Some friends, all women of a certain age, had heard about a Crone Ceremony, that sounded to me more like a rebirthing rite, but they wanted to have one for themselves. None were pagans. They were all Hospice workers, and I was the Interfaith Spiritual Counselor there. I volunteered to create a ritual celebrating cronehood for them. I had been a pagan for about 6 years. They were women who got along well: Nurses, a Volunteer Coordinator, and a Bereavement Counselor. One of the women had a house at the edge of Tucson with several acres of desert. She had a fire pit and benches already, so we went there for the ritual. There were about a dozen of us.
The night of the ceremony, we gathered there, and music from On Wings of Song & Robert Gass - Chants of the World “From the Goddess” played in the background as the women arrived. Some of this music was included in the chants later in the ritual. Each woman had brought the things needed for her part in the ritual. We set up the altar, sat around in a circle and chanted, drummed, and lit symbolic candles. Women looked through pages about different world Goddesses that I had copied, and each chose one to be their patroness. The moving part of the evening began when women shared the names of Crones who had mentored and influenced them, and how. Each of us could feel the energy from those women filling the circle.
When it came time for each of us to share a symbol of our maiden years that we wished to release into the flames, one woman brought out the large scroll that every member of her Friends Community had signed at her wedding. She was now divorced. She passed it around, and we all oohed and aahed at how beautiful it was. When she burned it, there was a collective gasp. Another woman cast a $10 bill into the flames, and declared herself free from devoting her life to just making money. As each woman cast away the youthful misdirection and growth experiences of maidenhood, a palpable lightness came over the group.
Even though not all the participants were mothers, we all had a symbol of our fruitful years to share, and along with it, our dreams and wishes on paper. These scraps of paper were cast into the flames, to be carried to the Spirit of the Goddess. Hope was tangible in the gathering at that point. Then we shared the symbols of our Cronehood, and our influence as older women of experience and wisdom, each claiming our power. There was a sense of a new respect and appreciation for ourselves and our companion Crones. We ended with each woman invoking her patroness Goddess, and the Goddess within.
At the end of the ritual, I sang “Eyes in the Darkness”, a haunting melody from a tape of Sacred songs. Then we sealed our auras and put out the fire, trooping back to the house for wine, cheese, and other aged spirits. Seven months later, many of these women attended a Solstice Ritual at my home, and my coven was born, lasting ten years.
CRONE CEREMONY
WEAR WHITE, YELLOW, OR GOLD. BRING AGED CHEESES, WINES, OR SPIRITS TO SHARE. BRING A SYMBOL OF YOUR OWN WISDOM, A SYMBOL OF YOUR FRUITFUL YEARS, AND A SYMBOL, (TO BE BURNED), OF SOMETHING FROM YOUR MAIDEN YEARS THAT YOU WISH TO DISCARD FROM YOUR LIFE. BRING A YELLOW AND A RED CANDLE AND CANDLE HOLDERS. BRING A PURPLE CANDLE TO LIGHT IN REMEMBRANCE OF A CRONE WHO HAS INFLUENCED YOUR LIFE AND IS NO LONGER WITH YOU. BRING A DRUM OR MARACAS, IF YOU HAVE THEM. THERE WILL BE INSTRUMENTS AVAILABLE. BRING A PILLOW TO SIT ON, IF YOU LIKE. THERE WILL ALSO BE BENCHES.
PREPARATION: SETTING UP THE SPACE AND ALTAR WITH INCENSE, CANDLES, MAIDEN GODDESS FIGURE, BOWLS OF OIL AND SALT, AND THE SYMBOLS OF FRUITFULNESS, WISDOM AND CHANGE FOR EACH “WOMBAN”.
ANOINTING WITH SACRED HEALING OIL
LIGHTING THE FIRE AND CALLING THE POWERS FOR GOOD
OPENING: DRUMMING AND CHANTING
“EARTH MY BODY, WATER MY BLOOD, AIR MY BREATH AND FIRE MY SPIRIT.” (from Earth Dance Celebrates Songs of the Sacred Wheel tape- Writer unknown)
“MOWTAY, LEHNU LEHNU, GOWTAY, HAEENO, HAEENO, HAEENO."
(“THE SPIRIT AND I ARE ONE FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER,”) (from A Circle is Cast- Libana; Traditional Native.American.)
