Celtic Triple Goddess: Reflecting the Numinous
Many neopagans and modern Goddess worshipers mistakenly equate the triadic nature of some Celtic Goddesses with the Triple Goddess concept first popularized by Robert Graves in his book, The White Goddess. Graves stated that Goddesses were frequently found in triplets as Maiden, Mother and Crone. But there is nothing found in the ancient stories of Celtic Goddesses to indicate that their Triple Goddesses were known as Maiden, Mother and Crone.
Quite the contrary — these triple goddesses were seen to represent the mysterious nature of the cosmos, expressing and ruling over the more mystical truths of life. The mundane and practical aspects of life were left to the deities connected to geographical locations.
Celtic mythology reveals an understanding of the mysterious quality of the universe. Recognizing the existence of a deeper reality beyond our everyday physical reality, they saw a limit to human consciousness and understanding. They perceived that ultimately human consciousness encounters the unknown and the unknowable.
The Celtic imagination was filled with the number three as a sacred number — the three-fold Celtic spiral know as the Triskel, the Triadic, a verse in three parts used to pass on knowledge and wisdom, and the three loops comprising the Celtic knot to name a few.
