February 20, 2022

Stories blow through my life like seeds on the wind. Some just pass through. Others take root in the landscape of my memories. For everything prior to this moment … and this moment … is just a memory. After seven decades, it’s a vast and wild landscape.

We create, choose, and nurture those seeds, those stories, that help us make meaning of the events in our life journeys. There is wisdom in creating and welcoming stories about being in right relationship with the sacred, the Earth, and in community, for those are the stories that will guide us back to right relationship if we lose our way. And we all do.

Throughout history and across cultures, it was the elders, the wisdom keepers, who held those stories for their people. Reminding them of their heritage, their myths and legends. Reminding them of their shared values. Reminding them of being in right relationship.

And so I would share a story about those stories. This is a seed that blew into my landscape and took deep root, although I cannot remember when and from where. No web wandering is giving me any clues. But it’s a brilliant story and a brilliant storytelling approach. 

Arrow Stories. My memory tells me this came from the indigenous peoples of the southwest lands in the US. When someone in the tribe acted in a manner that was not in right relationship, that action was brought to the attention of the elders. These wisdom keepers didn’t respond immediately. They kept their own counsel and waited. They waited until the tribe was next gathered together and then one of the elders would tell a story. It wasn’t a story specific to the person or action yet everyone present knew the story’s intended target and intention. It was a story to guide that person back to wholeness. It was an arrow story, flying straight and true to the heart of the individual. It was a story seed to take root and restore balance and harmony.

As I gaze over the wild and chaotic landscape of my memories, I’m inspired to find those seeds that have flourished and are now ready to harvest as arrow stories. A harvest of wisdom, clarity, power, and grace.

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

For information on the Legacy of Wisdom and Call to Crone books, sacred journeys to Ireland, and gatherings, visit my StoneFire blog. stonefireblog.com

February 19, 2022

Stories left behind,
compost for the road
We celebrate life
without that load

Ah, the magical world of children’s books and stories. They take us to other worlds with such profound clarity and insight

As elder, as Crone, we’ve accumulated many years – and many years of stories. Stories to keep. Stories to leave behind as compost for the road that they will grow good grass for us to walk on. This is the time for discernment. This is the time to lighten our load.

And so we set our intention to focus on those stories that give life to the years we have left. To cherish and celebrate those stories that hold love and joy and harmony and laughter. Stories that nurture the roots of our wisdom and anchor our sacred agency. Stories of when we danced the manifestation of our true purpose. 

We claim the stories of our life, the stories that are life giving.
And we celebrate!

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

For information on the Legacy of Wisdom and Call to Crone books, sacred journeys to Ireland, and gatherings, visit my StoneFire blog. stonefireblog.com

February 17, 2022

Life is what happens
when you’re busy
making other plans.
John Lennon

We must be willing
to let go of the life
we planned so as
to have the life
that is waiting for us.
Joseph Campbell

Is it a matter of coincidence or consequence or cosmic intervention? When a major boulder lands in our path that question might land as well as we wonder why or perhaps WTF? It’s worth considering, although it doesn’t move the boulder.

Still. Joseph Campbell would offer that perhaps this is part of our Hero’s Journey. We walk life’s circle round and round. That if we consider our life journey as a mythic quest or even a series of mythic quests, encountering challenges is implicit and necessary and essential to gathering the boon of insight and wisdom. Intriguing to think about, but it doesn’t move the boulder. 

The rocky path is ours to walk and the boulders are ours to remove. Yet as elders, as Crones, we’ve long journeyed this path and we’ve removed many boulders. We’ve also claimed our own agency in this process. We’ve become more adept and adaptable. We’ve become wiser. 

As we remove those boulders yet again and again, we see the patterns of coincidence and consequence, we sense the patterns of divine intervention. And we step into the deeper wisdom of cosmic consideration. Joseph Campbell would be delighted. John Lennon…well, who knows?

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

For information on the Legacy of Wisdom and Call to Crone books, sacred journeys to Ireland, and gatherings, visit my StoneFire blog. stonefireblog.com

February 16, 2022

We walk life’s circle,
round and round
A rocky path of pain
is what we’ve found

I never liked rocky road ice cream. It was the marshmallows. Just never acquired the taste.   However acquiring a taste for the rocky road of life would not be an easy matter of personal choice. It would not be optional. It took me decades to get there. What ever made me think I could sail through life without a rocky road? Well, I know the answer. In our family the rocky bits were never talked about. We just sailed past them with little or no discussion. The martyrs in our family simply collected those bits and carried them through life. One scoop and then two and then many. A heavy load.

