Feminine Empowerment and the Need for the Crone

Empowering the feminine requires re-connecting to the archetype of the Crone, the wise old woman.  In recent years, efforts have been made to raise girls’ self-esteem and career aspirations however, the lack of the presence of the Crone in Western culture limits their sense of independence and their right to have a voice.

The Crone, as the elder of the tri-goddess (maiden-mother-crone), symbolizes the wise feminine. Despite her psychological significance, the patriarchy has suppressed the Crone as the patriarchy tends to favor the younger aspects of the feminine, particularly when they are in service to the masculine. Ageism against women is rife in our culture, which judges men and women very differently as they age.

The loss of the Crone is detrimental to the empowerment of women of all ages as the Crone provides a sense of self-worth and autonomy to the maiden and mother “Without the Crone, the task of belonging to oneself, of being a whole person, is virtually impossible” (Woodman & Dickson, 1996). The Crone knows her mind and speaks it, even if it isn’t welcome. It is through the Crone that a natural desire for connectedness is balanced with a need for independence and wholeness. Without the Crone, women are left in a position of servitude or in the position of “other.”  The Crone brings in wisdom, and confidence, however, she also has a shadow side. There is a risk that she could become rigid, resentful, and pessimistic—becoming an “old witch.”  

We may see the crone embodied in women who have already gone through the stages of maiden and mother (whether or not they actually had children). Connecting to the inner crone helps women to find their voices and to balance their relationships with others with a strong connection to themselves. The Crone is known for her wisdom and leadership during times of decision and change, thus she acts as an inner guide when people find themselves at a crossroads.

We can often discover our relationship with our own “inner Crone” through working with our dreams. I, personally, have found that my dream figures of older women have provided me with insights into my own relationship with my Crone. Unfortunately, these figures have shown me that I disowned my inner Crone, just as the patriarchy has.

Images of the Crone are found in ancient myth, particularly in the Greek Goddess Hecate. The Greeks considered Hecate the ruler of the earth, heaven, and sea. She leads the journey into the underworld in the myth of Persephone and Demeter, which portrays the psychological transformation of the feminine.

In the myth, the maiden Persephone is abducted by Hades, the King of the Underworld. From her cave, Hecate hears Persephone’s shouts and suspects the abduction. Later when Hecate hears Demeter, Persephone’s mother, grieving, she approaches her with a torch and tells her what she heard. The two seek the God Apollo to see if he knows what really happened. 

Hecate leads the journey into the Underworld to rescue Persephone who, because she ate a pomegranate seed, became Queen of the Underworld. Thus, Persephone must remain in the Underworld part of the year. Hecate acts as Persephone’s companion and takes Persephone’s place in the Underworld during her return to the Upperworld to see her mother, Demeter. 

From a depth psychological perspective, the underworld is the place of the unconscious, the soul, and transformation. Persephone needed to journey to the Underworld to lose her innocence, just as we all must. Therefore, psychologically, Hecate reflects our inner guide, the burning torch, during our challenging experiences that are a necessary part of psychological transformation. As Hecate is the only one to hear Persephone’s cries but does not step in to stop the abduction, she may be that part of us that knows that sometimes we need to go through difficult times to increase consciousness and maturity.   

Hecate comforts and helps Demeter, and so she may also be that part of us that can keep faith during a crisis. Hecate’s keen ability to hear Persephone’s shouts may reflect the depth psychological belief that “listening” to the unconscious is an important part of individuation. 

We also find the Crone in modern film. Although Hollywood is hardly churning out movies about Crones, one film certainly does. Grandma, served as the closing night film at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.  Lily Tomlin as Grandma Elle helps her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) through a complex and difficult situation, in essence, a journey into the underworld. Although there is little physical action in the film, there is considerable psychological transformation for both grandma and granddaughter. Sage benefits greatly from Elle’s guidance, learning to stand up for herself and own her anger. Elle, too, starts to go through a transformation as she begins to lose some of the rigidity and negativity that started to creep in.    

It seems that in this time of heightened awareness of the need for empowering the feminine, we must remember the Crone in our culture and in ourselves. She would provide some much-needed balance to the overabundance of masculine power.  

This image of the torch is from Eleusis just outside Athens, Greece. It is the place of the mysterious Eleusinian mysteries which were based on the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Although little detail is known about the mysteries, they appear to reflect a process of psychological transformation.