The Virgin, The Mother, The Whore
An archetype triangle I use in my practice.
On my journey into a more magical life, I wrestled with the religious and social structures that seemed to rule over my behaviors- Even unconsciously. I am a structure-lover (as a Virgo with Uranus in Capricorn) but the systems in place were not working for me.
They lack the spectrum-walking and nuanced nature of the human experience, even in their loosest adaptations.
Whilst meditating a message came to me that I channeled into a doodle: Go forth to create your own religion and let no one else join.
This message was one of the earliest invitations into spiritual sovereignty that I encountered and it gifted me with a paradigm shift that I was craving. The next week, I was having lunch with a magical friend of mine and I mentioned this to her.
“I feel like we are each supposed to have our own religion in our own vibration. In addition to traditions, we all have these unique paths that don’t- and maybe can’t- belong to anybody else. It’s what makes us human, maybe.”
Her electric eyes lit up and she nodded her head. “That feels like a yes in me,” she eloquently responded.
Since then, I have been delighting in structuring my magical practice to my heart's content. I allow for fluidity and creativity to materialize and manifest into a self-teaching practice. This is how I translate the messages that I am receiving from spirit so I can actually use them in my life.
One such example is the archetype triangle: Virgin, Mother, Whore.
The Conception
This came to me when I was in the midst of journaling, communing with the lineage of women that came before me. I was unpacking how it felt to be seen and perceived- Seeking to understand my own relationship to sex and sexuality.
The triangle was revealed to me as I was shown memories of past relationships, conflicts, and experiences in my life in which I had embodied an archetype. It was deeply gratifying to see a complex reality categorized, but it also came with a wave of grief.
I saw the ways that people felt in interaction with those energies. Some were drawn to the virgin, craving innocence just to take advantage of it. I experienced feeling the pain in peoples’ relationships with their mothers as I embodied my mother energy- The way it brought out their patterns and wounds. I felt the sexual shame that was brought to the surface within some when I was shamelessly in my divine whore.
The heartbreak and the shadow work lies in the reality that these archetypes were reminders of the wounding humans experience in relationship to the divine feminine. Each embodiment was not only triggering a place to heal within me but also mirroring this place to others.
Being shown these memories and experiences was an opportunity for self-forgiveness and an invitation to forgive those that had harmed me with their projections.
In this practice, I blend and borrow from two other established concepts in our relationship to the divine feminine: The madonna-whore complex and the triple goddess.
The madonna-whore complex describes a phenomenon in which a man cannot reconcile his attraction to a sexually expressed woman with his programming around what women should be- A mother, a sexless virgin, a symbol of chastity to project his will upon.
The triple goddess is the maiden, mother, and crone. This archetype group is a divine feminine expression of the phases that women pass through in their initiation through life: Youthful, Birth-Giving, and Wise Woman.
How I Use the Triangle
These archetypes have to do with not only how I relate to others in a given connection, but how I relate to myself and my own multifaceted energy.
I’ve noticed in my own practice that there is a desire to truly see the divine feminine as sexually embodied AND empowered. Seeing the inherent value of each of them is a frequency that gives them permission to take up space in my experience as well as in the world.
Sex in this context is not intercourse, but holistic nature. Sex is energy and communion with the divine. It has to do with our place in the cosmos- The union of our animal bodies with our spiritual origins. This makes the virgin just as sexually empowered as the whore.
Anchoring these archetypes by holding space for their celebration and their shadow has been deeply healing for me. I have been able to contextualize my human experience by welcoming their guidance.
The Whore
Prioritizes pleasure, embodiment, and satisfaction
Transmutes dissonance into outcomes that are utilitarian
Serves from a place of innate sovereignty
Is not defined by relationships or attachments such as marriage or parenting
Shadow: Holding self-seeking fulfillment in higher regard than responsibility, toxic hedonism
The Mother
Prioritizes nourishment, protection, and knowledge
Transmute dissonance into teachings and lessons
Serves from a place of innate wisdom
Sees the true pain and needs of others and can hold space for them
Shadow: Failing to see sovereignty in others, thinking she knows what’s best
Virgin
Prioritizes growth, experience, and ascension
Transmutes dissonance into inner wisdom
Serves from a place of logic/problem solving
Has a beginner’s mind and thirst for understanding and experiencing the world
Shadow: Lead by naive assumptions or manipulated into service to others, pouring from an empty cup
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The triangle is a visualization that I sometimes access to channel my divine feminine energy. Other times, the energy flows FIRST and then I assign an archetype. By reading my energy and then drawing that energy to an end of the triangle, it can help me take action or make sense of my circumstance.
The things in the center of the triangle represent the archetype’s commonality as well as my personal values.
My aim in some of my magical work of inner alchemy is to heal, serve, and exalt each archetype. There are ways that each of them has been wounded, ignored, or made to seem wrong in the eyes of others. In my eyes, however, they are access points through which I can greater know myself and love myself.
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