Should We Reclaim the Crone?
Would a Culture Paradigm Shift Be of Benefit?
Reclaim her from what?
Well, to start with the dictionary definitions of the word;
Oxford Languages: noun - an ugly old woman..
Cambridge University Press: noun - ‘an unpleasant or ugly old woman’ or ‘in stories, an old woman with magic powers’
Collins Dictionary: A crone is an insulting word for an old woman.
[literary,offensive,disapproval]
Merriam-Webster: a cruel or ugly old woman
Maybe it is current cultural attitudes that she needs reclaiming from? The elders in western cultures are very often seen as an annoyance, slow and a nuisance. Years of garnered wisdom now only fit to be hidden away in residential care-homes.
Females amongst the elders seems to come off least well. Whilst the male of the species is very often described as ‘distinguished’ as they age and go grey; it is not so for the female. Women are trained into thinking there is something fundamentally wrong with getting older and are ‘persuaded’ to invest vast amounts of time, energy & money into slowing down the signs of ageing.
Media Pressures
Celebrities are also far from immune to these influences -
Andie MacDowell Said She Got A Lot Of Pushback From Her Managers When She Wanted To Change Her Hair To Gray
“I said, ‘I think you’re wrong.'"
I can’t see that George Clooney would have received the same treatment.
Maiden, Mother, Crone
The Triple Goddess; a triunity of three distinct aspects or figures united in one being, is a deity or deity archetype revered in many Neopagan religious and spiritual traditions. Often described as the Maiden, Mother, Crone. Each symbolizes a separate stage in the female cycle of life and a phase of the Moon.
Some triune or triple goddesses were known to ancient religion; Tridevi in hinduism (Saraswati, Lakshmi, Kali), and in Greek Mythology the Charites (Graces), the Horae (Seasons, of which there were three in the ancient Hellenistic reckoning), and the Moirai (Fates). The specific character types of the modern neopagan Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes are not found in any ancient sources related to them. (1)
Ronald Hutton ("The Neolithic great goddess: A study in modern tradition"March 1997) argues that the concept of the triple moon goddess as Maiden, Mother, and Crone; each facet corresponding to a phase of the moon, is a modern creation of Robert Graves.
Graves's work is widely discounted by academics as pseudohistory (see The White Goddess & Critcism).
The existence of an ancient Triple Moon Goddess has not stood up to academic scrutiny. Ronald Hutton writes
“the idea of a matristic early Europe which had venerated such a deity was developed in books by amateur scholars such as Robert Briffault's The Mothers (1927) and Robert Graves's The White Goddess (1948).”
There is no evidence for a positive Crone archetype prior to the early 20th century, She doesn’t exist and just isn’t ancient.
Jungian Archetypes
Whilst the Triple Goddess may have been discussed by Jung in “Essays on a Science of Mythology: the Myth of the Divine Child and the Mysteries of Eleusis” - Jung, C. G.; Kerényi, C. (1949) Pantheon Books. The claim by some Jungian theorists that the word Crone has a positive connotation - and comes from the word crown, isn’t borne out by either the Jungian archetypes or etymology.
The archetype is a term used in analytical pschology for a role model that has structured our history and illuminated our cultural knowlege. Archetypes are a universal, inherited idea, pattern of thought, or image, present in the collective unconscious of all human beings. Even our folklore and fairy tale characters follow the structure of the archetypes. Because of this they are instantly recognisable; even by children.
The twelve Jungian archetypes are outlined in this image. Having no gender or age bias they are primary types that represent the range of basic human motivations. There are no Crone references.
Etymology
Etymologies are histories of words only, not things or ideas. They are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant 600, 2,000 or whenever years ago. A study of the origin of words and their evolution.
The word Crone entered the English Language in the late 14th century. In Middle English it was a strong term of abuse.
Late Middle English: via Middle Dutch croonje, caroonje ‘carcass, old ewe’ from Old Northern French caroigne ‘carrion, cantankerous woman’ (see carrion).
