The Crone’s manifesto

Are you a Crone? Old(er) women everywhere are beginning to reclaim powerful words such as crone, which have been used in demeaning ways for centuries.

Not all older women are Crones. To be a Crone is a deliberate way of living, a badge of honour, not a by-product of longevity. You’re not a Crone if your mind is closed, if your heart is cold, if you’re unaware of what your instincts are telling you.

Below is a (wo)manifesto for all Crones and Crones-in-training, with some favourite quotes on the right. Why not come out as a Crone by adding a comment to this page?


  • I will banish the word ‘should’ from my life
  • I will laugh a lot, including gently at myself sometimes
  • I will gather my community of loved ones close about me
  • I will speak up bravely when I need to
  • I will demonstrate that a little eccentricity gives spice to life
  • I will live more simply, leaving space for what’s really important to me
  • I will treat my body to movement and to delicious, nourishing food
  • I will compromise as little as possible
  • I will find all kinds of occasions and people to celebrate
  • I will live in a profoundly creative way, understanding that the word creative does not always refer to the arts but to a deeper current running through life
  • I will, being human, feel fear and regret sometimes; I will not allow those feelings to define me
  • I will ask for help when I need it
  • I will mark the significant moments of life, large and small
  • I will mourn my losses fiercely, in my own way
  • I will fall in love when I feel like it
  • I will work to heal our beautiful planet home
  • I will do and learn things I’ve always wanted to do and learn
  • I will forget to worry what people think of me
  • I will discover my gifts and offer them freely
  • It is entirely likely I will wear purple
  • I will live a spiritual life, although not necessarily a religious one
  • I will keep an open mind and an open heart
  • I will learn to cackle

Tess Giles Marshall

The photograph above is of one of my most precious possessions, the Crone Clock, which I commissioned from artist Rima Staines, who also painted the banner heading for this site. Rima is far too young to be a Crone, but she has all the potential.

Click this link to sign up for our free monthly newsletter 104 Responses to The Crone’s manifesto
  1. Jill
    July 1, 2011 | 2:35 am

    The Manifesto is exactly what I’ve been feeling. So glad there are others who are having the same experience. Thanks for doing this!

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      July 1, 2011 | 5:36 pm

      Jill, so pleased that this meets you at your own experiences and feelings. A warm welcome and thank you for commenting.

      Reply
  2. Should: it’s a curse
    July 7, 2011 | 11:09 am

    [...] Crone’s Manifesto [...]

    Reply
  3. Tenar
    July 7, 2011 | 4:27 pm

    Great leap here manifest for a great journey, Tess!!

    Reply
  4. Cathy
    July 18, 2011 | 5:37 am

    Living as a crone has become the best stage of my life. So wonderful to find this gathering of like minded women. I used to follow your other blog,and found this new one via Rima’s site.

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      July 18, 2011 | 8:38 am

      Hi Cathy, yes I remember you from my other blog, so very glad you’ve found your way here!

      Reply
  5. Jen
    July 22, 2011 | 2:44 am

    Ahh…to take the first step(ping) stone as a crone…feels great. Glad I found your site, Tess! Thank you.

    Reply
  6. Sally Meyers
    July 27, 2011 | 6:37 pm

    It looks interesting, but I need time to digest the (wo)manifesto.

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      July 27, 2011 | 7:42 pm

      Well interesting is always good, Sally, hope the digestion goes well.

      Reply
  7. diana nova
    July 28, 2011 | 3:57 am

    Dear Tess Just connecting to Pilgrim’s Moon thru Christine
    So charmed to have discovered you
    and the manifesto speaks to my life intentions
    All sweet blessings D

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      July 28, 2011 | 5:39 pm

      Diana, a warm welcome to my site, and I’m delighted the manifesto speaks to you.

      Reply
  8. Joan
    July 28, 2011 | 4:33 am

    I think I’m gong to feel at home here. Glad to be onboard.

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      July 28, 2011 | 5:41 pm

      Joan, welcome on board, I’m so pleased you’re here and that you feel at home.

