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SPIRIT
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Sacred
Feminine &
Sacred Masculine
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The 36 pages in this Sacred Feminine & Sacred Masculine
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Maiden, Mother,
Crone
By Minna EarthKeeper
Maiden, Mother, Crone. What does
a maiden have to do with children? I wonder if part of Maidenhood
is also leaving maidenhood. Yes, there's the encounter with
'other' ~ man, but there is also having babies ~ or giving the
love to people that they missed and still need so deeply when
they were babies ~ or even perhaps more importantly, giving
the Mother love to oneself that is so deeply needed. The transition
into Motherhood. Each phase contains within it the transition
to the next. The sorrows and the partings, the joys and the
beginnings. Mother includes within it the birthing of baby or
self or other and the raising and then releasing. The joys and
the beginnings, the sorrows and the partings, and then again,
the joys and the beginnings.
I have encountered in so many the
sorrow that they believe they will never encounter Motherhood
for themselves. That great hope, and that great ache. And it's
not practical. Because there are moments when, even when a woman
has born babies, no matter how many babies one might have born,
there comes the time when those babies are too grown and your
arms ache for that tiny, trusting little bundle, to hold and
love and nurture.
There is an empty space in us that
misses holding, carrying, nurturing. But because there is that
space, that void, there is magic in us. There is so much need
for love. There are people walking around who are still, inside,
a little bundle ~ wishing, wishing, wishing to be held. It's
not the same as a tiny one in the young mother's arms. But it
is oh, so very meaningful to take that loving void and offer
it as sanctuary for someone who needs just a little touch. We
do this because we are women. We do this without knowing or
thinking about it. This is a great gift we are given. And it
is a great gift that we can offer because we are women. Creation,
nurturance, love, tenderness. I remember holding a young woman.
She was so sad because she thought she would never be a mother.
I did the best I could to explain how I felt about all those
who need a bit of mothering. How great the need and how great
the gift is. It was so brilliant to see her figure out that
she didn't need to give birth to give mother love to so many
who need so much. And the same tender love that a baby needs
is longing for someone... For a few moments I held her. She
was a head taller than I am and I think she outweighed me by
quite a bit. But for just that little moment we shared, she
was a tiny bundle and I was holding her, safe and loving. It
was something so precious that I will never forget. I am a crone
now. And within my human, neurotic, personal limitation, I can
love everyone as much as I can. And when it happens it is the
most wonderful thing there is. Today, I'm neurotic, and it occurs
to me that I need to take myself, my own tiny little bundle
and hold me inside the tenderness that I have to offer. That's
an interesting idea for me right now. I am my own Mother. I
am my own Void of Love. I wish to encircle myself in tenderness
today.
CinnamonMoon:
Beautifully expressed, Minna.
More sparkles to spread around here. Thank you.
Mouse:
((((((((((Minna))))))))))))
Maiden, Mother and Crone... All of the feminine of Life, including
its processes of Birth, Death and Rebirth. I do believe that
part of the Maiden is the transition into leaving the Maiden.
It's part of the death process of the Maiden stage. The desire
to leave childhood dependency and views/values/norms and to
start owning our own beliefs. To stand in our own Power. That
doesn't happen overnight. The physiological and physical changes
in puberty trigger emotional and psychological changes too.
The most commonly examined changes are increased awareness of
the concept of Self and that of feelings, needs and goals. Three
categories within the stages of puberty that are significant
in relation to the change from girl to woman:
* preoccupation
with changing looks and shifting allegiance from parents to
peers (approximately age 12-14)
* a leap in cognitive
(thinking) and conceptual skills, the capacity to act on the
basis of ideas, and further separation from parents (approximately
age 15-17)
* on the way to
handling adult responsibilities and making goals and career
plans (approximately age 18-21)
For me, the transitions
are like the infinity symbol - there's one loop on one end,
then the cross-over, then the loop on the other end. The one
loop is the maiden (girl), which narrows down, compresses, and
gives birth to itself (the cross-over) into the new loop on
the other end - the Mother (woman). First it's all condensed
and still narrow, but slowly we encompass more of it until we're
at the widest point. From thereon we move back into the condensed
area of giving birth to ourselves into the Crone. If you overlay
these infinity symbols, you get the DNA helix - the Flow of
Life. The birth of the Mother doesn't take place at the birth
of her babe. It's a Motherhood Mindset, not the actual becoming
a mother. Many young girls, from the moment they have their
first menses, have started the conception stage of the motherhood
mindset. It's whether we allow that part of the Feminine within
us to expand, to grow, to be birthed and whether we nurture
it that makes us Mothers. There need not be children. We can
nurture our partners, our homes, our family and friends, our
careers... as long as that Feminine aspect of "All Our
Relations" is involved - for the betterment of All Our
Relations. We may not have children, but still have a job or
career that somehow nurtures and nourishes the next seven generations
and Life itself. Crone - whether she wears purple or not - again
it's a mindset. At least, that's what I believe right now (I'll
let you all know when I get there whether I still believe it
). I don't believe that menopause alone "makes us"
a crone. It's the sharing of life's experiences, the patience
with those who aren't there yet, the ability to step out and
see the bigger picture, which gives us wisdom and the balance
to wield that kind of wisdom.