The Anglo-French caroine (charoine, modern) literally means dead flesh (carrion - see above).
It has never had anything but a derogatory meaning. I cannot find any equivalent word for men.
Debunking Crone originating from the word Crown
The crown or the topmost part of the head Also called: corona capitis comes from a totally different route source. It is impossible to link the two words.
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
“The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions.” ― Michael Margolis
The stories that we tell are not told because of who we are. The stories that we tell create who we are.
If you want to know who the Crone is, then you need to look to her story. As a stock character in fairy or folk tale, the hag shares characteristics with the crone, and the two words are often used as if interchangeable. The image of both in fairy tale and folklore is of a malicious and sinister old woman.
Examples are widespread: -
Norse Mythology - Elli personifies old age
Slavic folklore - Baba Yaga is a Crone guardian of the Otherworld
Ireland - Bronach is a crone goddess with links to the rituals of Samhain.
Persia - Bakhtak (which means nightmare) sits on upon a sleeper’s chest making them waken unable to move or breathe, (sleep paralysis). Her equals also exist in British and north American folklore.
Many tales reference crones/hags that are used to frighten children into being well behaved and going to sleep on time.
English folklore - Includes Peg Powler, Jenny Greenteeth, Nellie Longarms, Black Annis and many more.
Celtic Hags and Crones include - the Hag of Beare, the Hag of the Cats, the Hag of the Mist and the Hag of Hell from Wales.
In Celtic languages you have the Cailleach personas (Ireland and Scotland) and in Wales the Gwrag/Gwrach
They are too numerous to mention them all.
Hags and Crones share many of their characteristics. Both were archetypal figures described as hideous in appearance with dark eyes, filthy unkempt hair and adorned in rags. Both, because of their advanced age and nearness to death, were perceived as excluded from the reproductive cycle. This may explain their being a symbol of the end of the cycle, representing the dark of the moon.
Their age does grant them certain aspects of the wise woman imbued with occult knowledge. But the Crone isn’t portrayed positively in any of our folk or fairy tales.
Current Usage
The Merriam-Webster dictionary also gives some examples of current usage:
One such shape, made with a twisted or braided dough, was meant to ward off the wrath of a Teutonic witch-demon, a crone with matted, twisted hair called Berchta or Holle.—Benjamin, Longreads, 20 May 2022
There’s a famous statue by Rodin, which shows the soul of a young woman striving to break free of the flesh of an old crone.—Richard A. Lovett, Outside Online, 1 Sep. 2021
Films also explore witches of middle age, mining that taboo territory when women transform from mother to crone, reaching a period of their lives when society at large rejects them for no longer being fertile or desirable.—Time, 13 Oct. 2022
The Role of Women in the Last Phase of their Cycle of Life
We do need to reclaim the role of women in their later years but what banner do we want to do it under?
The stories that we tell create who we are. What image of ourselves do want to portray to empower in our lives? Many Neopagan and Jungian theorists would like us to emblazon the image of the Crone on our flags.
The stories that we tell can make or break us. They control who we become and how we are perceived by others.
The story of the Crone is firmly esconced in folklore, myth, fairy story and dictionary definitions; she is a cantankerous old woman akin to a piece of carrion. Personally I don’t want to claim that image for myself. This story is not what I want to create as my future.
To ‘reclaim’ something it has to have existed in the first place. The positive portrayal of the Crone is a modern creation arrived at by inventing histories that are more fiction than fact and unsubstantiated claims based on wrong word definitions.
Repeat an idea often enough and people start to accept it without questioning; even if it is a bad idea based on a fictional lie. It doesn’t change how others perceive us.
My Grandmother was a village wise-woman and I have taken on her mantle (minus the village which is long since gone). I am happy with that. I don’t even mind the term ‘elder’, although that makes me sound old.
If you had called my Grandmother a Crone she would have lamped you one.
At the end of the day it will always come down to personal choice. I have chosen to remain a ‘Wise Woman’. What story are you going to write to create your future?