      Reply
  9. Lisa
    August 10, 2011 | 1:25 am

    I am so glad I have found you! You have put into words what I have been feeling for a long time!

    Reply
  10. Tess Giles Marshall
    August 10, 2011 | 7:08 pm

    Hello Lisa, a warm welcome to you, and I’m glad you found me too!

    Reply
  11. carol joy
    August 16, 2011 | 4:37 pm

    Amen, sister.

    Reply
  12. Ann Dissek
    August 18, 2011 | 1:48 pm

    So glad I found this site! I read the manifesto and could identify with so much of it. Thank you Tess!

    Reply
  13. Tess Giles Marshall
    August 18, 2011 | 6:31 pm

    Ann, thanks for your comment and a warm welcome to my site!

    Reply
  14. Crowing Crone Joss
    September 8, 2011 | 1:58 am

    love, love, love your manifesto. I’m going to print it out and post it where I can see it every day. And, on, what an awesome clock.
    Crones rock!
    walk in beauty this day.
    Feel free to visit my new interactive blog
    http://www.ccwow.wordpress.com
    Crowing Crone Joss recently posted..I love my life!My Profile

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      September 8, 2011 | 8:41 pm

      Hi Crowing Crone Joss, and welcome to this space. What a great idea to print out the manifesto. Crones rock indeed!

      Reply
  15. JOAN
    September 16, 2011 | 3:36 am

    this is all new to me…aging and spirituality…thank you for reaching out to us 70plus gals…blessings to all

    Reply
  16. Tracie Nichols
    December 1, 2011 | 1:25 pm

    Tess, I love the manifesto.

    Eccentricity, creativity, kindness… oh yes! And my cackle is coming along nicely :-)

    thank you for creating this community!
    In solidarity,
    Tracie
    Tracie Nichols recently posted..How to connect with seasonal rhythms when your life is the total oppositeMy Profile

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      December 1, 2011 | 4:21 pm

      Tracie, delighted to have you here and cackling! Just had a quick look at your site and will enjoy exploring later.

      Reply
  17. Helga Thompson
    December 26, 2011 | 6:56 pm

    Glad to find this site. I hope it leads to connections with other fella crones and hopeful a real life meeting with some in Tennessee where I live.

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      December 26, 2011 | 8:58 pm

      Hi Helga, welcome to the site, there are crones everywhere, hope you find some in Tennessee!

      Reply
  18. Hawthorne
    January 7, 2012 | 6:05 pm

    Love it! My spirituality is a mix of Christianity and Pagan, and the Crone is very significant in the latter. Look forward to exploring more…. x x
    Hawthorne recently posted..More Thursford Wood photosMy Profile

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      January 8, 2012 | 11:12 am

      Hello Hawthorne welcome to this space. I love your daughter’s photos in the post you link to. The “mad lady” looks good too!

      Reply
  19. Erika
    January 8, 2012 | 9:37 am

    Is it terribly sad to have felt more like a Crone, than a Maiden or Mother, most of my life??
    Just that scentence makes it sound like I’ve live a Hard Life, which I’ve not…! Is there a minumun age for being a Crone? :) ‘Mid-lifers or older’ would surely see me as a Child… :)
    Beautiful blog! I will be back. :)
    Erika recently posted..Home again…My Profile

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      January 8, 2012 | 11:14 am

      Erika, welcome to this space. Perhaps sad is what you make of it, and Crone is a state of mind… Look forward to meeting you here again.

      Reply
  20. Horsa (aka Carol Nowlan)
    April 23, 2012 | 1:43 pm

    My Croning Ceremony was one of the most profound and beautiful events in my life. Although this took place at the turn of the century, I remember it as if it were last night. Such an important event in ones life, my son flew out from Canada to South Africa (I now live in England), and worked all day decorating the Croning Circle. He made a throne for me, and behind the throne he built out of branches, bark, and dried grass and leave the most spectacular Crone. I am truly blessed.

