December 19, 2022

As we navigate this season of darkness, we await the return of the Sun’s light and we celebrate the Light. We know in the seasons of the Earth wheel that winter will be followed by spring. 

Those are the seasons of the Earth. Yet in the seasons of our lives we know, as Elder and Crone, that there will be no spiring for us. For we are in the winter and final season of our lives.

As I reflect on this, I find it both sobering and inspiring. 

In the past few weeks I’ve been dealing with some unresolved grief. My sisters are being a huge source of comfort and wisdom. One sent me this piece by Jamie Anderson.

Grief is really just love.
It’s all the love you want to give, but cannot.
All that unspent love gathering up in the corners of your eyes,
the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest.
Grief is just love with no place to go.

As I prepare my Solstice rituals, I am sobered by knowing that there are more Solstices behind me than ahead of me. And I find there is grief in that, the grief we all experience in knowing we are in the final season of our lives. This is the journey of Crone. There is great joy and sometimes great sorrow. Yet the words of Jamie Anderson offer wisdom and inspiration for this sorrow.

In the years and decades of our lives, we have accumulated much love. And much Light. It lives in us and perhaps some or much of it is unspent. If we hold any consideration that it has no place to go, this is the season to reconsider that. This is the season to let it all go. This is the season to spread our love and shine our Light with enthusiasm and great abandon. 

This is the season to dance our Light in the world. May we step beyond our grief and embrace this inspiration, this invitation. May we dance this celebration of Crone Solstice!

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith