Please take a look at the answers to some frequently asked questions below. Click on the question to get the answer. Thanks for your interest and we hope that we will be able to help you find just what you want and need. We’ve got a lot to crone about!
What is Crones Counsel and how did it get started?
Isn’t crone a disease or a withered old woman?
Why did you choose the name crone in the organization title?
At what age do you become a crone?
What kind of organization is Crones Counsel?
Do you need to be a member?
Why is it called a gathering instead of a convention or a meeting?
What do you do at your gatherings?
Where are the gatherings held?
How much does it cost?
How do I register?
What is Crones Counsel and how did it get started?
The seeds of Crones Counsel began with some creative ideas from Ann Kreilkamp, founder of Crone Chronicles, a Journal of Conscious Aging magazine (now an ezine) and Shauna Adix, a retired Director of the Women’s Center at the University of Utah after 20 years. Crone Chronicles began as a small photocopied newsletter (1989) and attracted women who were enthusiastic about gathering old women together for a few days. Shauna subscribed to the newsletter and met with Ann in Salt Lake City at a small Chinese restaurant for dinner one evening to talk about their dreams and visions. Shauna said that ever since leaving the University of Utah, she had been sitting at home mulling over the question: “What is Crone work?”
Then and there they decided that Shauna would take the lead and gather a group of Salt Lake women and start planning for a gathering 1993 to be held at a hotel in Jackson, Wyoming. The first gathering attracted 127 women from 16 different states, who ranged in age from 42 to 76. Thus, in 1993, Crones Counsel began its first gathering with enthusiasm and fervor.
Note: Shauna Adix succumbed to ovarian cancer and made her transition in 2000.
Isn’t crone a disease or a withered old woman?
Crone is…the power, passion, and purpose of ancient female wisdom…the crowning triple phase of the ancient Triple Goddess: Maiden/Mother/Crone. Joyous, outrageous, real, and at ease, living from the inside out. The Crone’s title was related to the word crown and she represented the power of the ancient tribal matriarch who made the moral and legal decisions for her subjects and descendants. It was the medieval metamorphosis of the wise woman into the witch that changed the word Crone from a compliment to an insult and established the stereotype of malevolent old womanhood that continues to haunt elder women today.
— Barbara Walker, The Crone (Women of Age, Wisdom and Power)
Crohn’s, not crones, is a chronic autoimmune disease, which can affect both men and women.
Why did you choose the name crone in the organization title?
We are beginning to realize that this third and crowning stage of female life (the one our culture throws away) is more authentic, creative, outrageous, powerful, funny, healing and profound than we ever imagined. Aging is natural process, but it is also very much a woman’s issue. Resisting the cultural phobias about growing older begins right at home – within our own bodies. How each of us sees our own aging process can in turn influence how the culture sees it. The term “Crones Counsel” was a deliberate choice as the title to signify the intent of the gathering as a place where older women could share their histories and counsel with each other.
At what age do you become a crone?
We think of Crone as the stage in a woman’s life when she enters menopause, usually around age 50. In archetypal language, the maiden, the mother and the crone personify the feminine. Blood rituals once marked these passages and after menstruation stopped, it was said of the Crone that the blood was held inside and became wisdom or “wiseblood.” Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen refers to menopause as initiation into the Wise Woman Archetype. Some astrologers assert that the crone phase of life begins at about age 56, the time of an individual’s second Saturn return. It is important to know that the word Crone, often used pejoratively to mean “old hag” has noble origins. Hag used to mean “a holy one,” from the Greek hagia.
What kind of organization is Crones Counsel?
Crones Counsel, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation, which was incorporated as a 501-C-3 in the state of Utah in October 1995. The impetus for incorporating was to insure continuity, long-range planning, and establishment of an adequate financial base and fiscal responsibility.
Do you need to be a member?
You do not need to be a member or become a member to attend any of the national gatherings. National gathering welcomes all crones, to-be-crones and cronettes (crones in training).
Why is it called a gathering instead of a convention or a meeting?
From the beginning, the word “gathering” was used to invite older women to come together to share their stories and counsel with each other. The idea from the outset was to have a gathering with no stars, no keynoters, and no hierarchy of organization.
What do you do at your gatherings?
Storytelling is the highlight of the Crones Counsel gatherings. As Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., cantadora, storyteller says: Stories are medicine. They have such power; they do not require that we do, be, act anything – we need only to listen.” Stories put the inner life into motion. This time is set aside for us to gather together and share our stories and wisdom. Following the storytelling segment of the gathering, Crone Circles meet. Led by a facilitator, Crone Circles provide a safe place for the telling of our stories by women in a small group setting over several days. Another highlight is the ceremony to honor our elders, bringing special attention to participant’s age 80 and older. Workshops, ceremony, Crone Follies, leisure time, Crone vendor opportunities for shopping plus lots of fun and playfulness will surely offer you a fulfilling experience.
Where are the gatherings held?
Acting upon the unanimous request of those attending the first Crones Counsel in 1993, yearly gatherings have been held at different locations in the west. Initially, groups of persons were invited to offer to host subsequent meetings. A vote was taken at each gathering to determine a schedule for moving the meeting throughout the west. Women volunteering their time and talents to make each gathering a reality do every aspect of Crones Counsel –sites, workshops, ceremonies, crone circles, and publicity. Prior to the time of the incorporation of Crones Counsel as a nonprofit organization in 1995, the planning committees had to come up with their own money to carry organizational cost until sufficient income from registrations was available. Now the Board of Directors (Board of Wise Women) took on the role of receiving and acting on requests to host meetings for the future.
How much does it cost?
The registration fee for the gathering ranges from $100 to $230 depending on when you register and your age. We offer an early bird rate if you register in advance and a $25 discount for elders over 80 year. Click here for more details of the registration cost.
How do I register?
You can register online and pay by credit card or you can download a registration form from the Registration page and mail it in with a check. Also, you can write to the Registrar at registrar@cronescounsel.org. To register online, click here. You will be asked to complete an on line registration form and credit card payment instructions will follow once you submit the form.