the waxing moon, dawn, spring, and the colors white and pastels. The Maiden is growing like the waxing moon, full of new life, curious and creative. She is testing out her young strong body, and she is a protector and a hunter. Sexuality and pleasure are within her realm. She is blessed with an independent mind. Women, men, members of the LGBTQ+ community and people of any age can enjoy working with the aspects of the Maiden.
Just like the Maiden is growing, the waxing moon grows to full, the dawn grows into day, and the days are getting longer with a stronger sun after Yule. Well timed magick can grow along with her. This is her time, and with magick timing is everything. This is the time of year to be thinking about and soon be taking action on beginnings. This is a special time that one may look for new employment, go back to school, conceive, give birth and anything else that may give his/her life a positive spin. Imbolc, February 1-2 is a great time to start working on intentions. Imbolc is the sabbat of the Maiden goddess (particularly Brigid). The moon will be a waxing gibbous and almost full at that time this year. In fact, one may want to celebrate Imbolc on the full moon on February 5. February is also a wonderful time to be planting actual as well as metaphorical seeds indoors to be transplanted outdoors after the last frost has passed. One may plant actual seeds along with intentions for the year. One may plant the seeds using a seed starter tray or may use cups to plant them in as shown. I suggest using waxed paper cups if planting seeds in cups. (See video.) Like the Maiden is full of new life, the seeds have the potential for new life.
The Maiden is creative in a variety of endeavors. For example the goddesses Athena and Vesta are highly skilled weavers. Not only may they weave cloth, they may weave life and dreams. So may the practitioner. Like the Celtic goddess Brigid one may become adept in one or more of a variety of arts and sciences such as smithing, healing, midwifery, poetry and music. Athena was an inventor and among her inventions were the chariot and the plow. Egyptian goddess Seshat was a goddess of astronomy and a scribe who was said to help the pharaoh make measurements to situate temples. Like the Haitian goddess Ezili one may try his/her hand at poetry, dance and song. One’s life may be enhanced through the exuberant creativity of the Maiden in both the arts and the sciences.
The Maiden is a hunter and a protector of women and children. The Greek and Roman goddesses Artemis and Diana had a lot of similarities. They were goddesses of the hunt, the moon, virgins by choice and protectors of women and children. Both were depicted with arrows and bows. When one thinks about it, the bow is shaped like the crescent moon. They were both prayed to by women who wanted to conceive or have an easy childbirth. Artemis aided women who were being harassed or threatened by men. She abhorred senseless violence and met out punishments to men hurting women. Diana was a patron of the lower class and slaves. Runaway slaves found safety in her temples. Brigid was a goddess of medicine and midwifery protecting the mother and child during birth. Anat was a young Egyptian goddess of hunting and war, who was ferocious in battle. One too can be protective and ferocious as one battles the life’s challenges.
The Maiden has a sexual side. The Norse goddess Freya was arrestingly stunning and willingly slept gods, elves and dwarves. For example, to obtain the beautiful necklace/torc named Brisingamen that four dwarves made, she agreed to sleep with each of them. The Greek goddess Aphrodite had lovers: Aries, Adonis and Anchises a Trojan shepherd. Zeus forced her to marry the ugly Hephaestus. The marriage did not work out. One may enjoy the pleasures of sex when one is ready and by choice on the part of both partners.
The Maiden has an independent mind, determines her own path and often makes brave decisions. There is a little known version of the story of Kore/Persephone. Kore decided she wanted to help the souls of the Underworld. Her mother Demeter did not want this, but she took Kore to the crevice through which she would go to the Underworld. Kore/Persephone marked the souls with pomegranate juice to prepare them to be reborn. To see more of the story, see D. J. Conway’s book Maiden, Mother, Crone. One does not have to go to the Otherworld to be independent minded like Kore/Persephone, but s/he can follow his/her heart in life.
Enjoy getting to know the Maiden and her many aspects!
I will continue to post on Wednesdays.
Auburn Greene
Suggested Investigation:
https://www.learnreligions.com/artemis-greek-goddess-of-the-hunt-2561956
https://www.learnreligions.com/brighid-hearth-goddess-of-ireland-2561958
Conway, D. J., Maiden, Mother, Crone, Llewellyn, 1994.
Farrar, Janet & Stewart, The Witches’ Goddess, Phoenix 1987.
Fox, Selena, “Maiden Goddess of Waxing Moon,” Circle Sanctuary Network Podcasts, May 16, 2021, Encore from June 6, 2014.
https://skjalden.com/freya
https://www.theio.com/Olympios/Athena.html
Rankine, David & Sorita D’Este, The Isles of the Many Gods, Avalonia, 2007.
https://www.brittanica.com/topic/Seshat
Weber, Courtney, Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess, Weiser Books, 2015.
My Inner Wiccan 