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