The Crone/Wise Woman/13th Witch
This is the old woman who lives in the woods, usually estranged from the populace. People only go to her when they’re desperate for a solution, a fix, an answer. People are afraid of her, expect trouble, but she almost always knows what’s up and has a solution. Unfortunately, people don’t always follow the directions, as in the Wurm story.
There is also the tradition of the 13th Witch: the tendency of humans to seek help from places they would never go otherwise, then, when things are going well, they refuse to honor the source of their well-being. Sleeping Beauty features 12 Wise Women invited to bless the child born to the King & Queen. One was not invited – the 13th – and she came to the christening anyway and cursed the child, saying it would die. The 12th witch hadn’t given her blessing yet. She couldn’t undo the 13th Witch’s curse, but could moderate it: Sleeping Beauty would not die, but fall into sleep until someone could break through the barrier of thorns grown up around her castle over the years, and awake her with a kiss, bringing her back to life!
In many cultures, it is women who carry wisdom, experience, medicine. In modern times, it is more of an embarrassment to seek that kind of assistance, well outside the bounds of the prevailing religions. Better not to “invite” it, not give it a place of honor. And what is not honored will often undermine our lives, cursing us from the shadow world that Jung often speaks of!
One could argue that the world today is moving once again away from honoring the feminine and treating it with more disdain if it should not march in lock step with the values at the top of the food chain. Nature itself, often identified as feminine, is facing a similar disrespect. Will the old Wurm story play out and the world reach a terrible state where once again it looks to this old feminine archetype for assistance?
This is the old woman who lives in the woods, usually estranged from the populace. People only go to her when they’re desperate for a solution, a fix, an answer. People are afraid of her, expect trouble, but she almost always knows what’s up and has a solution. Unfortunately, people don’t always follow the directions, as in the Wurm story.
There is also the tradition of the 13th Witch: the tendency of humans to seek help from places they would never go otherwise, then, when things are going well, they refuse to honor the source of their well-being. Sleeping Beauty features 12 Wise Women invited to bless the child born to the King & Queen. One was not invited – the 13th – and she came to the christening anyway and cursed the child, saying it would die. The 12th witch hadn’t given her blessing yet. She couldn’t undo the 13th Witch’s curse, but could moderate it: Sleeping Beauty would not die, but fall into sleep until someone could break through the barrier of thorns grown up around her castle over the years, and awake her with a kiss, bringing her back to life!
In many cultures, it is women who carry wisdom, experience, medicine. In modern times, it is more of an embarrassment to seek that kind of assistance, well outside the bounds of the prevailing religions. Better not to “invite” it, not give it a place of honor. And what is not honored will often undermine our lives, cursing us from the shadow world that Jung often speaks of!
One could argue that the world today is moving once again away from honoring the feminine and treating it with more disdain if it should not march in lock step with the values at the top of the food chain. Nature itself, often identified as feminine, is facing a similar disrespect. Will the old Wurm story play out and the world reach a terrible state where once again it looks to this old feminine archetype for assistance?
This is the old woman who lives in the woods, usually estranged from the populace. People only go to her when they’re desperate for a solution, a fix, an answer. People are afraid of her, expect trouble, but she almost always knows what’s up and has a solution. Unfortunately, people don’t always follow the directions, as in the Wurm story.
There is also the tradition of the 13th Witch: the tendency of humans to seek help from places they would never go otherwise, then, when things are going well, they refuse to honor the source of their well-being. Sleeping Beauty features 12 Wise Women invited to bless the child born to the King & Queen. One was not invited – the 13th – and she came to the christening anyway and cursed the child, saying it would die. The 12th witch hadn’t given her blessing yet. She couldn’t undo the 13th Witch’s curse, but could moderate it: Sleeping Beauty would not die, but fall into sleep until someone could break through the barrier of thorns grown up around her castle over the years, and awake her with a kiss, bringing her back to life!
In many cultures, it is women who carry wisdom, experience, medicine. In modern times, it is more of an embarrassment to seek that kind of assistance, well outside the bounds of the prevailing religions. Better not to “invite” it, not give it a place of honor. And what is not honored will often undermine our lives, cursing us from the shadow world that Jung often speaks of!
One could argue that the world today is moving once again away from honoring the feminine and treating it with more disdain if it should not march in lock step with the values at the top of the food chain. Nature itself, often identified as feminine, is facing a similar disrespect. Will the old Wurm story play out and the world reach a terrible state where once again it looks to this old feminine archetype for assistance?