The Crone: Woman of Age, Wisdom, and Power

Before patriarchy recast older women as witches, ancient matriarchies revered the Crone as the supreme source of wisdom, law, and power.

Walker examines the cross-cultural archetype of the ancient Triple Goddess to illuminate how tribal grandmothers once governed sacred rites, medicinal healing, and civil law.

This comprehensive investigation documents how European institutions systematically diabolized postmenopausal autonomy, reinterpreting traditional healers as malevolent sorceresses.

A probing account of the honored place of older women in ancient matriarchal societies restores to contemporary women an energizing symbol of self-value, power, and respect.

• Women's Spirituality: Explores how ancient traditions across India, Egypt, and Celtic Europe honored the pre-Christian female trinity of Virgin, Mother, and Crone as an unbroken cycle of life, death, and renewal.
• Archetypes: Examines the universal symbolism of the cosmic cauldron and the formidable figures of Kali, Hecate, and the Caillech, who embodied the transformative power of nature and time.
• Social History: Unearths the economic and religious pressures that drove the European witch mania, revealing how village midwives, herbalists, and property-owning widows were systematically disenfranchised.
• Also by This Author: The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets and Feminist Fairy Tales.