Warrior isn't in the female progression

[blue_jay]

The traditional female life cycle is Maiden, Mother, Crone. Some wymyn want to add a fourth "Warrior" stage. This is silly. According to the CMA Beltaine ritual, the stages of the male life cycle are Warrior, Chieftain, and Sage. I've heard some disagreement about Chieftain, but Warrior seems pretty standard. Now, take Artemis - the "virgin

Comments

[neohippie]

Well, I always thought the "Triple Goddess" idea was artificial and too rigid. What was the guy that first thought up the triple goddess? Was it Robert Graves? Anyway, it's not a pre-Christian pagan concept.

Most real goddesses don't fit those roles perfectly, just as gods don't fit this new triple god idea. As you mentioned, there are several warrior goddesses. Odin is both a Chieftan and a Sage. There are hardly any Crone goddesses at all that I can think of (no, Hecate is NOT a crone!). There are plenty of Father gods, but for some reason that's not in the male aspects. I've heard some guys say that becoming a father was the most important thing that ever happened to them. Then on the other hand, some females never become mothers. And where do gods of ecstacy and fertility like Freyr and Dionysious fit?

I've been thinking a lot about what we talked about on Monday. My mythology does mention gender roles, but on the other hand there are some exceptions, with gods doing female things and goddesses doing male things when they have to (or want to!). I think that reflects real life a lot better. You can say someone is preforming a warrior role or a mother role or some combination of roles, but you can't put people (or gods) into neat little boxes.