"the essence of the mythological canon of
the hero-redeemer is that he is fatherless or motherless,
that one of the parents is often divine, and
that the hero’s mother is frequently the Mother Goddess herself or else betrothed to a god.
These mothers are virgin mothers, which is not to say that what psychoanalysis has attempted to read into this fact is necessarily correct.
As everywhere in the ancient world, virginity simply means not belonging to any man personally;"
"virginity is sacred, not because it is a state of physical inviolateness,
but because it is a state of psychic openness to God.
virginity was an essential aspect of the Great Mother, of her creative power,
which is not dependent on any personal mate.
But there is also a procreative masculine element at work in her.
At the uroboric level this element is anonymous; later it becomes subordinated to the Great Mother as phallic energy,
still later it appears by her side as her consort."