The sexual roles of the past are outdated and exploitive. In addition, the soul life of a women does not fit into modern institutions developed for men, by men, be they church, state or corporate. However, powerful feminine archetypes in the inner world can serve both sexes. 

Many of us have been working in recent years to embody and evolve aspects of these energies within our psyches. What are some of the ways in which the triune goddess manifests today? 

 

In traditional cultures, virginity is often a coveted state. Particularly powerful and protective ceremonies could only be carried out by young virgins, and the chastity of women has often been a central concern. 

Modern America often seems to confuse innocence with integrity. However, innocence is all to often merely a form of dissociation leading to denial. As psychologist James Hillman puts it, "We elect deniers, Reagan was the prime example and modern father of the Country. So long as innocence remains the Great American Virtue, denial will characterize our ideal behavior, and a state of Forest Gump eating chocolates will eventually replace the Vietnam Memorial."

In our culture, a deep longing for the presence of the Virgin is coupled with a great deal of sadness, confusion and denial where she is not present. This longing underlies the media's obsessive cynicism and the endless nit-picking over the personal lives and habits of politicians and public figures. The proclivity to constant unveiling of the dark aspects of the politics and society reflects the search for purity and integrity that is never satisfied.

Often we find the degradation of the Virgin. She then becomes the Whore, ready to exploit every opportunity for private gain or status. She reigns in modern life, with its increasing commercial, social and economic programming, seducing us to give up the quest for higher values, beauty, love and purity.

The Virgin is always present to nourish our soul lives, even after first innocence has been lost. She is equally powerful and sacrosanct in men's and women's psyches. She is associated with the Quest. Her powers shine through people who seek integrity and truth, whether they are fighting for clean air, food or water, writing love poetry, developing right livelihood, seeking scientific solutions to the world's problems, or protecting their communities, children and families. Our heroes and heroines carry her pledges as they go into battle-for her they fight the good fight and seek the truest of love.

 

Our longing for the Mother can be seen in our excessive materialism and addiction. The Material Girl is actually a mother's girl. The word "material" comes from Latin, mater, meaning mother. 

Where the bonding process has not taken place, we feel compulsive attachment to substitutes, and often feel desperate to take what we want at all costs. As child development expert Joseph Chilton Pearce states, the bonded person is able to come from humanity and heart. The attached person, whose development has been limited to lower-brain processes, must primarily relate through overt physical gestures: "Vulnerable to an unpredictable physical world, the attached person attempts to incorporate into his ego defenses the events, persons, and objects of the outer world. He treats the other person as an object for domination or as a device in his protective stratagems. The attached person lives like an armed crustacean eternally on alert." 

The bonding process necessary in the first years of life, was absent or incomplete for many of us. Women have been taught to fear natural childbirth and breastfeeding. Television has superseded family communication and the creative imagination. With all the displays of sexual degradation and violence displayed in the media, it is no wonder there have been so many mystical virgin sightings all over the world. Often she is seen in the form of the mater dolorosa, the sorrowful mother, her tears falling for her children. 

As women have moved more into the workplace, where the dollar is the bottom line and exploitive values dominate, traditional mothering values of selfless love and service are increasingly devalued or ignored. Mothers have not punched time-clocks while doling out love and attention. They have not calculated the cost effectiveness of kissing a scratch or putting on a Band-Aid. 

Although the rich are becoming richer and the poor poorer each year, philanthropy and social responsibility is declining among the wealthy. In America today, ten percent of families control eighty percent of the resources. When ill they ever have enough? 

Where is the nurturing power of Mother in a society where she is being deeply challenged? If our biological mothers do not embody her positive qualities, we must turn to the transpersonal Mother as a source to enable us to give more than we ourselves received. In the inner world, Mother is a fierce protector of the poor, weak and disenfranchised. Her energies civilize, bond, socialize and balance us. In men who integrate Mother, male vitality is empowered by the inspiration to discover, protect, defend, bond with and nurture the goddess energies. Such men are effective fathers, sons and lovers. 

Although the biological bonding process cannot be recovered, much of the chain of damage can undone and healed. Mother energies shine through parents and teachers who demonstrate and teach love and holism. Find Mother in the therapist who acts as midwife for all parts and processes of the psyche. Find Her in people who birth new ideas, foster new growth and processes of discovery and communication. Find her in the friend or family member who offers sound advice or support when you are down or in trouble. 

THE CRONE, OLD WOMAN:
TEMPERANCE, SOLITUDE, PSYCHIC STRENGTH AND STAMINA 

Where the light has become maniacally bright, the shadows loom darker and take on depressing or frightening overtones. In cultures fixated on shining young males, the dark old woman seems all the more menacing and strange. Perhaps this is the psychic environment that precipitated the holocaust of millions of women in Europe during the Inquisition. Nevertheless, soul thrives when the lights have gone out-the oceanic dreamy darkness is a cooking vessel for soul. Just as we have sunny, clear skied spirit seasons for the heroic and the beautiful, so we also must endure long, dark rainy winters of the soul. They are just as important to one's psychic ecosystem. 

In a world where we receive hundreds of commercial messages a day about what we are supposed to want, need and buy, it is difficult to find one's own voice underneath the chatter. It takes centered strength to realize, "I don't need all that!" Although Crone has been the least valued and understood figure in our culture, do not underestimate her power. She sees through illusion. She's recognizes the pitfalls along one's path. She represents the psychic power that carries us through when the chips are down. Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman conveys Crone energy:  "Don't be tempted by the shiny apple, Don't you eat of the bitter fruit, Hunger only for the taste of justice, Hunger only for a world of truth, 'Cause all that you've got is your soul." 

Find Crone in solitude, in releasing yourself from false goals, illusions, relationships, compulsions and addictions. The Crone knows how to survive and traverse the dark night of the soul, be it a long and tricky way around. As a Native American friend of mine puts it: "I learned that the way to heaven is to go to hell and make a U-turn!" 

In the old folktales around the world, a diviner often lived at the edge of the tribe. When things were out of balance-when crops failed or babies were miscarried, the people would go to this person for help. Today's world is much more complicated. We have an immense diversity of economic and social conditions to address and we must each develop powers within our own imaginations to comprehend all of the incredible otherness in this world, with its many complications, gifts and solutions. 

Our challenge is not to become the goddesses within our egos, but to carry and develop their inspirations within our bodies and souls and into our work in the world. Old archetypes that were once worshipped in goddess form as Virgin, Mother and Crone represent hidden feminine values that can empower and transform our lives. If we could hear the old wise person sitting at the edge of the meadow, this is what he or she would say: "Pay attention to the inner whisperings of the deep feminine, and everything will come into better balance for men and women. She works from the belly and the soul. She empowers through her love and inspiration. Just as carrying a child and giving birth is not easy, her path can be daunting, requiring courage, patience and utmost humility. Her reward is true fulfillment of life on this planet." 

Carolyn Drewes is a writer, teacher of Women's Mysteries and clairvoyant counselor.