“WE ALL COME FROM THE GODDESS, AND TO HER WE SHALL RETURN,
LIKE A DROP OF RAIN, FLOWING TO THE OCEAN. (Z. Budapest)
“ISIS, ASTARTE, DIANA, HECATE, DEMETER, KALI, INANNA.”(Deena Metzger/Caitlin Mullin)
“GODDESS IS ALIVE. MAGICK IS AFOOT”(Buffy St. Marie)
(THESE LAST THREE CAN BE SUNG AS A ROUND)
CEREMONY: LIGHT INCENSE AND CIRCLE AREA WITH SALT
RITUAL OF CHANGE: WE LIGHT THE RED CANDLE FOR THE BLEEDING THAT IS GONE, FOR THE CHILDREN AND PROJECTS THAT WERE CRADLED IN THE BLOOD-BED OF OUR WOMBS, FOR THE BLOOMING OF OUR “WOMBANHOOD”, AND FOR AN END TO LIVING ONLY TO NURTURE OTHERS.
PRIESTESS: “I RELEASE YOU”, SAYS THE GODDESS OF THE RED. “I ACCEPT YOU”, SAYS THE GODDESS OF THE YELLOW. “YOU SHALL GROW IN MY WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE. YOU SHALL BEAR SPIRITUAL AND SAGE FRUIT, AND THE BRILLIANCE OF YOUR DISCERNMENT SHALL BE A BEACON TO YOUR YOUNGER SISTERS. NOW IS THE TIME WHEN DREAMS WILL BE BROUGHT INTO BEING FROM YOUR FALLOW WOMB TO ENRICH YOUR LIFE AND OTHERS”.
WE LIGHT THE YELLOW CANDLE FOR THE RELEASE FROM THE FLOODS, FOR THE BLOSSOMING OF OUR SKILLS, FOR THIS CIRCLE OF FRIENDSHIP, AND FOR OUR GATHERING WISDOM.
WE REJOICE IN OUR EMPTY WOMBS WHICH BECOME SYMBOLS OF THE HOLY GRAIL: CHALICES OPEN TO THE POURING OF SPIRIT AND WISDOM INTO THEM FOR THE BLESSING OF ALL. WE EMBRACE THE DARKNESS AS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FECUNDITY OF THE WOMB, AND WE ACCEPT OUR OWN DEATHS, AS INEVITABLE, AND A PART OF LIFE. YET WE AFFIRM THE ETERNAL NATURE OF THE SOUL, AND KNOW THAT WE WILL ALL BE TOGETHER ONE DAY IN THE COMPLETENESS OF THE GODDESS.
WE LIGHT THE PURPLE CANDLE FOR THE CRONES WHO TAUGHT AND MENTORED US, THAT THEIR MEMORY MAY REMAIN. (EACH PARTICIPANT NAMES THE CRONE THEY REMEMBER.)
- CHOOSING A PATRONESS GODDESS FOR CRONEHOOD
- SHARING MAIDEN SYMBOLS AND CASTING THEM INTO THE FIRE
- SHARING MOTHER SYMBOLS AND MAKING WISHES
- SHARING CRONE SYMBOLS AND CLAIMING OUR POWER
CLOSING: INVOKING OUR PATRONESS GODDESSES AND THE GODDESS WITHIN EACH OF US.
SONG: “I SEE THE LIGHT. I SEE THE LIGHT. I SEE THE LIGHT IN THE DEPTH OF YOUR SOUL. I SEE EYES THAT SPARKLE IN THE DARKNESS, LIGHTING THE WAY FOR ME, LIGHTING THE WAY FOR ME. I SEE THE LIGHT….” (by Caitlin Christoffel, from Earth Dance Celebrates Songs of the Sacred Wheel)
GROUNDING VISUALIZATION AND SEALING OUR AURAS
CLEARING THE ALTAR AND THE SPACE- THANKING THE POWERS
REFRESHING OURSELVES WITH AGED WINE AND DRINK
MERRY MEET AND MERRY PART AND MERRY MEET AGAIN!
(This was not a full-fledged cast circle, since these women were new to Paganism.)
Jan Kindwoman: I was a mainline church parish minister for 25 years. I left the church, and became a Chaplain and a solitary Pagan, studying many resources, especially Z. Budapest’s Dianic Wicca writings. I was Priestess of a Dianic Coven, and have practiced for 23+ years.
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