Meeting the Crone
She stirs the soup on the stove adjusting the heat to circumvent the hot flashes that have haunted her for years…maybe it’s just her body getting ready to be the catalyst of disparate dreams, the combustion of right vs. might, the pooled anger that ignites, the rhythm of a wild woman pushing despair into the dustbin.
The crone has lived a long life, she knows that feelings flow in different directions. The crone chooses a different way to play with the twists and turns of life. She digs deep to release unnecessary angst, and is entirely unapologetic in taking a position as she stretches the energies that make her willing, excited and alive.
Crone energetically is the direct opposite of clone, she is the individuated woman of presence, determination and empowerment willing to be fully expressed, to know herself, to speak the truth that lives within her life and define a new path when that is required.
Crone can be defined and aligned with powerful experiences yet she is not necessarily harsh or unkind. Sometimes she can seem marginalized by life, yet she is willing to make strong choices to survive, thrive and is generally clever. She naturally wants to do things her way and has learned to let wisdom guide her life.
Crone energies sometimes emerge early, activating around 50, when the second half of life calls to the possibilities that are ready to be explored. This might be a first birthing or even a reckoning, but the wisdom years stretch and expand so crone energies will continue to bloom over time. The first blush of crone reveals resiliency and forges the stories that change her heart. The later deeper crone continues in full bloom, empowered even in winter where crone claiming will take advantage of lived wisdom and celebrate life. The crone as a witch or wizened elder might be a bit far-fetched for some of us, but she does evoke a special blend of freedom, expression and focus that is genuinely received in crone-time.
Crone, like bone, is an ancient expression of discernment, determination and connection. She may be quiet or subtle in certain seasons, but underneath she is always bold and might be outright audacious with a marked unwillingness to deal with bullshit.
Claiming Crone can take some time…it can feel like a “not, yet, not me dance” but if you shift your view ever so slightly you can see she is a rebel, a renegade, an energetic ally, full of verve, interested and instinctual…ageless rather than ancient. She is any woman in her second half of life, ripe, alive, learning, growing, changing and enriched with wisdom – but it can feel downright dangerous to embrace her singular names: Crone, Hag or Wise One.
To claim a name is not how she is defined, after all there is such a dance, rather than distance, between these expressions and parts. Think how they intersect and connect: the child and changing woman, lover and mother, queen and crone each partner and influence the whole self. We are all types of a woman all of the time, ancient and infant, active and ageless, inert and inventive. Each aspect of the self is important and find their space within us.
Invite more of your story to be seen, revealed and welcomed. Seek your own crone energy that is discovered more fully when it is named, claimed, enlivened, expanded or expressed.
Perhaps a crone has been working in the world for many years decides to live differently, linger at the edge of a wood, stick her feet in the mud and retreat for a time. Another crone might be quite different, feeling unseen follows a more public path of expansive expression and choses a new path of releasing roles that hinder her wholeness.
Jean Shinoda Bolen coined the phrase juicy crone to dispel the false sense that crone refers to dried up, ugly or desiccated.
“ A green and juicy crone comes from having lived long enough to be deeply rooted in wholehearted involvements, of living a personally meaningful life, however unique, feminist, or traditional it may appear to others. It has to do with knowing who we are inside and believing that what we are doing is a true reflection or expression of our genuine self. It is having what Margaret Mead called postmenopausal zest for the life you have.”
“…women in the world have been marginalized, beaten or raped in their lifetime and everyday violence requires that women always be alert to this possibility. A crone is a woman who has found her voice. She knows that silence is consent. This is a quality that makes older women feared. It is not the innocent voice of a child who says, “the emperor has no clothes,” but the fierce truthfulness of the crone that is the voice of reality. Both the innocent child and the crone are seeing through the illusions, to expose the truth. But the crone knows about the deception and its consequences, and it angers her. Her fierceness springs from the heart, gives her courage, makes her a force to be reckoned with.”
We as women know the whole truth and can reclaim and celebrate the truer meaning of Crone, as wise and wild – embracing the power of wisdom and how it lives within the skin of the modern life and what we can be and see through the lens of dynamic, vibrant, expansive and wonderful.
Some crones are creative, other quiet, many are passionate – excited, active and engage with nature as the other half of their soul…others are contemplative, introspective, alive in the mind and inspired. Crones always lean into many kinds of delight.
Remember this, she is no less herself if sometimes tire or diminished, she will never loose her name once claimed… the Crone may need kindreds, comrades, more purposeful sources of play and pleasure, ample space for expansion and experimentation, and also tender time and a special place to feel, heal and mend when life comes undone.
Crone can embrace almost anything.
Crone is an attitude more than an age.
With art as process and expanded inquiry you are invited to explore the stories that may corm forth as you see or work with imagery. This can be simple collage, paint, doodle or mixed media, I have created a resource page to offer some creative options, experiences, videos and more.
As you create and explore your stories invite art-making to become an energetic tool – see what happens as you create space to see your stories, feelings and dreams.
· Ask your to art to reveal Crone.
· Seek the stories of how Crone is alive in your life…
· Explore the ideas of ages and stages…
· Invite a new approach to naming and claiming…
· Seek the style of your Inner Crone…
· Create your own crone card to see how she mirrors and meets you…
By Cat Caracelo
Copyright 2024
Also posted on A Mythopoetic Life on Substack where there are weekly articles and videos that enhance our work with creativity, depth and discovery! https://catcaracelo.substack.com