The Mysterial Sequence: The Crone Wound

This is the final piece in The Mysterial Sequence series. To receive insight and support, join us here.

I’ve spent two decades uncovering and decoding The Mysterial Sequence – a developmental pathway supporting women in the unlocking of their innate potential. It has a very intentional and powerful order, which you can sample by journeying through these blogs.

The Mysterial Sequence began by cultivating The Mother archetype so that our Radiant Presence could wrap its loving arms around us as well as others. We then brought our own Hero onto the field to perform bold and Empowered Action to initiate our projects in the world. This awakened The Father, whose order, structure, and systems enable us to navigate the halls of power and access the True Authority necessary to thrive there over time. Once solid, we could free ourselves to reclaim The Maiden and release our Joyful Creativity, reconnecting with our spontaneous nature and innovative genius. And now the fifth and final gate…

The Crone Archetype

The Crone’s capacities are flavored with a particular sharpness, clarity, and strength. Since it is the first archetype to work with both Yin and Yang energies together, the Crone is a very big energy to take in. This is not an archetype to activate carelessly. The ground must be well prepared with the first four archetypes of the Mysterial Sequence. If not—and sometimes even when—The Crone can instigate some major breakdowns before breakthrough occurs.

With a healthy inner Crone, an adult woman finds her ability to unflinchingly speak truth to power. Though it may be painful to be on the receiving end, her intention is to do no harm. She is both fierce and compassionate.

She brings the capacity to be with chaos and uncertainty, to be able to perceive that best next step in the unfolding of what is trying to emerge. The Crone doesn’t need to know more. The Crone archetype lives in the meeting place of knowing and Mystery. Synchronicities and dreams are a normal and natural communication tool. The Crone enables us to become more spiritually awake and in tune with the sacredness of all existence. She is the WAY SHOWer – guide between the realms – embracing dark and light.

The Crone allows us to have an open heart and to be with heartbreak—our own suffering and the suffering of others. She brings the strength and discernment to know what must die and pass away, even if it is an idea or a business. The Crone may even catalyze a major breakdown in your life, if that is what is required to help you move forward on your journey. She helps us to recognize death as a necessary and sacred part of life, not the enemy of it.

Being completely with what is – open to the Mystery…

She uses the language of Ritual to connect the unseen with the seen. Knows the power of Silence – knows how to act from this place of a deep Stillness… partnered with the mystery waiting for all the pieces to arrive before stepping forward.

And because of that, the Crone guides us to hold a space for something new and more effective to emerge from the ashes of the old.

The Crone Wound

This potent “wise woman” archetypal force of the Feminine has often nudged its way to the surface of our culture, only to be demonized, time and time again. Women’s natural talents for counseling, healing and sourcing community wisdom were suppressed in the 11th century when university centers of higher knowledge were founded, available exclusively to men.

And once public service required university credentials, women were effectively removed from the intellectual life of the community. Inside the paradigm of that patriarchal culture, women’s embodied ways of knowing and their ability to speak truth to power were a clear threat to the hierarchy.

Christianity retained a limited connection with the feminine as Maiden and Mother, but systematically eliminated the Crone. This happened most notably during the witch burning times of the 15–17th centuries and during the Inquisition in Europe and the Puritanism of the New World. An estimated 5 million women were drowned, hung, or burned at the stake over a period of 300 years—that’s 16,667 women killed per year—often for no other reason than just being a woman. Even surviving to old age could get you branded as a witch; that’s how threatening her uniquely powerful feminine presence was to the social order.

Over-identification with The Crone archetype results in the active shadow of ‘The Hag’ taking over… 

• Using different ways of knowing to gather information as a source of ego centered power
• Delivering wisdom in a mean-spirited truth-telling way

Underdevelopment of The Crone energy leads women into the passive shadow of ‘The Denier’… 

• Constant self-doubt
• Feeling confused and powerless
• Deferring to everyone else to tell you the truth about what is going on

These painful collective memories survive in our cells. It’s why we have struggled to be able to open our arms wide to the wise woman within. Of course, it hasn’t helped that our still mostly patriarchal culture persistently encourages women to remain maidens and mothers forever. But this is not to be. The wise woman archetype is arising now, whether anyone likes it or not. This is her time, and in this activation is where you will encounter her.

Bringing The Crone into The Light

When the light of your conscious awareness burns through The Crone shadows, the healthy Crone begins to gather strength and substance in your psyche, supporting you to:

• Hold seeming opposites without contradiction
• Cut away what no longer serves, or allow it to dissolve.
• See patterns in the chaos, piercing through confusion
• Draw upon all sources of knowing whether conventional or not
• Stay with the not-knowing, the Mystery, if that is what is called for

The healthy Crone energy is a catalytic force, able to stand at the crossroads, synthesize complexity and bridge between extremely divergent people, worlds, and ideas so that something new and better can arise.

Deep in the foundation of your being, resonates the truth of The Crone’s liberating belief:

This last initiation in The Mysterial Sequence brings a great synthesizing force in the psyche that is now able to guide and direct the other archetypal forces—knowing when to be still and rest, when to pulse forward into action, when to build and structure, when to break apart and innovate and when to turn up the heat and let things transform. You have an Alchemical Authenticity that makes you an agent of change simply by being yourself.

The Edge of Doubt

by Albert Huffstickler

There is always that edge of doubt.
Trust it, that’s where the new things come from.
If you can’t live with it, get out,
Because when it’s gone, you’re on Automatic,
Repeating something you’ve learned.
Let your prayer be:
Save me from that tempting certainty that
Leads me back from the Edge,
That dark edge where the first light breaks.

As always, thank you for exploring with me. I hope to have a chance to engage with you in this unfolding Mysterial movement.

This series is intended to whet your appetite – you can go deeper with the work in order to unravel from the shadow holdings of each Archetype and fully activate your potentiality in this life.