In the deep woods surrounding the temple, there was a little hut that a crone from the nearby town occasionally used to do spell work in. Through their many years of devotions to the Goddess, the priestesses had become very psychic indeed, so they could always tell when the old crone was in the hut. "The crone is in the woods again", they would whisper to each other. As she agonized over the demise of her temple order, it occurred to the high priestess at one such time to visit the hut and ask if the crone by any chance would have any advice that may save the temple.
The crone welcomed the high priestess at her hut. But when the high priestess explained the purpose of her visit, the crone could only commiserate with her. "I know how it is, " she exclaimed." The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one remembers the Old Ways anymore."
So the old crone and the old high priestess wept together. Then they did one of the ancient rituals and quietly spoke of deep things. The time came when the high priestess had to leave. They embraced each other as sisters, "It has been wonderful that we should have met and shared the magic after all these years," said the high priestess, " but I have failed in my purpose for coming here. Is there no piece of advice that you can give me that would help me save my dying priestesshood?"
"No, I am sorry," the crone said. "I have no advice to give. The only thing that I can tell you is that the Awakening Goddess is one of you."
When the high priestess returned to the temple, her fellow priestesses gathered around her and asked." Well, what did the old crone say?"
"She couldn't help," the High priestess answered, "We just wept and raised the energy together. The only thing she did say, just as I was leaving-and this is kind of cryptic- was that the Awakening Goddess is one of us. I do not know what she meant."
In the days and weeks and months that followed, the old priestesses pondered this and wondered whether there was any possible significance to the crone's words. The Awakening Goddess is one of us?
Could she possibly have meant one of us priestesses in the temple? If that was the case, which one?
Do you suppose she meant the high priestess? Yes, if she meant anyone, she probably meant Lady Rhiannon, She has been our leader for more than a generation.
On the other hand, she might have meant Brigit. Certainly Brigit was inspired by the Old Ones. Everyone knew she was a woman of the Light.
Certainly she could not have meant Cerridwen! Cerridwen gets crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even though she got on people's nerves at times, when you look back on it, Cerridwen was usually right. Often very right! Maybe the crone did mean Cerridwen after all.
But surely not Morgaine...Morgaine is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost mysteriously, she has a gift for somehow always being there when you need her. She just magically appears by your side. Maybe Morgaine is the Awakening Goddess.
Of course the crone didn't mean me. She couldn't have possibly have meant me. I'm just an ordinary person. Yet, suppose she did? Suppose that I am the Awakening Goddess? O, no, I couldn't be that much to you Old Ones, could I?
As they contemplated in this manner, the old priestesses began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Awakening Goddess. And on the off, off chance that each priestess herself might be the awakening Goddess, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect also.
Because the forest in which it was situated was beautiful, it so happened that people would occasionally come to visit the temple to picnic on its grassy slopes, to wander along some of its paths and even now and again to enter its ruins to meditate and dream. As they did so, without being conscious of it, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old priestesses. It seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back to the temple more frequently to picnic, to play and to think about times gone by. They began to bring their friends to show them this special place. And their friends brought their friends.
Then it happened that some of the younger women who came to visit the temple started to talk more and more with the old priestesses. After a while one asked if she could join them. Then another. And another. So within a few years the temple had once again become a thriving community and, thanks to the crone's gift, a vibrant center of Love and Light and Power in the world.
The Goddess is the Mother of all universes. She is the Goddess of Fertility, the Goddess of Life; but She
can be cold, for She rules the passage of lives and it is She who cuts the threads in the Web of Life. She is
the Triple Goddess of the Moon--Maiden, Mother, and Crone. She is the innocent Maiden, filled with the
joy of life; She is the Mother, protectress and creatrix; and She is the Crone, the Wise One, the Lady of
Justice and the Lady of Death.
The Maiden is the Lady of the Hunt, Diana, Artemis, Athena. She is the waxing moon; the crescent moon is
Her silver bow, arching against the sky. She is the Goddess of the wild, the picture of youth. Sheer
innocence. Wild, free, untamed, Mistress of the Beasts. She is the Maiden, the symbol of true and ultimate
freedom.
She is the Mother of All Creation, the source from which all life comes; She is Tawert, the Lady of
motherhood and childbirth, protectress of all mothers and children. She is the First Mother, the One who
protects the hearth and the home. She is the primal Eve, the primal Lilith, two sides of the same woman.
The Mother of the Universe, of everything that has ever been and will ever be. She is Hera, Isis, Sophia.
She is Mother Earth, wife of Father Sky. She weaves the Web of Life. The Mother Goddess is the warrior
who protects the lives of Her children, Brigid at Her forge. Holy Mary, Mother of God.
The Crone is the Goddess of Justice, Lady of War, bringing justice to those who have disobeyed Her Law.
She is the the Wise One, the Lady of the Crossroads, who sees down the paths of Past, Present, and
Future. She is wisdom; She rules the cauldron of transformation and rebirth. All things must bare
themselves to Her, to die and be reborn whole. It is in Her land that we are remade and reborn, Her land
where we face our darkest fears and come forth victorious, renewed and truly alive. Look into Her mirror
and see your own reflection. She is the Morrigan, the Dark Goddess, who is both Death and Life. Face
Her--and be transformed.
She is the Goddess, the Lady, Maiden and Mother and Crone. Huntress, Protectress, Warrioress. She is
the One and She is the All.
