Reclaiming the Crone: Shamanic Approach to Menopausal Identity
In modern Western culture, menopause is often framed through a clinical lens using the medical model. It is seen a series of symptoms to be managed or eliminated. And a slow descent into a story of brokenness and being less than to be mourned.
But in many indigenous and shamanic traditions, this transition is viewed as one of the most significant spiritual initiations of a woman’s life.
It is the birth of the Crone.
Even the use of the word ‘crone’ is layered with hidden - and very negative - meaning. (I have an email exploring this in more detail which is only available to my community - you can sign up to that below). To reclaim the Crone is to reject the idea that your utility ends when your fertility does.
Instead, it is a movement into a season of inner heat, where the energy previously directed outward toward caretaking and reproduction is reclaimed for personal power, wisdom, and spiritual authority.
Holding the Blood
In various shamanic lineages, the transition to the Crone is described as holding the blood. While the Maiden and Mother cycles involve the monthly release of life-force energy, the Crone retains this wise blood.
This isn't meant literally, but energetically. The life-force that once nourished others is now redirected inward to fuel the Shamanic Fire.
This shift can be seen as being mirrored by the hot flushes of menopause. This way of viewing this aspect of menopause takes us from seeing this as a neurological problem and biological glitch. Instead, it can be seen as the body’s way of burning away the old self to make room for the elder-healer.
Menopause as a Rite of Passage
Every shamanic initiation requires a death before a rebirth.
Menopause can be seen the death of the People-Pleaser and the Nurturer-at-all-costs. It is a deep honouring and coming back to our true nature. Shedding the layers of self-sacrifice and duty that have come before.
It is this, I believe, that sits behind so much of the discomfort and challenge that women experience during this time in their closest relationships. It is not a surprise that we really begin to question the role we’ve been given and the nature of our relationship, wanting something more authentic that allows us to flourish as ourselves instead of simply being there for the service of others.
This journey can be experienced in three stages:
Severance: Leaving behind the roles defined by youth and reproductive status. This is often the most painful stage, marked by grief and a sense of invisibility.
Liminality (The Void): The in-between space. This is where the brain fog and hormonal shifts live. Shamanically, this is the Vision Quest, a time of wandering where you are no longer who you were, but not yet who you are becoming.
Incorporation: In this final stage where we are in true menopause, we step back into the community as the Crone. The truth-teller, the boundary-setter, and the keeper of ancestral wisdom.
Rituals for Reclaiming the Power
To shift your perspective from one of decline and loss to one of initiation and rebirth, you can engage in symbolic acts that honour your journey:
The Fire Release: Write down the expectations of youth and attractiveness that no longer serve you. Safely burn the paper, visualising that energy transforming into a steady, internal flame of self-sovereignty.
Create a Crone Altar: Instead of hiding the signs of aging, find beauty in things that have endured. Place stones, gnarled wood, or dried seeds on your altar to represent the strength and resilience of your new identity.
The Sacred Silence: Practice the "No" as a spiritual discipline. The Crone does not leak her energy; she chooses where it goes. Each time you decline an obligation that drains you, you are practicing the Shamanic art of holding your power.
The Wisdom of the Elder
The Crone is the one who is no longer afraid of the dark, because she has integrated her own shadows. By reclaiming this identity, you move from being a fading youth to a rising elder.
The world does not need more people trying to look twenty. It desperately needs the grounded, fierce, and unapologetic wisdom of the woman who has walked through the fire and come out whole.
I will be putting on a Reclaiming the Crone Journey in Hemingford Grey Reading Room this year. If this is something that interests you as a mid-life woman, sign up to my mailing list to get details when it launches.
