Maiden, Mother, Keeper, Crone — The New Archetype for the 21st Century Woman
Even in this modern, scientific age, most people are familiar with the three archetypes of the Divine Feminine — Maiden, Mother, and Crone. For centuries, if not millennia, these three faces of woman have been not only worshipped, but also used as archetypes for navigating the complex psychological experience of being a woman. Whether used in storytelling or psychoanalysis, archetypes are an important tool for helping humans relate to who they are and to one another. They show up in our myths, both modern (Lord of the Rings) and ancient (Beowulf). Screenwriters use the “Hero’s Journey” to pull us into the narrative, reporters will focus on the maidenhood of the young girl gone missing, and the image of the wise, old woman is central to female identity in most cultures.
Modern feminist writers often explain that the Hero’s Journey is prevalent in all literature due to the inherent misogyny of the writers of ancient literature. Some of this thinking has swung so far left that entire works from the Western literary canon are being removed from liberal arts curriculum across the nation due the stories’ patriarchal, male focus. As a woman who has always enjoyed a good hero story, I’m a bit overwhelmed by these efforts to force our modern lifestyle upon ancient texts. The roles we played in the past were due to some very…
