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A Glimpse of the Crone
Dec. 30th, 2008 07:06 amI don't work with a "Triple Goddess" system. The Maiden-Mother-Crone model has never fit my understanding of my own nature as a woman, nor my perceptions of the Feminine Divine.
I have resonated with the wisdom aspect of the Crone since I was an adolescent. Even as a mother, I don't tend to relate to the archetypal images of Motherhood or their broad associations with nurture and fertility. The Maiden's essential virginity (one-in-herself-ness) always appealed to me, but not her eternal innocence. And where was the sexiness? The traditional depictions of the Mother always seemed very domesticated to me, the Maiden pre-sexual, and the Crone "past all that." Where was the deep, juicy, wild sexiness that I cherished?
But this morning, I had a constellation of events and images suddenly come together with a sense of invitation: my belief that I have started perimenopause, my daughter turning 13 yesterday, Ereshkigal's directive to me of how to spend New Year's Eve, and a sudden shift in my identification from the young princesses of this story to the crone priestess -- which may be the key to the specifics of my New Year's observance -- all came together to whisper to me of the Crone.
I'm continuing to struggle with my issues around personal authority, and as I'm typing this I'm wondering if the archetype of the Crone would be helpful. Love her, fear her, or both -- no one doubts her wisdom or her power. She usually stands outside traditional authority structures -- and my image is that she doesn't give a damn about them. She knows what she knows, and she will share it -- or not -- according to her own best purposes.
Not sure where this is going to lead, but it seems to have been given me to investigate, and it certainly ties several important themes together for me. . .
One thing I do know: I'm not being called to identify wholly with the traditional image of the Crone. It's not the time -- it may never be the time -- to say "I am this."
But I think it's time to make a journey to the cave on the hillside, to the Gingerbread House, to the below-ground rooms of the castle, and pay my respects.
And in case anyone is wondering: Ereshkigal is not a Crone. Not in my experience of Her. She can resonate with that archetype. Certainly She shares certain associations. But She is not limited to that part of the spectrum.
I have resonated with the wisdom aspect of the Crone since I was an adolescent. Even as a mother, I don't tend to relate to the archetypal images of Motherhood or their broad associations with nurture and fertility. The Maiden's essential virginity (one-in-herself-ness) always appealed to me, but not her eternal innocence. And where was the sexiness? The traditional depictions of the Mother always seemed very domesticated to me, the Maiden pre-sexual, and the Crone "past all that." Where was the deep, juicy, wild sexiness that I cherished?
But this morning, I had a constellation of events and images suddenly come together with a sense of invitation: my belief that I have started perimenopause, my daughter turning 13 yesterday, Ereshkigal's directive to me of how to spend New Year's Eve, and a sudden shift in my identification from the young princesses of this story to the crone priestess -- which may be the key to the specifics of my New Year's observance -- all came together to whisper to me of the Crone.
I'm continuing to struggle with my issues around personal authority, and as I'm typing this I'm wondering if the archetype of the Crone would be helpful. Love her, fear her, or both -- no one doubts her wisdom or her power. She usually stands outside traditional authority structures -- and my image is that she doesn't give a damn about them. She knows what she knows, and she will share it -- or not -- according to her own best purposes.
Not sure where this is going to lead, but it seems to have been given me to investigate, and it certainly ties several important themes together for me. . .
One thing I do know: I'm not being called to identify wholly with the traditional image of the Crone. It's not the time -- it may never be the time -- to say "I am this."
But I think it's time to make a journey to the cave on the hillside, to the Gingerbread House, to the below-ground rooms of the castle, and pay my respects.
And in case anyone is wondering: Ereshkigal is not a Crone. Not in my experience of Her. She can resonate with that archetype. Certainly She shares certain associations. But She is not limited to that part of the spectrum.
