Crones and Other Wise Creatures

I am a firm believer in signs.

All kinds of signs. Like getting a message from a song on the radio, an animal omen from the hawk that just flew in front of your car, or even getting a phone call from someone you were just thinking about.
ALL SIGNS are from the Universe.

While I haven't lost the red scourge totally and forever yet, I am indeed growing into a Crone.
And this is not a bad thing. This is a very GOOD thing. This is like the BEST thing.

Although, the word "Crone" sucks ass hard, I'll agree with you there.

Check out the accepted wording and imagery of the following:

You see, old wise men are:
SAGES...ELDER STATESMEN, OLD CHAP, GREY BEARD, OLD FELLOW, PATRIARCH, MAGIS, SCHOLARS, WIZARDS,

and of course we revere "The THREE WISE MEN at Christmas, don't we?

But what about aging wise women?

What are we called in society?

How about:
"CRONES, MATRONS, GRANNY, HAG, BLUE-HAIR, MEDUSA, BATTLE-AX, GORGON,

BIDDY, FISHWIFE, HARPY, SORCERESS, WITCH."

Hmmmm....Is it just me, or are these words and images skewed?

I have received such wonderful feedback from my women friends about my recent posts!
WISE CRONES, (Older WISE Women)  who encourage me to "keep being yourself" and "Do what you need to do!"

Why is it that women are maligned so as they age?

Why? It's because men have had a big influence for many years on the words in dictionaries, the work place and in social settings.

Let us not forget that women keep the world together with families and their nurturing side. This can be unnerving for some. The Catholic Church focused its witch hunts mainly on women, who were Mid-wives, Healers and Spiritual advisors for the community.

From Wikipedia~
"In Joseph Campbell's classic work The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the first encounter of the hero on his journey is with a protective figure who provides him with amulets or magic devices against the dangers he will face. The crone is one of the most common of these protective figures."

I mean, who can argue with Joseph Campbell about HEROES? Even Steven Spielberg consulted him when working on his hero saga....you know....that little hero and sage story called.....
STAR WARS.

Today, I got a package from a girlfriend....
when I opened it, I found a magic gift!
An Magical Device (just like Joseph Campbell talked about) was inside!
It was "The Tarot of the Crone" with it's companion book, in a beautiful silk bag.

I asked for a blessing and a SIGN and shuffled and pulled my first card.

I had to laugh....and feel very blessed at how the cards are always right on for me. 

It was the Ace of Swords:
It Read:
"In my mind is the power to perceive, the one and the many worlds of creation.
A great blue eye shines with stars within, and reaches out to a piercing point.
The Ace of Swords, the root power of the Mind, is Thought. See now with fresh eyes.
Hear with new ears. Perception is a power not to inhibit or to take lightly. Strive now for lucidity. Foresee what may be and speak your truth. Settle for nothing less than original thought. What is your vision? It is time to share what you see, what you know. Let the world not be diminished by the lack of your voice."


Can you feel the synchronicity along with my eye surgery on my blue eyes?

Can you feel the love of your Crone friends?

They are there to help you, hug you, kick you in the ass.
They will drink wine with you or make you tea.

So, instead of the Fairytale or Hollywood version of Crone that you are visualizing,

Want to see some REAL LIFE pictures of Crones?

How about the amazing Liz Taylor?
She married EIGHT TIMES.
Her last laugh and bit of humor recently, was that she wanted her funeral to start 15 minutes before she arrived. That's so she could be "Late to her own funeral" :)

 Mother Theresa~
She was given the Nobel Peace prize and was BEATIFIED by the Catholic Church.
(She IS a saint....I think so. But the church is waiting for the cue :)


Cher~
Grammy, Emmy and Academy Award winner. And a BABE at any age :)
 J.K.Rowling~
She was told to have her first name to be only initals, because "teenage boys might not want to read a book by a woman." BTW....they say that she's richer than the QUEEN now. :)
 Speaking of the Queen...
She is the Head of State of 15 Commonwealths and has been been in power for 5 FIVE Decades :)
Lets not forget my favorite Queen, Elizabeth the 1st~
Never married.
She didn't need to :)


 Oprah~
born in poverty to a teenage mother, she was raped at the age of 9, became pregnant when she was 14.
She rose above all the strikes against her to become one of the most influential, powerful, spiritual and most effective philanthropists in the world.
Not bad sista!


 Betty White~
7 Emmys and the OLDEST person to host Saturday Night Live.
You just can't get much cooler than that :)


Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony~
Hey Ladies....Can you say "The Right to VOTE"??

OLDER WOMEN ROCK.
So do I
and so do YOU.

Don't be afraid to speak YOUR TRUTH.

In other words,

YOU GO, GIRLFRIEND :)

1 comment:

Unknown said...

When I turned 50 interestingly enough now 13 years ago (there's a magic number for you!) I had an official Croning Ritual Ceremony. In preparation I was sent on 7 shamanic journeys to find the Crone Goddess of each of the 7 directions (NSEW Above Below and Center) PLUS (as if that weren't enough) one more journey to find the Dark Lord of the Journey. It was a transformative experience in which I/we embraced the word Crone (I already owned the word Witch) and ameliorated or totally avoided all the menopausal symptoms usual to women of a certain age. I thank my friends who took me on that journey--well all those journeys. I recommend it heartily when one's body signals it is time! We are not bound by the opinions of men! (Insert Crone Cackle)