One of the most beautiful things about growing older is the precious Jewel of Wisdom.
For the past few months, my love and I have been on a beautiful adventure through magical parts of Europe.
From connecting into the elemental power of the sacred areas in Glastonbury, immersing ourselves in mediumship at Arthur Findlay College, swimming in the crystal blue waters of the Adriatic Sea, to reconnecting to my traditional village lifestyle in Mala Sela, Slovenia, it has been exactly what my soul needed. I will share some stories about these experiences later.
This is a story about welcoming the Crone
The lifestyle here in Slovenia is similar to my lifestyle at home in Australia, yet it is also so different. Here, people are still connected to the land and flow through the seasons in tune with the natural order of things. It’s been nice to slow down and get back to basics.
As well as visiting family and soaking up the Mediterranean sun, I’ve spent much of this time watching, observing, and contemplating what I want in my life moving forward. It feels like I am a witness in my own movie.
Craig and I have both facilitated and attended workshops and circles here in Europe. Just being here has carried us back to the old ways, gathering together around the fire.
During one event, we sat on the grass with the fire burning in the centre of the circle. We listened quietly as an elder spoke to us and anchored the energy. People were invited to feel within themselves what was most important in their lives. Was it love, family, children, freedom, joy, happiness, health, freedom, prosperity, gratefulness, connection, spirituality?
As the sun was setting in the background behind her and I relaxed into a deeper state of consciousness, my vision changed and the elder’s face morphed into mine. I saw myself as the elder.
For the second month in a row, my cycle has quietened. I am moving into the crone stage of my life.
When I return to Australia, where society values youth and beauty, I intend to hold my head up high and honour this rich new cycle that I am stepping into. I am actually excited about it!
Wisdom is defined as “the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgement; the quality of being wise”.
When we sit in a circle with a group of people and we’re each asked the one thing we want to bring into our life, we get a pretty good idea of where people stand. High vibrational words are invoked and the energy buzzes. We all feel amazing. But what really happens when we leave the circle?
It is not enough to simply express your wish for joy or harmony or abundance or love. That is only one piece of the puzzle. We cannot integrate these high vibrational words without knowingness – knowing how that feels – and that involves feeling emotions. And through that comes wisdom.
The value of wisdom
I believe we all need to start honouring our natural cycles more, recognising the divinity within.
There are certain things you cannot claim to be able to do unless you’ve been through them. There are certain things we are not meant to go through or experience until we reach a certain age. That’s why wisdom is said to come with age. And it brings with it such a beautiful and rich way of living life.
Some people acquire deep wisdom early in their lives through traversing difficult and challenging experiences, as I have, and yet this new cycle feels different. I’m looking forward to seeing what she presents.
With only a few weeks left here in Slovenia, I’m preparing myself for our return to Australia.
In Sydney, we are still very much disconnected and caught up in the “doing” of things or learning all we can from books, trying to find the answers and bypass the experiences we actually need to have.
Even spiritual entrepreneurialism can be driven by vanity—the number of followers we have or the number of likes we get.
There is an inherent need in our society to be important, to be better, to be more persuasive manipulators, to get more sales. We have a lifestyle where we’ve been programmed to compete against each other in often unhealthy ways.
Every person has different roles we play: daughter, sister, maiden, lover, mother, friend, crone, elder. For men, the masculine counterpart.
I see my new role of an elder as one of sage – helping others to recognise what is best in life for them; helping them on their way to becoming a better version of themselves.
In the old times, children were raised by grandparents while parents worked or tended to daily jobs. Why? Because it was the grandparents who were able to show them the right way.
Wisdom in Practice
When people ask me what I want, I say wisdom: Wisdom in my relationships, wisdom in my spiritual development, wisdom in my business, wisdom in my relationship with myself and my relationship with the earth.
It is both a journey and a practice. When we do not have enough wisdom about something, we can acquire it through the experience of learning, practising and repeating it to truly understand and embody it.
For example, if your deepest desire is a loving long-term relationship, you don’t become the best lover or best partner overnight. Love is not enough and words are not enough. It requires action and knowledge and practice as well as love and patience and kindness. Something that is an important aspect of your life may not be an important aspect of your lover’s. We need wisdom to navigate through the different obstacles in a relationship and last the distance. We need to learn how to adjust our life with someone else’s and be willing to.
In Australia, we tend not to even allow ourselves to go into the places we need to be. Which is why it’s been so nice being here in Slovenia, immersing myself deeply in the old ways working with nature and elements, I’ve allowed myself to experience it all.
This has been so important in this transition in my life– taking the time to go to the ocean and lakes, refreshing myself under the water and recognising there is so much more than what we could ever know.
The Crone is about being wise enough to know who is important, what is important, what is true and how true it is. Is it really the truth or is it something you need to explore more about in the quietness of your own space?
So, let me ask you… What is one thing you desire and need more than anything else?
There’s nothing wrong with wanting love or joy or any of these beautiful altruistic words, but at the end of the day, they’re just words if not supported by action.
Wisdom gives you the map of how to get to the space of feeling love or acceptance or happiness and therefore manifesting it and bringing it into your here and now. That is why it’s the jewel in your crown of life
Ase, Ivana x
