Triple Goddess

The Triple Goddess is the main deity of the Old Religion. The High Priestesses of the Old Religion are the main servants of the Triple Goddess. This deity was first mentioned by Alator of the Catha in the episode "The Secret Sharer", when he called Morgana "High Priestess of the Triple Goddess, and last of your kind".

The Disir, three soothsayers trained from birth to interpret the will of the gods, were the very mouthpiece of the Triple Goddess. According to them, the Goddess presides over all, sees all and knows all. Because Arthur Pendragon had denied the Old Religion, dismissed its faith and persecuted its followers, even onto slaughter, She had been angered by him. The only way for him to avoid Camelot's destruction and the death of everyone he held dear was to embrace the Old Ways and bow to the Goddess. However, Arthur decided not to accept magic back into Camelot, so the Disir made sure Mordred, the ultimate cause of his death, lived (The Disir).

A goddess, perhaps distinct from her, was also mentioned as the White Goddess of the Cauldron of Arianrhod, whose waters could free the soul of someone who had been broken by the "Teine Diaga", the "sacred fire", an ancient ritual of the Old Religion which used the mandrake root to bring unimaginable terror to the victim. The waters of the Cauldron held the Goddess' powers and only their touch could heal who had been bound with dark magic by the Silver Wheel forever. Merlin, disguised with an ageing spell as the old sorceress Dolma, used all his powers to summon the White Goddess with the spell "Yfel gæst ga þu fram þisse lichaman. Biþ hire mod eft freo. Ar ond heofontungol sceal þurhswiþan" and cleanse Guinevere from Morgana's magic (With All My Heart). This goddess appeared as a burst of white light.

Another possibly distinct goddess, Nemaine, was also mentioned, in the episode The Diamond of the Day: Part One, when Gaius told Merlin that the Gean Canach had been forged by the tears of the Earth Mother, Nemaine.

Powers and Abilities

 * Immortality/invincibility - Being "God" of the Merlin universe, she is eternal and like any spirit cannot by any means be hurt or injured.
 * Omnipotence - She has unlimited power and and as a spirit can do anything she wants.
 * Omniscience - Being a God, the Triple Goddess knows all and everything there is to know.
 * Omnipresence - The Triple Goddess sees all and everything that happens in the Merlin universe.

Trivia
Triple Déesse
 * The Dochraid told Emrys that Gwen's spirit had been bound by the Silver Wheel for all eternity (With All My Heart); the Mother Goddess herself is believed to be the shining Wheel of Radiance.
 * The inclusion of the Triple Goddess was likely inspired by the novel The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, who drew from Neopaganism when developing the religion of Avalon (this is also likely the inspiration of Morgana being, specifically, a High Priestess)
 * The symbol of the Triple Goddess is also a symbol of the Greek goddesses Artemis, Selene and Hecate.
 * Due to Merlin's frequent usage of Germanic religions, the Triple Goddess could also be based on the Celtic triplicate deity the Morrigan, who is a single deity composed of three sisters (sometimes claim to be lovers instead) named Macha, Badb, and Nemain. The Morrigan is associated with fate, death, and crows.