Cronnie Wisdom

Crone is "a phase in which you can be more authentic, more capable of making a difference in your family and in the greater world. Life gives you experience, and when you draw from it, that's true wisdom. By the time a woman is in her crone years, she is in an amazing position to be an influence. To change things for the better, to bring what she knows into a situation, to be able to say, 'Enough is enough.' You don't have to just go along with things, which is often a part of the middle years. You're often something of a loose cannon."
Jean Shinoda Bolen


Saturday, January 13, 2018

The Old Woman Weaves the World



There are several Native American tales that refer to the old woman as the Creator.  She weaves the world into creation and then ... something happens.  The Sioux say her dog comes and tears out all that was woven.  As Michael Meade tells the tale a single pulled thread starts the unraveling.  Either way she is at some cross-roads.  Do nothing and the world ends.  Do something and it begins again. But what to do?  It is only through the continual rebirth of creativity that she has a vision of what to bring forth.  This is the Creator archetype that embodies all women from birth until death.  It is not limited to her childbearing years but goes with her always.  She keeps that spark safe within and ignites it to bring forth a new vision, reweaving the world and protecting the future for all generations. 

This is the generative task of all women.  The task is to care and protect seven generations forward and honor seven generations back (as the Iroquois say).  It is a wise teaching and one forgotten in the Western world today that honors only the good of the individual and the present moment.  Women have been enculturated to believe they can no longer make a difference, but the wise crone knows better.  She calls to all of her children to bring forth a brighter future even if it can't be envisioned today.  All we need to do is to pick up that single thread to begin.

For more information on this lovely story read:



Friday, January 5, 2018

Just A Snippet of the Wise Crone

I recently found this lovely snippet of text in Martin Shaw's book Scatterlings - a reminder of the wise crone as the keeper of the old stories.


The Old Peasant Woman by Giacomo Ceruti


" And one day, just a moment ago, an old woman came from her place at the edge of the village, her ears replete with listening, a mouth of fresh-cut meadow flowers, and told us to light the kindling.

Once it was dark and the little ones were drifting under the antelope robes, the strange one loped forward into the light of the flames and stood in front of the village.

She said:

Once upon a time.
Once upon a time.
Once upon a time.
So she said.
and she told us the story of ourselves back to ourselves."