Also called triple goddess symbol, maiden mother crone symbol, triple crescent
A full moon flanked by a waxing and a waning crescent, used in modern Wicca and Paganism for the Triple Goddess as Maiden, Mother and Crone. The idea draws on ancient triple goddesses, but this form and meaning were shaped in the 20th century, above all by Robert Graves.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Use sturdy holders on a heatproof surface and never leave candles burning unattended or near curtains.
Graves described a single moon goddess in three aspects and linked her to the phases of the moon, using several sets of names, from Maiden-Nymph-Hag to Mother-Bride-Layer-out. Maiden, Mother and Crone became the form most Pagans adopted.
Hecate was shown as three figures back to back at crossroads. The philosopher Porphyry in the 3rd century CE linked her three forms to phases of the moon, one of the few ancient sources for a lunar triple goddess.
Early Wiccans drew on Graves and on earlier writers such as Jane Ellen Harrison. Over time the triple moon became a standard Wiccan and Pagan emblem, worn as jewelry and drawn on altars.
Ancient religions had many groups of three goddesses, such as the three Fates and Hecate in triple form, but there is little ancient evidence for one goddess who was Maiden, Mother and Crone tied to the moon's phases. Classicist Jane Ellen Harrison and others in the early 20th century proposed a triple moon goddess, and the poet Robert Graves made the idea famous in The White Goddess, published in 1948, which most academics now regard as poetic mythmaking rather than history.
Historian Ronald Hutton has argued that the Maiden, Mother and Crone moon goddess is essentially a modern creation, drawn from Graves. Wicca, which went public in the 1950s, absorbed the idea, and the triple moon became a common Pagan symbol from the late 20th century. It is a meaningful modern symbol of life's cycles and the moon; it is simply not an ancient one.
The pentagram is a five-pointed star drawn in one unbroken line; a pentacle is that star set inside a circle, or, in ritual magic and Wicca, a disc engraved with it. Used for thousands of years for health, protection and the five elements, it only gained its sinister reputation in the 19th century.
A knot of three interlaced arcs, common in early medieval Irish and Anglo-Saxon art such as the Book of Kells, later read as a symbol of the Christian Trinity and today worn as a Celtic and Pagan sign of threefold protection and unity.
A full moon ritual is a simple monthly practice done at home on the night of the full moon to give thanks, release what is finished and charge water or tools in the moonlight. This is a complete solo version for beginners, separate from the Wiccan coven esbat.
Tell us what you need and we will craft a custom spell, charm or reading for it. Or call to book a reading or a road blessing in person.
