#three-in-one

Listening to The Sandman audio drama made me think about the Maiden, Mother, and Crone and how they have casually appeared in other media and how we either don’t notice it or we take it for granted.   

I think a lot of people do notice them in other media but take them for granted or don’t consciously notice what they represent.

For example here are the Wyrd Sisters from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

Granny Weatherwax (Crone), Nanny Ogg (Mother), Magrat Garlick (Maiden).

Disney’s Gargoyles The Weird Sisters are Luna, Phoebe, and Selene (a moon theme which is common with the three in one.  Waxing, full, and waning.)

 Though the age distinction isn’t there it’s still a representation of the Three-in-One.  They are never separate and they function as one.  They also tend to appear the way they want to be seen or the way people expect them to be.  For example, when Demona was looking at them, they were a set of elderly female gargoyles but that is not how MacBeth saw them.

Hocus Pocus - The Sanderson sisters.  Here’s a fun one people over-look but is very clearly and likely deliberately Maiden, Mother, and Crone.   Winifred is clearly The Crone of the group.  Mary is the motherly type (at least in regard to her siblings).  And despite her promiscuity, Sarah is clearly the most child-like and Maiden of the group.

Here we have the three witches from DC’s The Witching Hour, basis for the Hecatae as they appear in The Sandman.  Here they were a trio of horror hostesses.

Sabrina and her aunts.   This one might be a bit of a stretch but you have three witches who are rarely apart so you have the trifecta and Sabrina, herself, is clearly the maiden.  Though the Netflix Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ironically uses the aunts to pay homage to DC”s Cain and Abel I’ll use the sitcom version here.

In the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina The Weird Sisters are literally Prudence, Agatha and Dorcas. 

The Addams Family features it, but it might be pure accident.   You have Wednesday (Maiden), Morticia (Mother), and Grandmama (Crone).

Now we have the Hex Girls from Scooby Doo.  I Love this little “Eco Goth” band.  Not quite the conventional Maiden / Mother/ Crone however you could argue that Thorn is the Crone in this instance, Dusk is the maiden, and Luna is the mother. I pick these roles for purely superficial reasons here since Dusk has the child-like pigtails and Thorn is clearly the most dominant / leader and I perceive her as the oldest.      

There are the sisters of Charmed.   Not quote Maiden / Mother / Crone but definitely meant as a trio of witches who aren’t complete without the others.  

Adelaide (Crone), Auntie Whispers (Mother), and  Lorna (Maiden) from Over the Garden Wall.  This one is hard to spot until you realize the connection between Adelaide, Auntie Whispers, and Lorna.  Once you make the connection and realize the family bond and magick which binds the three you start to see the Maiden / Mother / and Crone aspects in their depictions.    Adelaide being the older sister, Auntie Whispers who is the mother figure for Lorne, who is the innocent maiden possessed by an evil spirit.   

Another trio is The Witches of Eastwick though not quite Maiden, Mother, and Crone, it felt worth a mention.

Marvel attempted it’s own version of “The Witches” with Jennifer Kale, Satana and Topaz.  

Though speaking of the Virgin Mary one could argue that it was actually a a subversive triple Goddess mention at the end of Goethe’s Faust Part 2.  When Faust ascends to Heaven we get this line:  (Translation from A. S. Kline)

“Virgin, Mother now, and Queen, Goddess, grant your mercies!“

and

“Here, grows to reality: The indescribable, Here, is done: Woman, eternal, 12110 Beckons us on.“

 The Norns (Marvel’s depiction of the three Fates).