Cats Bits 11-1/11-7 They Call Her Crone - Woman of Wisdom

[Cat]

Cat's Bits for the Week of Nov. 2- Nov. 7

Upcoming Events & Holidays

Nov. 2: Full Moon at 2:14 pm EDT
Nov. 11: Veterns Day (USA)
Nov. 16: New Moon at 2:14pm EDT
Nov. 26 Thanksgiving Day (USA)

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Quote for the Week:

When you examine the lives of the most influential people who have ever walked among us, you discover one thread that winds through them all. They have been aligned first with their spiritual nature and only then with their physical selves.

Albert Einstein

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Poem of the Week:

"O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being.
Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead
Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing."

Percy Bysshe Shelley

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Article for the Week:

They Call Her Crone - Woman of Wisdom
By: Betty Brown

The wise old crone greets us at the pinnacle of our journey. She has found her true self and laughs with joy. She beckons to us to join her, to share the light of her wisdom, and the beauty and honor of her years. She is Hecate: Guardian of the Crossroads, and Morgan Le Fay.


"Come near, my sisters.
That which you think difficult, is not.
We are all one, whole within and without.
Containing cycles of many endings and beginnings.
Choose your path and rejoice in all that is,
Rejoice with gratitude.
Dance with me, on the mountain, on the edge.
Free your spirit and rejoice.
Perils have made you strong for the path ahead.
Transform with awareness and acceptance.
Come close, my sisters, share the light...and allow yourself to be."
- Heather Cramer from The Temple of
The Goddess

So, who is this Crone and where did she come from? In ancient time, Paleolithic era (c30,000-10,000 BCE) there were considered to be three aspects of a woman's life; Maiden, Mother, Crone. These aspects represented a woman's cycle of life. Crone was a respected term for women as wisdom keepers, seers and healers.

A revival of the term began in this country in the 20th century with such writers as Barbara Walker, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Ann Kreilkamp and many others. A Crone is defined as a woman who has moved past mid-life (usually equating to the second return of Saturn around the earth - 57-59 years of age) and continues learning from an examined experience of her life. Crone can provide an energetic consciousness and a radical aliveness, which fuels the fierceness of women's strength in older age as she adapts constructively, often gracefully to the process of aging. It is a framework for honoring the wisdom of elder women and a template for communication, community and communion as well as a basis for cooperation and compassion in all living being. Crone is a woman burnished bright by an inner fire that sharpens wit and intensity, passion and power. Crone walks in her truth, refuses to be put down and does not walk meekly on the road to old age.

Many people misunderstand the term and think it may be women with Krone's disease or accept it certainly as a negative term along with the word "hag". In fact, Crone represents the "crown" of a woman's life and "hag" used to be a word for wise elder. History has not been kind to these words and many women of the last century decided to openly embrace them and claim the full wisdom experience denied elder women for many centuries. Through Crone, women can consciously celebrate survivorship, and willingly continue forward in life with gusto. Crone flies directly in the face of ageism and sexism and will not be relegated to uselessness nor become invisible. Jean Shinoda Bolen states in her book, "Crones Don't Whine - Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women," thirteen qualities of Crone: they don't whine, are juicy, have green thumbs, trust what they know in their bones, are fierce about what matter's to them, choose the path with heart, speak's the truth with compassion, listen's to their bodies, improvise, don't grovel, laugh together and savor the good times in their lives. Certainly, for women of age, a better prescription than - you're born, ya get old and then you die.


Betty Brown ("her alter persona named "Granny Bee"), has been a Crone for the last eight years and has facilitated several workshops on Claiming, Celebrating, and Living the Crone. She is active with Crones Counsel, www.cronescounsel.org an international organization, that is currently planning a gathering in Atlanta (this) October 21-25 Betty will conduct a free workshop on Crone at the Phoenix and Dragon on September 20 from 2-5:00 p.m.


Article Rec'd 09-03-09 and Courtesy of:
(C) groups.yahoo.com/group/Spiritually_Speaking : )
Permission to share freely as long as footer is included.

Brightest blessings for a magickal week!
Cat
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