Hidden Face of the Goddess

Triple Goddess, Moon Goddess -- Maiden, Mother, Crone. The three faces of the Goddess are well recognized in the Pagan community and is echoed over many eons of mythology, whether they represent three separate deities (the Moirai/the Norns) or three aspects of one goddess (Hecate, Morrigan, and the Matrones).

Edit: The painter is Ann Fox. Thank You Jerry!!!!

But what if there is a fourth face? We know about the Maiden who is represented by the Waxing Crescent; we know the Mother is represented as the Full Moon; we know the Crone is represented as the Waning Crescent. What about the New Moon, the Dark Moon? What if the fourth face of the Goddess is the hidden face, deep within what is shrouded by the dark, the secret, the forbidden? What if this aspect is the silent one, the one no one talks about but everyone knows subconsciously? Maybe I am slow to realize this, but a while back I found the Charge of the Dark Goddess and never connected it until now.

"The Dark Goddess speaks to us, through the mouths of Lilith, Kali, Tiamet, Hekate, Nix, the Black Madonna, Nemesis and Morgane.
I am the Darkness behind and beneath the shadows.
I am the absence of air that awaits at the bottom of every breath.
I am the Ending before Life begins again,
the Decay that fertilizes the Living.
I am the Bottomless Pit,
the never-ending struggle to reclaim that which is denied.
I am the Key that unlocks every Door.
I am the Glory of Discovery,
for I am that which is hidden, secluded and forbidden.

Come to me at the Dark Moon
and see that which can not be seen,
face the terror that is yours alone.
Swim to me through the blackest oceans
to the center of your greatest fears--
the Dark God and I will keep you safe.
Scream to us in terror, and yours will be the Power to Forbear.
Think of me when you feel pleasure, and I will intensify it,
until the time when I may have the greatest pleasure
of meeting you at the Crossroads Between the Worlds."

The Death Goddess, Goddess of Fear and Terror, Goddess of Darkness, Goddess of Blood. This is the "Other Side" of the Circle of Life. The Last and First Mystery, the Void before the First Breath and the Absence after the Last. (Geez, would you quit capitalizing everything! TYVM)

(source)

"Ye shall approach Me in silence, and as a sign that ye are free from fear, your breast you shall bare to My blade...for fear has no place in My mysteries, and that which you seek of me will destroy you if you fear it"

Dig deep, dig far, and do not fear. You knew Her before you realized it, and you will know Her again. Samhain is coming up fast, and her domain is the Winter (or the Summer, if you are in the Southern Hemisphere).

(Interesting aside: I heard/saw somewhere that some scholars believe that the "dead months" when Demeter cried over her daughter Persephone was actually the Summer months, when the heat was so oppressive that nothing would grow. I don't remember where I read it at, possibly the Wild Hunt, but I can't seem to find it.)

Death. Her name, Death. Maiden, Mother, Crone, Death. Do not fear Her, because She is kind and gentle. She takes away the sickness, the pain, the hurt, the damaged. She loves you in Her way; do not hate Her. Relax, and let it go.



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EDIT:  I'm putting some quotes from people that I totally love about the article.

From Bobby S: I see the fourth side as containing aspects of all and like us holding the reflection of the three hidden. Those things we all hold within the shadow - not bad, not evil - but secrets we hold to ourselves as the moon is shaded but not gone.

Love! Personally I don't see the "dark side" of the Circle as evil or bad anyway. Death is the complimenting half to Life, just like Nemesis is Fortuna's balancer, or Darkness is the twin of Light.

From Connie L:  [Talking about the Triple Goddess painting] But we can easily imagine Her fourth face looking backward, and thus rendered invisible by the other three — just like the dark fourth phase of the moon when it hides its face from us.

Love again! You can almost make out something behind the Three, like it teases something in the back of your mind...

From Gene F: I like the addition of Oh Death, with a supernatural twist. My wife and I actually play this song during our Samhain ritual. I like Connie's statement of her face turned away from us. As if she's keeping her secrets hidden by not showing us her face. Samhian is perhaps my favorite Sabbat. I love the idea that life begins in death. It shows existence as a permanent state, not one that ends with your last breath. It also shows that life is a cycle and that just as in the natural world we will renew.

Love thrice! Did you know that even rocks go through cycles? Our entire galaxy can be described in cycles, from the life/death/rebirth cycle in the animal kingdom and the breathing cycle of plants to the cycles of the planets and their seasons to the rotation of our galaxy itself. Why would our afterlife be any different? 

I love my friends! <3 <3 <3

EDIT #2: One of my friends, Bobby, found this article for me. This is a great read, and a good view of another point I didn't make; the destruction part.