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      April 23, 2012 | 7:49 pm

      Horsa, welcome and thank you so much for sharing this experience. How very beautiful.

      Reply
  21. amy
    January 30, 2013 | 5:20 pm

    just found your website and it couldn’t come at a better time! i’m not ‘mid-life’ age by numbers (i’m 38), but am by experience. i have raised two young adult children, and entering a new phase of my life. i can relate to every item on your list, and am excited to see what awesome info i can find on your website! thank you for doing this :)

    Reply
  22. Georgina
    March 26, 2013 | 12:03 am

    Thank you. For putting in words what’s been in my heart and soul for the last 6 years. I am a crone, and proud to claim the best years of my life. I can’t wait to pass this on to my women friends.

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      March 26, 2013 | 6:47 pm

      Georgina, a warm welcome here and so glad to hear you claim yourself as a crone!

      Reply
  23. Beth Patterson
    March 28, 2013 | 12:32 pm

    Facilitated a Croning (Crowning)Ceremony (for myself and 7 others) in 2011 and another for the same in 2012…I am 58, movin’ and shakin it!
    Great book for any interested in the movement of the soul through life cycle: “Nature and Human Soul” by Bill Plotkin.
    Love to you all! Break it down, build it up, give it all away!

    Reply
    • Tess Giles Marshall
      March 28, 2013 | 3:53 pm

      Hey Beth, welcome to the site and thanks for your comment. (I like “Crowning” Ceremony). Will check out the book.

      Reply
  24. Linda Goodman
    June 4, 2013 | 11:01 pm

    I have always lived this way and never knew there was a name for it! Most people said I had some kind of “Nerve” to be bold and daring. to live outside the Box, if you will. I am just at the threshold of 60, and life is good!

    Reply
  25. Eliza
    June 10, 2013 | 3:41 pm

    beautiful, warm, inviting, feel just right :-)

    Reply
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A crone is a juicy older woman with zest, passions, and soul. If you aspire to be one, the secret is to be yourself, while your mind, heart and body still function well enough, and you appreciate being alive.
Jean Shinoda Bolen, Crones Don’t Whine

Hag is not a nice word.
Yet there comes a time in every woman’s life when nice is tedious, when nice is insipid, seeping into the soul like souring milk, warping the mind. Indeed, nice can, at times, be all that is offensive.
Emma Restall Orr – Kissing the Hag

Menopause, and the changing of her mental maps – the loosening of her need to stay on course – resulted in the tendency to stray into unfamiliar ways and consequently she found herself being “outrageous” at times. It could happen that one day she will have ceased to notice how she is being. The sense of outrageousness will then have left her. She will simply “be”. Still in possession of all her mental abilities, she will no longer be bound by any set ways of responding to anything. She will have opened the door to a higher freedom.
Marian Van Eyk McCain,
Transformation Through Menopause

Finally, as we grow older, when we begin that last stage of life, it is clear that behaviours and failures are not the stuff of religion much any more. Now, the ecstasy of life and the surrender to the Mystery become the last of the revelations of religion. Now, everything we learned long ago, gave up to some degree long ago, never left completely long ago, begins to make sense. Begins to become me.
Sr Joan Chittister, The Gift of Years

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming Wow, what a ride!
Hunter S Thompson

Like any other old woman, I like to tell my stories. Telling each other our stories is a traditional way that women have always shared their knowledge and their wisdom.
Marian Van Eyk McCain, Elderwoman

White as an eggshell
White as a bone,
White as chalk
Or milk or the moon,
Is the written word
Of the ancient Crone,
Who works by wind,
Sun, water and stone

Come with a cackle and a free-born spirit
Come with an edge that is sharp and new
Come with your depth and your ageless wisdom
Come with a cake and a warming brew.
From On Ghost Eve by Carolyn Hillyer

As we free ourselves from the entanglements of too many possessions, and from over-committing our time and money, a lightness begins to breathe through our lives, a kind of quietly exuberant joy – it really is like the bread-sponge rising as the yeast works away silently upon the grain.