As we have traveled this life journey through the seasons and cycles of our lives we have all encountered the pain of those rocky bits. We’ve all encountered loss and disappointment and tragedy. 

Yet it’s not about the encounters, it’s about what we do with those encounters. Stuffing them in a sack and carrying those burdens through life is not an ultimately successful solution. We miss entirely the lessons we are offered. We miss entirely coming to a place of acceptance and resolution and release that allows us to move beyond those encounters with wisdom. And peace.

One day Dennis and I arrived at our graphic design offices to find our bookkeeper had locked herself in the supply closet. She didn’t want to tell us that we were $250K in debt. She was responsible for false reporting and we were responsible for not paying close attention. Dancing through the delights of graphic design, we had not watched for the rocks. It was devastating. Our bankers and accountants advised that we just declare bankruptcy and move on. A sack of rocks we would carry for the rest of the life of our business. No, thank you. It took us a few years but we stopped the hemorrhaging and paid back every penny. It was a rocky path of pain.

We don’t generally set an intention to welcome these encounters. They just arrive demanding our attention and even our hospitality, and with them the opportunity to learn how to navigate the rocky paths in life and perhaps more importantly to understand there will always be challenges in this journey. Seems counterintuitive, but it’s much about that hospitality and whether we welcome if not the encounters at least the lessons and wisdom. 

So. Rocky road. Will it be one scoop, or two…or more?

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

For information on the Legacy of Wisdom and Call to Crone books, sacred journeys to Ireland, and gatherings, visit my StoneFire blog. stonefireblog.com

February 15, 2022

It did exactly go as planned. The elder sisters in my spiritual community had been gathering to explore Crone energies and from our time together we created a song to declare some of those claimed aspects of ourselves and our lives. The following Sunday the sisters sang the song to the rest of the community. It wasn’t especially well received. Perhaps a bit too bold for them, especially the chorus. But bold was rather the point.

Elder Wisdom Song

Elders ask questions that bring clarity
Seek cooperation and sacred unity

I am who I am, imperfect and free
Not likely to be what you want me to be

We walk life’s circle, round and round
A rocky path of pain is what we’ve found

I am who I am, imperfect and free
Not likely to be what you want me to be

Stories left behind, compost for the road
We celebrate life without that load

I am who I am, imperfect and free
Not likely to be what you want me to be

Elders and ancestors hand in hand
A bowl of silence in which we stand

From our hearts to your hearts their gifts we give
So sisterhood we all may live
So sisterhood we all may live

When the convergence of Crone energies flow through us we claim our agency. And there is no aspiration in that to be what others want us to be. We are not perfect. But we are perfectly ourselves. Crone Wisdom.

Beyond the chorus, there is much to explore here. And we will.

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

For information on the Legacy of Wisdom and Call to Crone books, sacred journeys to Ireland, and gatherings, visit my StoneFire blog. stonefireblog.com

February 14, 2022

I’ve been wandering the internet searching for Crone images. It’s pretty grim. I feel like I’ve stumbled into an online Halloween store. I see myself in the mirror and look at my Crone sisters and this is just not who I see. Yes, we have wrinkles and perhaps some grey hair. But the general countenance we emanate is one of a grace that comes with decades of accumulated experience. Clear eyed in the agency of our own counsel. Beautiful.

Of course there is historical and patriarchal precedence for those fierce, angry, warty images. This portrayal is much embedded in our collective consciousness. But not mine. And probably not yours. So the images I include, artistically attributed when I’m able, will be selected to mirror our true nature. Like this image.

I see you
my sister

The wisdom of the ages
Shines a grace
On your beautiful face

For this is how I see us. Strong, powerful, beautiful, considered, compassionate and cosmically connected. Wise. Look in the mirror. She is there.

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

For information on the Legacy of Wisdom and Call to Crone books, sacred journeys to Ireland, and gatherings, visit my StoneFire blog. stonefireblog.com

February 11, 2022

True. I live in a small cottage in the forest. But I’ve never entertained the idea of kidnapping and eating children. So why is Baba Yaga persistently wandering through my consciousness lately? When these things land it’s best to just go with them.

Launching this blog, I anticipated writing about mythic crones. I just didn’t imagine it would begin with this rather formidable crone. As the stories go about her, if you run into her, you can’t be sure whether she will eat you or speak tenderly to you and grant you your wishes. And there are loads of stories.

