Embracing the Crone

There are several major turning points in our life such as when we pass from child to teen; from teen to young adult; from adult to senior. In addition, there have been spiritual turning points for me. The most significant turning point was reaching that age when we no longer understand the music of the younger crowd; when we think that the young dress odd; when we look in the mirror and we do not recognize the face looking back. 

There was a time when I thought reaching a certain age was an event not to be celebrated.  However, now that I am officially in the 'senior' category, there is an overwhelming peace that comes with it. 

In Neolithic times the Crone stage was a time of mastery.  Crone women were the tribal matriarchs. Their heightened awareness of human nature yielded great insight and they were the source of wise counsel for important decisions.

In our society, ageing is met with denial and condemnation. Many industries exist to support our obsession with looking forever young.  Plastic surgery has become almost expected once the first wrinkle arrives to mark the face.  Age related medical procedures reinforce the notion that looking old is beyond undesirable. 

Once we enter the Crone stage of life, we re-visit our body image issues.  At every turn we are reminded of what is considered beautiful; in magazines, on runways and television and movies.  We look in the mirror and do not recognize what we see.  We see wrinkles and sagging flesh. But in those wrinkles, we can also see kindness, and a gentleness and beauty that radiates from within.  We see years of living life the way it should be lived; diving in to the good and the bad moments and coming through with dignity and wisdom.  

Many modern women have consciously chosen to reject the negative images of aging and to reclaim their rightful role as esteemed elders. These ladies are stepping into the Crone stage of life with joy and dignity.  No matter where you are in your process, embrace it, embrace yourself, love your process. It is yours and yours alone.   And, there is no greater gift than life, at every stage.  

Crone

She came from long unquestioned places where metallic glare
and smell of asphalt baste the skin to darkness
and whiten the opened eye.
The bones beneath the skin form sharp angles
where once there were soft curves.
She reaches up to touch her cheek,
wondering if a touch of blush here or there
would make her look more presentable.
It all seems so distant.
She seems like water,
whose surface has been disturbed.
She sees her reflection,
distorted; ripples on the surface.
You can no longer see beneath the surface.
She closes her eyes to the image that she sees.
In her blindness, the ripples pass
and once again she becomes water.

Coming Out of the Rabbit Hole

Coming Out of the Rabbit Hole
by Sharon Barfoot

  Your life becomes what you have imagined and believed in most. When I was a teen I recall having a conversation with a friend and stating that the most powerful thing in the world is 'a thought'. I had no idea of the science behind this, I just knew it to be true.  Then I went on for the next three decades allowing life to live me and not truly understanding that my unconscious thoughts were guiding the direction in which my life was taking.    Oh, it wasn’t all bad.  There were fleeting moments of bliss but they were just that; fleeting.   These moments of bliss seemed to be more frequent when I entered into deep meditation.   Meditation brought me to a deep awareness of the reality of things.   ‘Reality’ being an often misunderstood word.  You may, at this point, declare that you clearly know the nature of reality.  Reality being something that is tangible, quantifiable and observable.

To understand reality we must venture in to the world of quantum weirdness.    According to ‘quantum weirdness’, reality is an illusion.  What appears to be tangible only becomes real when observed or experienced by the observer.   Until observed it remains within the realm of possibilities.  That is a powerful statement for me.  At one time, it was thought that we were nothing more than passive observers in the reality of our world.  It was thought that fate is the predetermined reality of our experience.   Are we actually living a scripted life or are we the author of the script? So, is there such a thing as free will or does fate govern what will occur in our lives? I can only answer this from my perspective.  

The way I see it in very unscientific terms, is that there are things that I am supposed to do while living this life on this planet.   I was born into a particular place, time and culture with a specific purpose.  I call this fate.  I envision my life as road map with many crossroads. The map represents my circumstance; where I was born, my parents and family, my culture and my purpose.   I think of the crossroads as markers along my life path.  When I come to a crossroad, I can choose in which direction I want to go. This is where free will enters.

    My subconscious belief system will act as a guide as to what path to take.  The signposts represent all the events in my life that build this belief system.  Based on my belief system I have the free will to make a choice on which road to follow.  If the choice I make takes me down a road that does not feed my true purpose, then those moments of bliss I referred to earlier will not occur.  In other words……shit happens.  This opens the question of how we make those life choices that will take us down the ‘bliss trail’.  Once I come to a crossroad the realm of possibility is open for me.   This is where our ego mind enters; the all-powerful thought.  Both roads exist, in that quantum weirdness kind of place, where all possibilities exist simultaneously.  Both possibilities exist and only become my reality when I make the choice.

Ego mind is a fierce warrior.  Once we have a belief system firmly established in our subconscious, ego mind resolves to make it so.   So let’s say one of my core beliefs is that I am not worthy of success.  Remember, these beliefs may be so far hidden in your subconscious that you do not even realize you have them.  So, I have made an agreement that I am not worthy of success, however you wish to define that obscure word.  Once I reach that fork in the road that leads to success, I now have a choice on which path to take.  My ego mind jumps in to remind me that I am not worthy (because I have made an agreement about worthiness with myself) and I will choose that road that leads to non-success.  Along the way I will see markers that add credence to my agreement.   Our core belief has taken us on the road away from bliss.   In order to reprogram our core beliefs we need to first identify them.  Identifying a core belief is like solving a mystery of the illusions in your mind.      

In order to identify our core beliefs we have to look beyond our thoughts.  We have to look at the emotion associated with the thought.  It is the emotion behind the thought that gives it strength or power. 

I will talk about identifying core beliefs and what that has to do with being an artist next week.