THE CRONE ARCHETYPE

To begin with, I had to look up “archetype.” That was pretty easy.
Wikipedia: The concept of an archetype /ˈɑːrkɪtaɪp/ is found in areas relating to behavior, modern psychological theory, and literary analysis. In various seemingly unrelated cases in classic storytelling, media etc. characters or ideas sharing similar traits can be found.
It is really just a type of person, like a hero, or a caregiver. The idea that, from early in man’s history, certain types of characters have peopled our myths, literature and art. Think Luke Skywalker or Harry Potter for examples of the Hero Archetype. Carl Jung (Psychiatrist) and Joseph Campbell (Mythologist) are well known for defining and helping us understand the role these types of people play in our history and our belief systems.
One type that pops to mind, at least for this particular blog, is the Crone. In religions based on feminine deities, there is a trinity made up of the Maiden, The Mother, and the Crone. The Maiden represents wonder, purity, innocence, possibility; The Mother represents nurturing, caregiving, love, protection; and, the Crone represents wicked old hags with pointy hats and poisoned apples. No…wait. That can’t be right!
Someplace along the line the Crone archetype has gotten a bad rep, and I am here to set things straight.
In many cultures there is a mythology of the wise woman, the medicine woman, the counselor to the young. For me, the storyteller doll has symbolized the Native American symbol of a wise, knowledgeable person who “sings” the history and culture of the tribe to the children. The Storyteller is usually not a svelte, sex-goddess. She is more comfy and welcoming. She allows you to climb into her lap and hear her story. Maybe she has some love handles, or lines on her face and gray in her hair. She may be wearing a tee shirt that says “I’m Like a Fine Wine, I Only Get Better With Age.” She most definitely is not wearing false eyelashes or stiletto heels (Maybe fur-lined, beaded moccasins that have lost a few of the sparkly bits).
She has been a Maiden; She has been a Mother (and a friend, wife, daughter, neighbor, employee, sister, nurse…) and she has learned so much from that journey; much of it from making some pretty disastrous mistakes or seeing others do so.
She has cried a lot of tears, and peed her pants countless times while laughing, usually at herself.
The first time I recall meeting my mother’s mother I was about 6 years old and I was fascinated. She was so wrinkled! And she didn’t have any teeth! And, she was younger than I am now. She had a lot of stories and a lot of love to give, and she eventually gained my heart (and some new store-bought teeth). I wish I had appreciated what she had to teach me more than I did. And, when my mother became the Crone, I wish I had listened to her and heard all the tales she had to tell.
“In early cultures, the female elder was considered a wise woman. She was the healer, the teacher, the one who imparted knowledge. She mediated disputes, she had influence over tribal leaders, and she cared for the dying as they took their final breaths”…Patti Wigington, ThoughtCo
In celebration of my Crone-ness I am thinking of having a “Croning ceremony.” What little I can find about this sort of bat mitzvah for the silver-haired set says this type of celebration involves singing, chanting, symbols of initiation, a celebratory meal and appropriate gifts.
I have given it a lot of thought and have decided that I want to invite other “Crones” over to my place for a sing-a-long showing of “Mama Mia (The Musical),” I will be wearing a tiara, there will be a potluck meal, and I will receive a gift basket of chocolates and champagne. If there is enough champagne there may be dancing like wood nymphs among the trees under the full moon (with or without clothing), so we probably want to have it during the summer months. I expect there will be much laughter and sharing of stories of silly (or dumb) things we have done.
While I may not seem to be taking the ceremony very seriously, I am taking the role of Crone very seriously indeed. I have accumulated a lot of wisdom, a damned good attitude, and I have no intention of keeping it to myself. I am more confident and happier than I have ever been in my life, and much of that is because of what I have seen.
I am here to bestow wisdom, asked for or not; to comfort those whose hearts are bruised; to fight for what I know is right; to cuddle any available babies; to learn to line-dance, gather eggs from my own chickens, keep beehives, and write that novel I’ve been promising (threatening?) to write for the past 60 years.
I invite all of you to embrace what it means to have lived this long, to have experienced lives you never expected, to try all of the things you meant to and didn’t, to hug all of the people you meant to and didn’t, to say what you think (even if other people may not like it). We don’t know what comes in the future and all we can glean from the past is the experience and wisdom we have collected. We can’t change it, but we can use it.
What are we waiting for?