Maiden, Mother, Crone: Voices of the Goddess - Book Review by Dawn "Belladonna" Thomas

Maiden, Mother, Crone: Voices of the Goddess by Claire Hamilton

ISBN: 1905047398

I received this book from my husband as a Yule gift. He knows how important the Goddess is to me and thought this book would be special. He didn’t know the half of it. This book is full of myths and stories about Celtic Goddesses that haven’t had their stories told in a long time. The way that Ms Hamilton writes makes you feel as if you are watching it happen in front of you. It is so visual.

The book starts with an introduction with a look at how people honored the Goddesses in the past. Ms Hamilton makes a good point that everyone is familiar with Greek and Roman Goddesses because their stories have been told over and over again. But only recently has there been an interest in the Celtic Goddesses. She points out that Robert Graves was one of the first people to suggest the three aspects of the Goddess and their relationship with the seasons. The prologue is beautifully written and starts with this: “The voice of the Goddess spoke the first word. But it was not a word. It was an impulse, a thought, a quickening.”

The book is divided into three sections – Maiden Goddesses, Mother Goddesses and Crone Goddesses. There are four goddesses listed in the Maiden Goddess section. These goddesses include Brighid the Maiden, Blodeuwedd, Boann, and Sabrina. This was the first time that I became acquainted with Sabrina. Her life was so short and unfortunate.

The second section introduces us to Deirdre, Branwen, Brighid the Mother, Macha, and two stories about Rhiannon. I was so drawn in to the story of Deirdre and wondered why I had not heard of her before. It is obvious the women in these stories were so strong that it was important for others to keep them contained or controlled.

The last section shares stories about The Morrigan, Medbh, Arianrhod, Ceridwen, and Brighid the Crone. These stories show that Goddesses that were considered powerful were shown as manipulative. This is usually the case with powerful women or goddesses. Their power was considered a threat so they were demonized or minimized.

I am glad Ms Hamilton shared these stories with us in her book. I am now aware of more Goddess stories and my knowledge deepened on a few I already knew. Anyone interested in the Celtic Goddesses would enjoy it as much as I did. These stories should be told to anyone willing to listen. It is a great way to share the Goddesses so that no one will forget them again.