Another Woman Joins the Ranks of Wise Crones

It is the height of spring in Charleston -- we had our first clutch of ducks hatch on the pond this week and the azaleas are in full bloom. This picture of the very picturesque Pineapple Fountain next to Waterfront Park was the picture of the week on SCIWAY . It taken in 2007 by a fellow named Alan Tobey who was visiting from California.

Last weekend I attended a "Croning Ceremony" -- the 60th birthday party for a friend who is also named Sandy. Sandy's life has taken her many places -- Her husband served in Nepal in the Peace Corps and they have returned there several times. They have traveled widely throughout Southeast Asia. Sandy was the first person I met in Charleston and she became my first Facebook "friend". She is one of those adventurous, open-hearted, extroverts who attracts interesting people around her. She has good and true friends all over the world. I am honored to be a part of her local orbit.

Apparently, a formal Croning Ceremony is common is some cultures -- a recognition of a woman's third life stage -- after the Maiden and the Mother, comes the Wise Crone. Guess I skipped the Mother part. Anyway, this was a celebration of the wisdom that comes with deep knowledge of self and of the world, the freedom and the fearlessness to love well what is true and real and the grandmother's sacred role of storyteller for her family, her community and her culture. In the picture, Sandy is being welcomed into the sisterhood of wise crones by Renate, who at age 87 was the most senior woman among us that night.

It was a wonderful celebration with women of all ages, ritual, blessings and prayers, food and wine and gifts given and received. I left with a lovely silk scarf and a henna tattoo on my ankle -- a strangely empowering embellishment. Later in the week, I was sitting on a bench downtown waiting for someone when a woman walking down the street stopped and told me she liked my tattoo. File that in the category of "Things I Never Thought Anyone Would Ever Say to Me."