But let me not dwell
on that more than this, since I am not there yet by a long shot.
I too honor the Feminine, in whichever form She comes. Whether
girl or woman, Maiden, Mother or Crone, with child or without
- she is the Feminine.
Minna:
Mouse, yes ~
“Maiden, Mother and Crone...
All of the feminine of Life, including its processes of Birth,
Death and Rebirth.”
And I love the infinity symbol and
the helix idea. And honoring the processes, the flow. To
me, this is where men are included.
It's not just a physical or hormonal
thing. And I don't know. Maybe being a crone is about having
worked with the Emptiness. If it's just about being old, well,
I'm there. But, maybe it's having lived for a bit inside the
emptiness, having found a way to call it Friend.
Maybe it's something about that.
Of course, every Emptiness is a new challenge. But sometimes
I call to It, and It soothes me.
2CrowWoman:
Minna,
Maybe the Crone
is also learning to love and care for ourselves? Not in a selfish
way. I mean more in a self-aware way.
Kind of..
Maiden - we are
young and cared for by our parents, mothers, etc.
Mother - we care
for others.
Crone - we realize
people need to take care of themselves and let go. We care for
ourselves. Just a thought.
Firestarter/Karen:
A
few years ago (I think....time SOOOo eludes me) I had a dream.
In my
dream I had this baby, this baby...oh my, I loved more than
life itself. Holding her was what I feel I was born to do...all
this in the dream.
And,
I remember having to leave places to keep her safe.
Once,
we left out on a boat, on a body of water......
though,
when the dream ended and I woke up, there was a very, very,
strong pull on my womb area, around, under my navel.
I woke
up frantic, by god I wanted to know who this baby was and where
she was, where was she I wanted to feel her again.
She
was a part of me in the most magical way.
I had
never felt a tug and a pull like this before, ever.
I was
indulging in a deep learning soon after this.
I was
making a very special mask for myself.
I buried
it in the Earth one night for many reasons, to give it life
and blessings and what happened when I went out to retrieve
it, as I walked to the burial site that very same intense pull,
tug happened.....it
was as if
humm,
co-creation,
birthing, magic,
All
I know, is that there is a void.
Much,
much, magic is there.
I grow
gourds.
They
are very representative to me.
Within
the gourds’ void there are seeds.
We women
I feel are so very lucky to have the ability to have the void.
I give
and pass on the Mothers love within my as much as possible.
It is
what we do, huh?
I am
glad I get to encounter many people in my working day, many
elder and children.
And
today, as with you, I will give it to myself as well.
I will
be gentle with myself today.
(so
many times when I write this much I hit the back button rather
than posting...it seems, just for me, it is good just to get
it out....though, I will hit the post button today)
StarBearWalking:
Greetings!
Very nicely
put everyone.
My transition
into Crone/Grandmother has been a little rough.
Mother
is such a comfortable age for me.
*raises
a cup of Java" Here is to new adventure and challenges.
Minna:
Hi, {{{Crow}}} you gotta good point there.
StarBear, Grandmother wasn't so hard for me, because reaching
50 was hard, the hard thing for me. I had to practice for almost
a year saying, "I am 50." I finally got good at it.
But that number was such a landmark for me.
So when my first grandchild was born,
I could just be glad. You helped me remember a really good thing
about being a grandmother that I had forgotten. Maybe I need
to remember it again for my children now that they are grown
too. We went camping together with my daughter, her husband
and their two children when my second grandson was just a few
months old.
My second grandson, being so little
was really upset that his schedule, his place, his surroundings
were just all off-kilter with the camping. He was just having
one of those screaming fits that won't stop. He had been removed
from his crib, his home, his schedule and he was mad as hell
and stressed about it and he wanted the world to know. So he
just screamed. My poor daughter was beside herself. She had
done everything she could think of to calm him, but it wasn't
working.
I went into their tent and suggested
that she just take her oldest for a walk and I'd hold the baby
while he was screaming. So she did. Well, this little guy just
kept at it. So i held him in my love while he screamed ~ for
a long time. He had a lot to say about the situation. Eventually
he expressed himself, wore
himself out and settled down. And went on to sleep.
