Pat, who describes herself as an “evolving crone”, sent me the following contribution. She has been taking an on-line course from Abby of the Arts. Here are her thoughts on crone-ship and her poem about the healing power of nature.
Thanks Pat!
The crone does not sit on her laurels of wisdom and experience, instead she has the humility to be open to growth and learning until her last breath. She recognizes that it would be so unfortunate to rigidify into the posture of the “know it all.”
May I hold my crone-ship lightly to allow for a wider perspective toward myself and others.
I have been revisiting the Christian path from an online course based on the book Earth as Monastery. The small God of my childhood was found in the dogma of the Church and a certain interpretation of the Bible. The theme of this book, developed by the author Christine Valters Painter, is that the Holy Mystery is found in the awe of Nature.
One exercise for the group was to write a poem, referring to the healing power of Nature, beginning with the phrase of “When I despair”. Of course my inner critic reared its gavel to say that I was incapable of writing a poem. The crone’s new growth was to release the superego and just let the poem appear without evaluation. What flowed was a direct experience of how Nature does heal my despair.
When I despair I feel a gentle breeze, the compassionate wind inviting me to let go,
When I despair I notice how the sun’s rays illuminate the tree’s leaves, a cue for me to lighten up,
When I despair I go down to the sea and experience the pounding surf, the ocean an immense container dissolving my small grief,
When I despair I see my two dogs fighting over a bone to teach me to be here now, no longer fretting about the past or future,
When I despair I do mindful walking on the Earth which holds me up no matter what is going on in my internal world.
A toast to Growth!
Pat” an evolving crone”
Crones' Chronicles 