Crones Don’t Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women- 13 Qualities to Cultivate
Caveat: Men and Children can be crones. It’s all about the state of mind and the archetype- not the gender, age or any other label. Crone is a potential and a talent to cultivate.
The Thirteen Qualities:
- Crones don’t whine. Let go of what should have, could have, or might have been. Pay attention to your thoughts and recognize when you are complaining as change begins with insight.
- Crones are juicy. What makes life juicy is being completely involved in life. This is Act III—why not move forward in the metaphors of moisture and electricity? Plug into being able to make things happen and of having new and vibrant energy.
- Crones have green thumbs. You may not be a gardener, but you can manifest your green thumb by nurturing well, weeding out the invasive and worthless weeds, being patient and waiting for seasons to turn and being vigilant for predators. This is your turn to sow the seeds germinated in the new and waxing moons.
- Crones know what they trust in their bones. The statement (by Isabelle Allende) “Expereince is what you learned just after you needed it” is manifest of this notion. The Greeks had two words for knowledge: logos was the world of the scientific and rational, gnosis was the realm of nonverbal, feeling-tinged, and often improbable. The moments of soul experience, the sense of oneness spiritual epiphany or grace are the wisdom that infuses the bones.
- Crones meditate in their fashion. Opening up to the silences when invited, thoughts, images and feelings to be brought into a spacious part of mind. Take the time to nurture and understand the inner life your inner life. It becomes more important as you get older.
- Crones are fierce about what matters to them. Fierceness comes from an ability to speak the truth, to feel empathy for wrongs and committed to empowering the helpless and vunerable. There is tremendous power when one is betrayed or witnesses the exploitation of others that should not be underestimated. The power of crones manifests in small groups, when united they remain a powerful force for social change.
- Crones chose the path with heart. Crones know they are at a fork in the road and that the decision to be made will cost whatever the consequence is. The path of the heart reflects that we are spiritiual beings on a human path rather than human beings on a spiritual path. Asking the question, “What did I come to do, to learn, to love or to heal?” are the questions that each person can answer. There are outer paths and inner paths. At each of the crossroads we take, there is a statue of Hecate who looks back from where we came and forward to each of the options that lie before us at each juncture. The crone knows what path has heart and takes it.
- Crones speak the truth with compassion. Observation is the first step—knowing when to speak and what to say. Recognize that truth is sharp=edged and can both cause pain and excise malignancy and create a climate for healing. Crones know that the truth liberates—speaking the truth is to be able to say, “this is who I am.”
- Crones listen to their bodies. If listened to, bodies can teach us to pay attention to something important that we may miss or ignore. By both fulfilling body’s and psyche’s desires , a sense of wellbeing will emerge when the two are intertwined about what matters most or what is desired, then emotions, images and memories combine with physical sensation: one is whole.
- Crones improvise. Most crones define life as a work in progress. Regardless of what came before, changes in circumstances usually happen during crone years. Flexibility, resourcefulness, good health, friends, the ability to learn and keep in growing, the ability to enjoy time with oneself are qualities and possibilities to make improvising a good life possible. With music as a metaphor, the crone’s instrument is herself and the deep theme of her song follows her heart. Each phase is a different movement in a major work with variations upon the theme. Unitl the music ends, the crone will improvise.
- Crones don’t grovel. Groveling infers power and hierarchy- and as one of the great champions of spirit—Eleanor Roosevelt—said, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Perpetuate quality.
- Crones laugh together. Laughter gets the endorphins flowing- and its important to recognize that men and women have different sense of humor. Crone’s laugher is the expression of the triumph of spirit and soul over that which could have broken us or made us bitter. “Hilarity is a spontaneous expression of freedom and spirit.”
- Crones savor the good in the world. Savoring is about giving an experience your full attention and taking it in. Gratitude comes from being conscious of alternative possibilities and the big picture. It’s a wonderful spiritual practice- acknowledging the creator, our presence in life and for something beyond words- the communion of the universe.
And- a few closing comments…
Four guiding Principles:
1) Show up.
2) Pay Attention
3) Speak your Truth
4) Pray for the best Outcome by saying… “ I wonder what is going to happen next?”
And for those of us getting older…
“As spiritual beings on a human path, what we do at the soul level in the third phase will likely turn out to be the most important. Wisdom, compassion, character, what we do with the life we were given, what we learned and we are have become all matter. Knowing also, as the scientific world attests, that we are part of an inter-connected universe in which the smallest movement of the butterfly’s wing could actually impact a whole system. I can imagine that each one of us generates ripples of influence through who we are, what we do, whether we love and if we pray, and that someday we will know. “
