Political Disruption and the Evolution of Crone Consciousness

The crone’s wisdom arises out of the ashes of society’s disintegration. We stand for the continuity of life. Our memories go back into ancient times, and our vision goes forward into a world that our grandchildren and great-grandchildren will inhabit. As men wrestle for power in the halls of government, women find one another, and clear the path into the unknown.

The Crone is her own domain. She is a citizen of the world. Her motherhood is comprehensive. Her women’s circle is everywhere. This is a somatic experience of unity; of being without separation. It is cross-cultural. It is immune to divisiveness. The qualities of unity and cohesiveness that I reference are available to all women, but not everyone chooses to avail themselves of this option. There have been many iterations of women’s movements, rising waves of awareness and daring, asserting the feminine worldview into every aspect of life. Those waves also recede, only to come back again with added volume.

In the book I am currently writing, I trace the role of women’s unity as a force of evolving consciousness. In my personal experience, there is a direct correlation with the dismantling of the status quo structures and systems, and the arousal of women’s self-respect and emergence. We are all parts of a comprehensive phoenix that gains power when the threats to continuity mount and the destinies of our children are threatened.

In the 1960’s and ‘70’s, I was fully engaged with social justice movements as a full-fledged activist in the style of being on the street, protesting, and encouraging others to protest. When what was generically called “the movement” began to shred and shapeshift, in the early ‘70’s, following the end of the War in Vietnam, I encountered what was then referred to as women’s consciousness raising circles.

In my current book-in-progress about these activist years, I often frame my reporting in the form of case studies. Utilizing stories in this format is a hallmark of all my books. It allows me to personalize historical tracking and insight. The subjects of the case studies are always a blend of many individuals and their biographies, but amongst them, and sometimes dominating them, are my own direct experiences. In other words, I am, with complete transparency, a character in my case studies. I do this often in my writing, and consider it a highly ethical and profoundly authentic practice. One of the central characters in my current book, whose life events shape the historical reconfigurations of the activism of the 1960’s and ‘70’s, is named Sarianna. Here are Sarianna’s reflections on entering the women’s movement.

“From the moment that Sarianna stepped into the women’s circle in Lynne’s third story living room, she began growing towards the understanding that a world led by women would be better for everyone. It certainly would be better for children, for developing life. The way that Sarianna had been with the protest movement had wrung her out and drained her. She could no longer live as a martyr, waiting to be burned at the stake. She had focused, it seemed, for her whole life, on the sufferings and losses of others. Now, she realized, this may well have been a way to avoid her own.

“An awareness was being born out of her that identified how, even in progressive movements, she had been made subservient, and that she had gone willingly to that chopping block to be used, as if her own life was worthless, not even worth a mention. Making herself unimportant had been a goal. That was what political movements and her lovers wanted of her.”

And, Sarianna’s retrospective from her crone years:

“It was from the moment that she entered the women’s movement that Sarianna began to reorient towards her own life and her own future vision. This would be how she would consider her life now in terms of chronology: Before the Women’s Movement and After the Women’s Movement.”

Stepping over the shards of hegemonic destructiveness, I, as the character Sarianna, came to women’s circles and thereby to my awareness about true purpose. Then it was the shards of the movement protesting hegemony that led to my giant step into true self-acknowledgement. Three decades later, we are living at a similar intersection. The structures that appeared to hold the basic functions of democratic government together are being shredded, even destroyed, and the party and organizations that defend and protect democracy are demonstrating their inability to meet this thorough-going challenge. They have become almost completely powerless by way of their internal fissures.

That which falls apart contains, in its compost and mulch, the pollinating seeds of guiding wisdom. Almost-suffocated embers get stirred, and at each stirring, the flame rises higher. The flames of this time are about to rise much higher than ever before. It is through women’s global unity that the idiocy of patriarchal destructiveness is illuminated, in glaring contrast to our commitment solely to the children and life of the future.

When we are unquestionably, or even largely, unified, our force field is undefeatable. Without weapons, without money, without false shiny appearances, cutting-edge technology, manipulative measures and threats of annihilation, our intentions beam a biofield of clarity. This is the all-encompassing embrace of healing and defiance that all mothers know, the fierce protective stance that is simultaneously exquisite, even seductively poised.

I create forums for unity and seek to collaborate with others committed to women’s unity for peace, for exposing disinformation and discord and for forging effective community action in all spheres of life. Because of my particular orientation, I focus this unifying intention and emergent consciousness on health and healthcare delivery. It is with this purposefulness that I created The Mother of Medicine: The Science and the Wisdom of the Prenatal Origins of Health. It is a revolutionary movement of peaceful awakening to the actions we must take to secure a healthy, thriving future. Women know how to do this, and there are men who are learning to listen.