My daughter came back and saw all
was calm, and she asked how I could be calm and hold him while
he was screaming like that. I told her it was because I wasn't
his mother. I was his grandmother. As I had been with her, any
time he was sad or mad or hungry or upset, because she was his
mother, it was her 'responsibility to fix it'. And if she couldn't
fix it then it was 'bad on her'. And she felt terrible and then
he felt her tension and it just cycled. Well, as his grandmother,
if he was fed and dry and not sick, I didn't have all those
'mother inadequacy' dynamics going on and I didn't need to fix
anything. I knew he was ok and mad. I could just be with him
and love him while he needed to scream ~ release to holding
him while he protested all the changes and expressed his vast
displeasure with the Universe.
And he did.
And it was good.
And after he had had his say, he
got tired and relaxed and went to sleep. Since he had expressed
himself he was fine for the rest of the trip. I don't think
I put that clearly, but it was a really good feeling to know
that I knew he was ok and I could just be with him and love
him through his fit.
And it was all good.
Lotus:
Ten
years ago I was asked to write an article about Crone, Wise
Woman Elder, this is the result. Although it may be time to
do a little updating here is my take on being a Crone ... members.shaw.ca/mikinaak/...0Woman.htm
Minna:
Thank you for sharing that,
Lotus. It is wonderful! I think you probably wrote that, if
you wrote it about ten years ago, when you were my age. I'm
still working on it. Thank you for the window to aim at.
Lotus:
Yes
Minna, I was nearing 60 when I wrote the article ... ooooh,
that seems so long ago now
Time
Time
is not measured by the years that you live
But by the deeds that you do and the joy that you give-
And each day as it comes brings a chance to each one
To love to the fullest, leaving nothing undone
That would brighten the life or lighten the load
Of some weary traveler lost on life's road-
So what does it matter how long we may live
If as long as we live we unselfishly give.
Lune:
Mouse,
I have been thinking about that infinity symbol for years, and
its meaning. I see too, as well as the double helix with many
of them, many of them is like weaving (I have been learning
to weave, and now see life relating to it everywhere.
I think with maiden,
I started my shaman training then. I grew with it. A friend
once said she thought maiden was about potential, as well as
the other things mentioned here. The potential of woman, of
mother and crone. Of what could - and one day might - be.
Now, I am 30 (and
two days old!) and very inside the mother phase of life. My
life hasn't so far, and most likely won't, bring physical children.
But I can feel the mother energy strong within me, and have
done things in the past five or six years in particular that
are very mothering things. Lived my life in a mothering way.
It is very powerful medicine, and two years ago, I did the hardest
thing I have ever chosen to do, and that was to do what it took
(very hard ask of me in the situation) to protect another woman's
child from terrible danger. I think the strength of the mother
energy within me at 28 is partly what enabled me to do this
for this child.
I think being
this old is great. I have the experience and knowledge of self
to really get what I want from life, not what people tell me
I should want. I watch my mother, now 62, moving more deeply
into crone. Her relationships, in particular with her children,
change to reflect this. (actually, she makes being in your 60s
look like an absolute ball!) I wonder what it will be like for
me to one day move into crone and understand more fully that
energy?
Mouse:
Yes Lune!
I feel that too when I am sewing or otherwise using thread -
the infinity symbol as a way to connect two fabrics (ie quilting),
the back and forth of weaving, the in and out of knitting...
I have used the infinity symbol for years in my work with children
as a means of facilitating neural pathways between the two brain
hemispheres, strengthening eye-hand coordination and improving
motor skills and balance.
There was a recent
bit of research in Holland that suggested that the figure-8
hip movement in salsa (dance) was one of the best ways for grounding
and outer and inner balance in the body. Is it a surprise? Not
to me - I've been dancing Latin dance since I was 12! Left-right
coordination (which is necessary in both dancing and in making
the figure 8 with the pelvis) increases a sense of well-being,
gives clarity as to what is needed in the current moment (because
ratio and feeling are balanced and have access to each other).
I've also used the
infinity shape to help women open their pelvises and to accommodate
the descent of the baby - by moving the pelvis in a flat figure-8
motion. It's also the symbol that the Metis use in their Flag
btw - I found that very interesting. So I'm all for the infinity
symbol, and its use in such a beautiful Feminine way. Balance.
Centering. Grounding. Weaving/sewing/knitting women's medicine...
Quilting the dreams into Life, into Being…
“actually,
she makes being in your 60s look like an absolute ball”
I look at my mother
and think the same thing. And my maternal grandmother and great-grandmother,
both of whom lived well beyond their 80's in independence and
strength. Longevity is a strong gene in both my parents' families,
so I am just going to assume that I will have at least 35 to
40 years to do what I need to do after I reach the crone passage.
I better make sure that I have fun in those years!!
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Libraries
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INDEX
Page 3
(Main Section, Medicine Wheel, Native Languages &
Nations, Symbology)
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INDEX
Page 5
(Sacred Feminine & Masculine, Stones & Minerals)
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Copyright: Cinnamon Moon & River WildFire Moon (Founders.)
2000-date
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