The new and still current stories are grim. Although no one knows when or where her story originated, she has been part of the oral tradition in Northeastern Europe for millennia. The first written reference to Baba Yaga is from 1755 which is right in the middle of the Burning Times in Europe which spanned from 1300 to 1800. This is when Christians first designated witchcraft a form of heresy. And the stories of this ancient crone goddess reflect this authoritarian and patriarchal influence. Bottom line, wise women and mystical women are dangerous. Old women with these powers even more so.

Baba is generally translated as old woman or grandmother. Yaga is translated as horror, shudder, anger, fury, witch, and wicked wood nymph. She’s depicted as grotesque and deformed, riding the night skies in a mortar with a pestle in her right hand and broom in her left. The mortar and pestle are for grinding the bones of her victims, the broom wipes away all traces of her so she cannot be found.

She lives deep in the dark forest in a hut that is more animal than house. It has chicken legs that can run through the forest to avoid anyone looking for her, bright windows to watch for intruders, and is surrounded by fence posts with human skulls to scare people away. Like many similar folk tales, there is an oven for roasting children and hapless heroes that stumble across her forest dwelling. 

Like I said, it’s a grim story. But it’s the new story, new here being within the last 400 to 700 years. The old story is completely different. It is our work as Crone to reclaim these old stories for the truth and power they hold. I’m thinking this is why she’s been flying through my consciousness of late. 

Baba Yaga’s story is similar to many other ancient Crones and dark goddesses who are associated with death, intuition, magic, and the shadow aspects of the self. They are the guardian spirits of life and death, especially death of the ego through spiritual death and rebirth. They are aligned with the wild and untamable, the spirit of nature that brings wisdom. They hold the energy of Primal Earth Mother. 

Vastly different than the kidnapping and eating children stories, the old stories tell of a wise mentor, one with deep ancient wisdom and intuition. One of her popular myths is the story of Vasilisa and her doll. Vasilisa is given a small doll by her mother upon her mothers death. She tells Vasilisa to consult the doll whenever she is in need or has to make a choice. The girl is then eventually sent into the forest to meet the fearful Baba Yaga in order to complete a series of tasks. Each time Baba Yaga gives the girl a new task to complete, she consults the wisdom of her doll before making a choice. The moral of the story is that the girl is learning to use and trust her intuition and Baba Yaga is essentially helping her do that. Intuition is the language of the soul and the work of Crone is soul wisdom.

In her Goddess Oracle deck, Amy Sophia Marashinsky writes this for Baba Yaga.

Wild Woman
I walk in the forest
and speak intimately with the animals
I dance barefoot in the rain
without any clothes
I travel on pathways
that I make myself
and in ways that suit me
my instincts are alive and razor sharp
my intuition and sense of smell are keen
I freely express my vitality
my sheer exuberant joyfulness
to please myself
because it is natural
it is what needs to be
I am the wild joyous life force
Come and meet me

Wild woman, wise woman, Crone, wild joyous life force. For the patriarchy, that’s some scary shit. It is for us to reclaim the old stories and claim the wisdom. I get it, I needed a Baba Yaga boost in my life. I may not dance naked in the winter rain, but I will continue to dance in grocery stores and…hmmm, now where did I put those chicken legs?

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

February 9, 2022

We grow old. We grow feeble and fragile and pretty much worthless. That’s the narrative in our culture. And it’s not often I find a different story. Enter James Hillman.

A psychologist and author of more than twenty books, he offers a very different and life affirming perspective. There is such purpose and hope in his writing that I recommend reading the entire excerpt from one of his books that is featured in the current issue of The Sun Magazine. The Sun has currently taken down its pay wall and you can access the whole issue on line. 

So let’s talk about brain fade. I wish I had this perspective as my mom and dad slipped into what we call dementia. Yes, as we age we do lose some brain function. But apparently there are other parts of our brain that actually grow and mature. Specifically certain cortical neurons seem actually to become more abundant with our maturity. Neuroscientists suggest this might be the source of wisdom. It’s not a loss of brain function, it’s a shift in brain function. We prioritize long term memory over short term. We may forget names or where we put our keys, but we remember more clearly and vividly our memories. Hillman writes that this is not work from the past but of the past. If past time is not to be lost time, one must give it presence.

And so we wander down memory lane more often. We are giving presence to those experiences, we are commemorating them. The memory of these moments in our soul history keeps them alive, keeps our intrinsic character alive, keeps our values alive.

Wonderful. So what’s the point? 

