SpellCrafting: Spells and Rituals

Croning : Are you a Crone?

Merry meet!

This month begins the first of a six-part series on croning – a feminine a rite of passage ritual for those reclaiming the power and wisdom of the old woman, the crone.

Crone is one of triple Goddesses, the third stage, the wise elder.

Two characteristics generally used to determine cronehood are reaching menopause and having moved through your second Saturn return, a sort of cosmic transition, which generally happens by your 58th birthday. (You can enter your birth day, month and year and learn your dates at www.astrocal.co.uk/saturn-return.php.)

Saturn return marks the time when the planet that rules lessons, responsibilities and limitations returns to the same point it was when you were born. The first time it happens is in your late 20s. It comes back around again in your late 50s (A good reason to have mid-life crises.) and then again in your late 80s. Each time, the entire influence lasts almost three years.

Known as “the teaching planet,” Saturn comes to let you review your life and account for your choices. You may feel smacked down, put through the meat grinder and tested. During this time you may come face to face with all sorts of situations you probably would rather avoid.

When my second return came, I found myself becoming very aware that I was aging and that ageism exists. Our society is obsessed with youth, often dismissing women as they mature. To crone was a way I found to celebrate those decades, and to raise awareness around the issues of aging while challenging the image of old hag. To me, it was an honor to accept the title of crone.

A crone is no longer a mother raising children. She knows the value of time, and takes some to care for herself. Her creativity flowers. She is weathered and realistic, but she still dreams. She may be slower, but she’s steady.

Those who only see she is becoming “old” miss the ripeness that comes with experiences and the wisdom gleaned from them. She may have a sense of empowerment and a willingness, even an urge, to pass along her knowledge. While society seems to place little value on her wisdom, I believe the world is in need of it.

At this stage, a woman is moving into the greatest time of her life and a croning marks that. It celebrates older women, for they have always been the keepers of the mysteries. Nowhere else in my life was that milestone recognized or honored as it was among my magical family. I viewed my croning as my acceptance of my passage into elderhood. I embraced my life for getting me to where I am, and embraced myself for arriving.

I first wanted to crone at Mabon in 2013. My second Saturn return had come; it was more than a decade since my last flow; I was a grandmother. To pull it together in time would have rushed the process, so I did not announce my intention. Little did I know the events, challenges, losses and changes that would occur beginning that very Mabon afternoon and continuing to pummel me for months. It was clear I still had work to do around the issues of surrender and trust. The more my spiritual self was tested, the higher it soared. Come that next year I knew I was ready; I felt deserving.

I had a wonderful sense of having come into my own, of realizing I have a voice and I have power – and that I’m not afraid to use them. One of the items I placed on the altar during my ritual was a drawing of a woman with wild botanical hair and these words by an unknown author: “A wild young woman can be tamed by time and circumstance but a wild old woman is untamable by any force.” I was now a wild old woman and proud of it.

If you found yourself nodding a few times as you read this, perhaps you, too, are a crone. If you would like to honor that with a ceremony, my columns in the coming months may help.

 Next we will begin to explore the ritual of croning: what, when, where and who to invite.

In June we will talk about the symbols of the crone. July will prompt you to reflect on your life and the wisdom you have to share. My croning ritual will be a large part of the August column, along with some ideas for your own. We’ll wrap up in September with any questions you may have as well as some details that did not fit into previous columns.

Merry part. And merry meet again.