*Archetypal Magic*: Crone Wisdom

Things are finally starting to feel like fall here in Southern California. The weather is cooling down and we can actually feel an embodied sense of the turn of the year rather than solely a date on the calendar telling us it’s autumn. 

In this time I’m finding myself connecting to The Crone. She understands the cycles of death and rebirth and she is introducing me to what needs to die off. Samhain/Halloween is getting close and we can all feel our ancestors getting a little bit closer alongside it. This time marks the start of a new year in the Celtic tradition. I like the idea of a new year starting in darkness when we can be slow and intentional and take time to envision what we want the future to look like- much like we do on the New Moon. We can call in the Crone or our ancestors to guide us into understanding what needs to end before we start again. 

When connecting with the Crone I tend to jump to an 80-year old version of me. This is a practice I’ve had since I was young, before I had language to understand what I was doing. Looking ahead to those future versions of myself gives me a lot of guidance. I ask that future me, “am I on the right path?” “Does this fit with our life?” “Is this important?” I invite you to connect with this archetype that lives within you, or this future version of yourself and note:

What do they look like? 

What environment are they in?

What has made them the person they are today?

Do they have any advice for you?

Mine doesn’t directly speak to me with words. She is earthy and moves around a lot. She wears a lot of layers and may be in a cold climate. She wears lots of charms and might not have any hair (she often has something covering her head so I can’t tell). She often laughs when I ask her very serious questions or she makes a funny sound or gesture. It reminds me to relax and remember the impermanence of everything. Things that seem very serious now might not actually be so serious when I’m at the end of this life. 

When something is serious to her (to me, to us) she gets very still and will often show me something. A symbol, or a glowing that starts in or around her body and then transfers to mine in feeling. 

A way that I’m working with her this season is by pulling up what’s dead and gone from my spring garden. These plants have come to their end and have maybe seeded the soil. Perhaps they’ll return again next year. I will reflect on recurrent themes in my life as I do this. Which ones need to die off? Which ones need to be composted to fertilize my future? Which ones can stay but need tending to? 

After this I will be fortifying the soil by turning it over and layering in the compost we’ve been adding to over the last season. On the first of November we will plant our fall garden and with it, the intentions we are setting for this next cycle until spring. I say "we" in reference to my partner and I, but also in reference to that Crone (my partner’s as well) and the land spirits and the ancestors. We all work together in a network of connectivity.

Stevie Joy Leigh Guiol