The point is getting ready for our final transition. The point is clearing away what burdens us and celebrating those moments that are soul full, moments when our souls shone a bright light. What’s remarkable to me is that Hillman actually names this the work of soul, the soul letting go of the weights it has been carrying, preparing to lift off more easily. 

We wander the landscape of our memories and where we left our keys is just not important. We are not gone from this world, we are just spending more time in a world of our character, our essential essence. The work of soul in transition. 

People around us may wring their hands and try to coax and cajole us back to this world of mundane detail. They simply don’t understand the work we are about. We are not lost to this world, not yet. We are simply focused on the landscape of our soul, the work of soul. Some of the most important work we will do in this life…in this life for the next life. 

I so wish I had this knowing for my parents. I would have been more understanding and compassionate. Perhaps I would have spent less time in fear of losing them. They were wandering, but they were not lost. Perhaps I would have spent less time admonishing them for forgetting names and faces and where they left their glasses. Perhaps I would have found ways to support them in their work of soul. 

When I begin to wander, I pray that someone understands that I’m not lost, that they hold a space of compassion and understanding that I’m just doing the work of soul.

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

February 8, 2022

I first saw this artwork over a decade ago at my favorite restaurant in Spiddal on Galway Bay. I was smitten. There was no name on the framed piece and none of the restaurant staff knew anything about the piece. And it slipped my mind as the restaurant went out of business and slipped into oblivion.

I love the synchronicity that this image, The Cailleach Quilt, appeared in a recent web search. The timing is interesting because when I first saw the piece I didn’t have the context I do now. Now I immediately think of the Old Woman card in Jane Brideson’s Wisdom of the Cailleach oracle deck. Now the image speaks to me on a much deeper level.

Knitting past into present. Preserving myths. Keeping the ancestors alive. This is the realm of the Crone. This is old woman craft.

Old Woman

I am
gnarled hands that knit
the past into the present.
Preserving myths,
keeping ancestors alive.
I am
Your heritage,
Your hard lessons,
the kindness, old conflicts,
the good blood and the bad.
My crooked fingers unravel knots,
Free tethered thoughts,
Release the ties that bind.
I am
the parting and the letting go,
which heals your broken thread.

The questions I sit with. As Crone, what am I knitting? How am I keeping the ancestors alive and what myths am I preserving? What broken threads need healing?

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith

February 6, 2022

If we picked up the receiver and there was someone on the line, we put it down very carefully and waited. A guessing game of when they might be finished. Yes, it was a party line. And yes, I’m that old. 

At university those studying computers ran around campus with stacks of cards and knitting needles. The cards had holes in them and the needles were for pushing through those holes. Archaic coding methods. Yes, I’m that old. 

These days I’m glad I’m that old. Grateful I didn’t grow up with a mobile phone. Grateful I didn’t grow up with social media. Growing up with more space to breathe and be, I find it easy to step away from all that technological insanity. Sometimes it’s stepping, often it’s running. 

Cognitive psychologist and neuroscientist Daniel J. Levitin is the featured interview in the current issue of The Sun Magazine. He offers strategies for maintaining mental vitality in our old age. They include taking walks, getting better sleep, and trying new things. They don’t include constantly checking email, Twitter, and Facebook, which he describes as a “neural addiction.”

As I was creating this blog, a few suggested that instead of a blog I launch a page on Facebook. I had an immediate and visceral reaction. While I absolutely appreciate that FB is a great tool for many people and I watch with admiration friends like Anthony Murphy and Jane Brideson creating those pages for their work, I just can’t go there.

I watch posts pour through our newsfeeds like a waterfall. A great gushing of information that as quickly as it arrives flushes down the great FB drain into oblivion. This great gush and flush invites little if any deep consideration or contemplation. Just grab that thought in two seconds and let it go. On to the next. And on and on and on. 

It makes my head spin. And so I spend less and less time on FB. I’m never on Twitter and rarely on Messenger. Email is enough of an addiction for me and at least with email the exchange of information slows down and becomes an actual conversation. 

I recently agreed to put together memes for my spiritual community’s FB page. I was reluctant but those of you who know me know that I love creating those. However I’ve noticed a pattern. Those posts that can be consumed in two or three seconds get the most likes. Those that invite a deeper contemplation…not so much. Flush.

There was no way I could give serious consideration to opening a conversation about wise women and crones and this journey through the elder landscape on social media. This is a slow, considered journey that calls us to deep contemplation. This is not a journey of quick witticisms, sound bites and sight bites. This is a journey that invites the pace of party lines and knitting needles. 

This is not a journey of gush and flush.

Blessings of Crone Wisdom,
Judith