The Triple Goddess: the Maiden Huntress, the Mother Goddess and the Death Crone.
The Triple Goddess is the main deity of the pagan religion, known as Old Religion or Old Ways. The three
The waxing, full and waning moon represents the three identities of the Triple Goddess.
figures of the Triple Goddess are usually described as "The Maiden Huntress", "The Mother Goddess" and "The Death Crone", each of which symbolizes both a separate stage in the female life cycle and a phase of the moon, and often rules one of the realms of earth, heavens and the underworld.
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).
"Dolma" summons the Withe Goddess at the Cauldron of Arianrhod.
The Triple Goddess 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 to 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).
Trivia
- The Triple Goddess is actually worshipped in the real and modern religion of Wicca.
- The Dochraid told Emrys that Gwen's spirit had been bound to the Silver Wheel for all eternity (With All My Heart); the Mother Goddess herself is believed to be the shining Wheel of Radiance.
- The symbol of the Triple Goddess is also a symbol of the Greek goddess Artemis.