Conversation with author Sharon Blackie wise woman
Sharon BlackieHe holds a Ph.D. and is an award-winning author and psychologist. Her acclaimed books, lectures, and educational programs focus on rethinking women’s stories, and on myths, fairy tales, and folklore with the personal, cultural, and environmental issues we face today. Focused on relevance. Sharon, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an online faculty member at Pacifica Graduate School, lives in Cumbria, England. For more information, visit SharonBlackie.net.
Why did I write it? wise woman?
About 10 years ago, when I stood on the threshold of menopause, all the signposts seemed to point toward the end of my lifespan. That’s what culture tells us, anyway. The good part of my story was supposed to end, and now it’s time to accept its long, gray ending. That never happened to me. I am a psychologist who believes that the essence of life is transformation. The outward story of the first half of my life may be coming to an end, but I was looking for a new story to illuminate the second half. I was sure that after this “end” there would be a new beginning. So, although no longer a typical fairy tale heroine, I traveled through the dark forests of European folklore in search of stories about women like me. The older woman I was looking for, refusing to be redundant and irrelevant. How to rethink the second half of your life.
During more than five years of obsessive research, a musty, beautifully illustrated collection of old fairy tales and stacks of folklore volumes sat on my desk while I searched for lost things and hidden gems. It was shaking unsteadily. Much to my delight, there are a surprising number of old women who hold the fate of our protagonists in the palm of their pesky old hands and see the big picture (and perhaps they were the first to draw it). I discovered the story. Or who will have the last laugh? my last book, Hagitudefocused on the unique and typical characteristics of some of these women, but I didn’t want to tell their full story or learn more about the attractive older women I found here. I didn’t have room to write about the entire gorgeous array. In my own European tradition. Therefore, the motivation for this book was to bring to life these funny and lively old women who had been completely forgotten by collecting this folklore for the first time. My hope is that this rich and diverse collection of characters provides insight into how each of us can uniquely embody a bold and purposeful older age.
How can we engage with the stories of the lesser-known but powerful women of middle age and beyond in myth and folklore? It’s also about inspiring us to create new stories for ourselves and rethinking our journey into the later stages of life. life?
Stories matter because how we think about growing older depends on the stories we tell about it. How we think about older women depends on the image we have of them. And the image we have of women in middle age and beyond today is not healthy. In fact, there is no clear image in modern Western cultural mythology of how to thrive in the second half of life. Older women are largely ignored, encouraged to keep a low profile, or treated as objects of ridicule and satire. But European mythology and folklore tell us something much more interesting. That’s not always the case.
Myths and folktales help us not only understand how life is or once was, but also help us dream of what life should be. We perceive, explain, and understand the world through stories. They are the stars we navigate, which is why storytelling is a universal human phenomenon and an important aspect of communal life in every culture and throughout our known history. . Stories teach us everything we know, and the lessons we learn from stories are deep and rich. Stories can reveal longings we didn’t know we had, spark new ideas and insights, and encourage growth and change. The characters in the story are also great teachers. They are role models for our growth and help us reimagine ourselves. It helps us unravel who we are and understand who we want to be.
So, if we look at old European stories, we find that there are many different types of older women who play important roles in the stories. These are the characters who pull the strings, weave the webs, test the heroes and heroines, and give them advice. They challenge us to find our own meaning, authenticity, and what lies within. Hagitude In a time when a culture of excess tells us we are all but irrelevant, I call it finding one’s own “inner hag.”
What is the essence of the wisdom of older women?
The women in myths and stories I’ve discovered are usually portrayed as wise, but the ways they display that wisdom are quite different. These stories therefore provide insight into the diverse nature of older women’s wisdom and how each of us can uniquely embody it. Some older women are very interesting, some are full of energy, some are actively dangerous, and some are happy and grateful. There’s the ungainly giantess, the charming fairy godmother, the misunderstood witch, the fierce grandmother, and the insightful wise woman. What these stories tell us is that there are many ways to be wise, and that it is up to us to discover our own inner wise woman, a wise woman who reflects our own unique talents and joys. This means that it depends on each of us individually.
Why are older women important? What can they offer in today’s troubled and challenging world?
In our more distant past, of course, as in many Indigenous cultures today, female elders were respected and held important and meaningful roles. They are the ones who hold myths and stories of wisdom. These are the people who know where medicinal plants grow and their uses. They serve as a guide for young adults. They are the caretakers and mentors of children in the community. They know when the community is coming for the dogs and are not afraid to speak up and say so. When they do, they listen. Their focus is on giving back, drawing on the hard-won wisdom they have cultivated within themselves for the benefit of the planet and their communities.
It must also be said that there are many older women in the world. Between 1918 and 2018, life expectancy increased by about 25 to 30 years in the United States and other developed countries around the world. In most of these countries, women live on average four to five years longer than men. Older adults (by most societal definitions, adults over 60) are now the fastest growing segment of most Western populations, and the majority of them are women.
It’s important for us older women to think carefully about what we should do with the extra time we have in our lives. In a culture where there are few role models to inspire and no well-trodden paths for us to walk, how should we spend them? Because being old, menopausal, or even older is rarely considered talented or wise. We view the second half of life as a period of loss and decline. This narrative needs to change if women are to once again become a beacon of strength and wisdom as they approach the latter stages of their lives.
What conversations do you think we should be having right now about midlife, menopause, and beyond?
Instead of looking for an end, we should look for an opportunity. For example, while more and more women are beginning to write about menopause as a natural and profoundly changing course of life, the culture at large still views menopause primarily as something to be dealt with, postponed, or even fought against. Masu. Well, you can think of menopause as a potential end or a potential beginning. It’s probably a little bit of both. It’s not just the end of a phase in your life, but the beginning of a whole new journey. It is a challenging but ultimately rewarding journey that crosses the boundaries of geriatricity.
Since Carl Jung’s groundbreaking work in the first half of the 20th century, most depth psychologists have argued that the journey in the second half of life is above all a spiritual passage, which is the purpose of this period of life. . It’s about growing into the person we were always meant to be. I believe that the journeys we take later in life reveal our truest selves and offer journeys that, while challenging, are full of meaning and purpose.
wise woman:
Myths and stories for middle age and beyond
Written by Sharon Blackie and Angarad Wynne
Category: Mythology / Women’s Interests
Publication date: October 8, 2024
Price: $19.95 * Format: Trade Paperback * Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 978-1-60868-966-8
Source: Spiritual Media Blog – www.spiritualmediablog.com
