Embracing the Crone – A Loving Path to Aged Wisdom
To the Celts, the Triple Goddess, Maiden/ Mother/Crone, is more than a depiction of womanhood but portrays the cycles of nature – birth, growth, and decay.
Embracing the Crone
by Jennifer Ott
For many aging women, when we see a beautiful, youthful woman turning heads, it can be a cringe-worthy experience as we battle the aging process. Our modern society makes aging a hard process. All we can do is wonder where did the time go?
During the study of the Ancient Celts, I learned of the Triple Goddess – the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, which is the last facet. This is more than a depiction of womanhood but portrays the cycles of nature – birth, growth, and decay. We can see this in everyday aspects from the change seasons to a creative project and to even a love relationship.
In the Celtic tradition, the elder woman is honored and shares the same status as the revered medicine man in many native cultures, so why do we today have this perception of the Crone being an evil, horrid witch – warts, pointed fingers and no teeth – the one found in folklore which eats ill-behaved children?
One only has to look at history. The Ancient Celts were society, men, and women labored together, and they battled alongside one another. Both male and female healers and shamans of the time dealt in the wisdom of nature – the plants, the land, the sky, and mostly the Otherworld of Gods and the Ancestors. The wisdom of these shamans was sought after those in need of physical, emotional and spiritual healing.
We don’t know much of Ancient Celtic history because being a pastoral community, they left no written record, mythology passed down from generation to generation. The history of the Celts was provided by the Romans and the Saxons who conquered and settled once Celtic lands.
The main growing bias was the Roman Catholic Church, which governed during the Middle Ages with extreme patriarchy and women considered second class citizens – vehicles for procreation and recreation. In Medieval times, the older woman would have had no use, and absolutely no power, so of course, they would alter the Crone’s status as a goddess to that of a witch. Their view of this aged wise woman would have considered her something of a threat, something to scare young children and in this portrayal, the Crone became known as something dark and sinister, whose wisdom should not be sought.
For nearly a thousand years, aged wise shamans and healers suffered under this demeaning term of “witch.” Thankfully, this is changing. Society is once again embracing the beauty, the grace and wisdom of aging women. No longer do many feel compelled to dye their gray hair and mask their wrinkles. Reaching this state of a badge of honor and women should celebrate it.
However, even in our modern age, where we boast of being an evolved society, we still find ourselves with similar judgments of age as the Middle Age Patriarchal Lords and Bishops, who feared the wise aged woman, and also perhaps feared death and decay.
Many women today find themselves trying desperately to fight age, a natural process, with unnatural products. Yes, beautiful young maidens have their place as they represent creation and birth, and yet as a culture, we tend to miss the other major aspects of humanity. As we enter the dark seasons of Autumn, the dark season of decay, it is important to honor the Crone’s wisdom.
Aging is beautiful and decay is beautiful in a sense; it represents a natural process of returning to our source, whether it be nature returning to the earth and being reborn in the Spring. As humans, it represents our lessons learned in this lifetime and for us to be reborn into the next life with the wisdom of the past.
The important thing is for all of us (men and women) to embrace not just youth and the maiden, but this endearing aging process with love and grace. The Crone is something for a woman to aspire to be. Embrace the wisdom of our elder years, our gray hairs, our wrinkles, our bodies, because as the maiden offers her beauty and body for procreation and creation, it is the Crone who has evolved beyond beauty and body. She is wisdom and is the soul.
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About the Author
Jennifer Ott is the author of many novels – fiction and non-fiction. Her latest WIP, Arise My Tribe, is the story of a past life ancient Celtic healer who weaves her tale through that of a modern woman going through a crisis of the heart. Jennifer’s first entry into the spirituality was the study of Nada Yoga. Since then, she has studied a multitude of meditation styles, spiritual philosophies, and multi-cultural shamanic ceremonies. This holistic practice of spirituality aided greatly into the journey of soul discovery to realize the burden of past life karmas. http://www.jenniferott.com
