In my path I honour four faces of the Goddess, rather than the commonly-known three. I struggled for a long time with three faces (known as Maiden, Mother and Crone) since I felt that was lacking in the explanation of a woman's life. I mean no offense but it seemed like there was some guy out there thinking "Okay, what do women do? I guess they just get born, grow up, pop out babies like gumballs, get old and die." So I really researched on this and then one day I was on an astrology site geared toward women. It said to take the four phases of the moon and live it. I don't remember the exact words or even the website name but in the descriptions it mentioned how in some cultures three phases were honoured and in some, four were. I did some Googling and learned that some Pagans honoured the goddess in four faces, and there were quite a few different formulas:
~Child, Maiden, Mother, Crone
~Maiden, Temptress, Mother, Crone
~Maiden, Mother, Matriarch, Crone
~Child, Initiate, Queen, Wisewoman
~Maiden, Warrior, Mother, Crone
The last one is what called to me. I picture the Maiden as being young, learning, playful; the Warrior, as she grows sees injustice, experiments in life and discovers sexuality; the Mother is seen as she settles into home and hearth, raising her children and fiercely protecting them; and then the Crone, as she is filled with untold wisdom and is loving, yet firm.
(A note: As with all Faces of Divine, I see the Mother as a symbol. I know not all women decide to take the path to having children and so for them, the Mother aspect can be more like nurturing a career, a lifestyle, even self.)
Some people put the Warrior after the Mother but to me that would imply abandonment of family as she pursues other things. I like the Maiden at Imbolc & Ostara; the Warrior at Beltane and Litha; the Mother at Lammas and Mabon; and the Crone at Samhain and Yule. They seem to fit there in a logical sense...Maiden in early fresh spring and the beginnings of fertility; the Warrior in the excitement of sexuality, summer storms, and battling iniquities; the Mother present for providing during both harvests; the Crone present to guide us into the new year and teach us survival during the winter.
All in all, it works for me. Four goddesses representing the four faces have called to me: Xochiquetzal, Inanna, Arianrhod and Frau Holle; and two gods, representing the Light and Dark halves of the year: Tyr and Arddu.
