Hag. Crone. Genius. Just three of the many words consigned a distorted meaning on the ash heap of modern culture. There is ancient knowing that echoes in these words. Wisdom for these times. Of course I’ve written about the roots of hag and crone. Hag originally signifying holy and crone signifying crown, especially that aura of wisdom light that surrounded ancient wise women. 

I’ve also written about genius as the spirit that dwells in a landscape. The soul of a place that was present in the animals, plants, trees, wells, and rivers. Our ancestors knew the natural world to be alive with a profound spiritual essence that was both omnipotent and omnipresent. And they lived in deep spiritual connection with it. They were woven with it. And so there is this genius in us as well. Michael Meade writes about this…

The basic meaning of genius is the spirit that’s already there. The second oldest meaning is that which is just born. So when each of us is born, we’re born with a spirit that’s already there. That was in us before we came. And the strongest word in the Western world for that is genius. In India you might hear someone say Dharma. The oldest meaning of Dharma is the law written in your soul. So genius is our Dharma and the law written in us, the way we’re intended to be. …

Everyone is a genius by virtue of being born. Everyone brings a genius into the world with them. Or looked at mythologically, the genius brings each of us into the world because the genius knows why we’re here. Certainly our families don’t. Most educational institutions don’t. Most churches don’t. Most partners don’t. The genius does.

Genius. Growing up in this culture, especially within a university community, I learned that genius was all about the mind and thinking and knowledge. A revered status and power afforded to only a few people. Information is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom. In these times, we need all the wisdom available to us.

Genius. Wisdom of the soul. They way we are intended to be. Your genius. A gift beyond imagining. And yet … imagine what might be possible.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com

Profound ancestral connections in Ireland. Although my biological ancestors were very present, they were part of a much larger host of ancestors. And ancestral wisdom is now very present for me. In my teaching. In my new book. 

Weird. As I am well down the rabbit hole of researching ancestral wisdom traditions, I found this insight from Michael Meade. It’s brilliant. And perfect for where I am and where I invite others to be on this Elder and Crone journey.

In old traditions those who acted as elders were considered to have one foot in daily life and the other foot in the otherworld. Elders acted as a bridge between the visible world and the unseen realms of spirit and soul. 

The old word for having a foot in each world is ‘weird’. The original sense of weird involved both fate and destiny. Becoming weird enough to be wise requires that a person learn to accommodate the strange way they are shaped within and aimed at the world.

An old idea suggests that those seeking for an elder should look for someone weird enough to be wise. For just as there can be no general wisdom, there are no ‘normal’ elders. Normal bespeaks the ‘norms’ that society uses to regulate people, whereas an awakened destiny always involves connections to the weird and warp of life. 

Weird enough to be wise. I love it. I aspire to it. And I invite my elder sisters and brothers to step beyond societal norms and be the weird our people need from us in these times. For indeed, it’s time to get weird.

Beannacht,
Judith – judith@stonefires.com