CALLING ALL CRONES
by Grey Cat

Into the dark, the pale light of the waning moon brings forth
shapeless shadows; bushes, a wandering stone fieldwall, nameless
areas of blackness. Some still, some moving; no night for good
folk to stray from cot or castle. Black hares amove across the
moors, black cattle idly gossip together, one old woman dressed
in black searches the grass for secret herbs. And there amongst
the standing stones, age heavy upon their backs, three hags dare
all the mercy of God's Holy Mother Church to make the magic of an
older race.

``Call old Mother Piggot, she knows the proper words for
warts.''... ``Tis Goody Nurse you'll need if it's a son ye
want.''... ``Tis naught but an Old Wives Tale.''... ``Don't
mind Mother, she hasn't been herself since she went through the
Change of Life.''

Looming high over the imagination of humankind, the shadow of the
Crone casts a miasma of fear and uselessness, power and casting--
out, across the myths of our race and society.

I have talked and talked to women who either have arrived at
crone time or who are preparing themselves for this transition
and we have found much to talk about. And I think that it is
important that we keep right on talking after the season of
Gatherings has passed for the year. I have absolutely no
interest in trying to start a newsletter for Crones, nor really
of founding OWL (Old Woman's League), SOW (Salty Old Women),
CRONE (Clearly Rational Older Natural Energy), nor HAG (Honorable
Aged Geniuses).

However, I, no more than many of you, want to have to wait until
next year to get a chance to discuss all these fascinating
topics. So how about some suggestions, and perhaps some offers
of help. Would we like to cooperate in an APAZine* which
dispenses with an editing and layout burden, leaving some low--
level bookkeeping which I don't mind doing. Does someone feel
like working on a Newsletter? Do we want to form a loose
organization as part of or instead of the above? Or are most of
us too busy to do anything about this between gatherings?

I'll be sending this letter to people I know personally and to
many Pagan publications; you'll probably see it often enough to
be sick of the whole idea. But there is a lot of magick
available in the Time of the Crone. There is a lot of
sociological pressure to understand, combat or accept. And there
is a whole lot of our lives left for us to function as Crones.
If we don't figure out what it is and what to do with it, nobody
else will.

So write me at the address below (SASE appreciated) and let me
know what you think about the whole idea, what you might be
willing to do, what insights you may have about Crone Time --
let's figure out what has been left out of all the books. We're
already ``Uppity Women'' and we've nothing to lose but a bad rap.
(Crones are assumed to be women more or less at the age of
menopause or past it. Baby Crones are any who realize that this
time is not far away.)

Grey Cat
P.O. Box 181
Crossville, TN 38555

[ * An APAzine is a form of newsletter or interchange of info
where no editing, retyping, or alteration is made to letters
received -- they are just printed or photocopied exactly as
received by the APAzine co--ordinator and circulated { en--
masse} with any and all responses sent to the co--ordinator,
and it all starts over again. A sort of postal bulletin--board.
- Reprinted from the Stardust Salamander, Samhain 1986.]




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