From Maiden to Mother
What’s really been blowing my mind lately is how I’m leaving the Maiden archetype and stepping into the Mother archetype. In womanhood, we have a triple goddess, known as the Virgin-Mother-Crone. The Virgin phase represents our freedom, innocence, and the discovery and exploration of our sexuality. I would also say the Virgin phase represents our purity as well. We have yet to experience hurt, disappointment, and betrayal so we approach life with awe and vigor. Next is the Mother archetype which represents the phase where we discover ourselves as a nurturer. The Mother creates, the Mother destroys. In the Mother phase we come to understand the gift of birth and how to bring forth the spiritual into the material. The most mature and misunderstood archetype is the Crone phase, the wise woman years. For me this represents when she has reached her menopausal years and is reflective of her Virgin and Mother phases, allowing her experience and knowledge to transform and enlighten the women that follow her. For me this is grandmother energy. For many cultures, the Crone represents death and decay. I don’t like to call the Crone woman the “hag” as that connotation is just too negative. The Crone phase is amazing, as this woman is wise, clever, and experienced enough not to take any shit. Though she may no longer be able to rely on her youthful beauty, she is not worried because she is embodied truth and confidence.
A woman doesn’t have to be a physical “virgin” to experience the maiden archetype, nor does she have to have a child to experience the mother archetype. As for me, I feel like I’ve been in my maiden energy for so long, while simultaneously nurturing and mothering other people and projects. I have a natal Mars in Cancer in the 10th house, so I can be very motherly towards people. My Virgo ascendant also casts an ever present “maiden” energy over me.
By having a child I will be physically transforming my body into this Mother archetype, which will effect me on an emotional and energetic level. It’s already so crazy that I cannot control what my body does to physically nurture and care for this baby while pregnant. I’m so ready to see where this transition will take my mind, body, and spirit. I am equal parts nervous and excited because I know I will not only be birthing my child, but a new version of myself as well.
