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In This Article:
- How fairy tales have shaped — and misrepresented — aging women
- The absence of positive elder female archetypes in Western culture
- How to use story to reframe menopause and the second half of life
- What ancient myths and folk tales can teach us today
- The rise of a new “Council of Grandmothers” archetype within us
The Rise of the Wise Woman Archetype
by Sharon Blackiem author of the book: Wise Women
We are narrative creatures, hardwired for story. We make sense of the world, from childhood onward, through the stories we find — or the stories that find us. They are the stars we navigate by; they bring us the wisdom we need to thrive.
An abundance of fairy tales shows us how beautiful golden-haired princesses can find their way in the world — but what about older women?
We too have a deep thirst for stories that illustrate ways in which we might live richly and meaningfully, but at first glance there would seem to be a dearth of inspiring characters to serve as role models for the second half of our lives.
Ancient Images of Female Elderhood
In the better-known stories — “Rapunzel,” “Hansel and Gretel,” “Snow White,” and many more — we’re presented with older women who are malevolent witches, who are jealous tyrants, or who are easily outwitted by any handsome young prince who happens along.
European folklore reflects a fundamental distrust of women as we age, and so a German proverb warns that If the devil can’t come himself, he sends an old woman, and another that He who walks between two old women early in the morning will have only bad luck for the rest of the day.*
There’s certainly no positive, coherent image of female elderhood in contemporary Western culture — or at least, not one that any of us might want to inhabit. Although, throughout ancient European mythology, women have always personified wisdom — think of Sophia, Athena, Minerva, Metis.
Older women today are often ignored, encouraged to stay out of the way, or held up as objects of ridicule. The Wise Woman, symbolizing the essence of mature female wisdom, is no longer a prominent archetype in our culture.
Not Me!
As I stood, hot-flushed and frantic, on the threshold of menopause just over a decade ago, all the cultural signposts seemed to be pointing in the direction of an end to my useful life. The good bits of my story were over, it seemed; now was the time to resign myself to its long, gray ending.
I wasn’t having any of that; I’m a psychologist who believes that the essence of life is transformation, and I’d long specialized in all the ways in which story can transform us and how we might find ourselves in fairy tales.
The outward-focused narrative of the first half of my life might be drawing to a close, but I was looking for a new narrative to illuminate the second half. I was determined that this ending would be followed by a new beginning. And so, though no longer your typical fairy-tale heroine, I set out on a quest through the dark woods of European folklore to look for stories about women like me: older women who refused to be redundant and irrelevant, and who were searching for ways to reimagine the second half of their lives.
During years of obsessive excavation, ever-growing piles of musty, beautifully illustrated old fairy-tale collections and folklore monographs tottered precariously on my desk while I searched through them for lost and hidden gems. Much to my delight, I unearthed a surprising number of stories populated by old women who hold the protagonist’s fate in the palm of their gnarly old hands, who see the bigger picture (and probably were the ones who painted it in the first place), or who have the last laugh.
Older Women -- Wise Women!
If the stories we tell about older women and the images we hold of them are dysfunctional, then our elderhood will be dysfunctional too. How we think about women in the second half of their lives depends on the images we hold of them. So the motivation for this book (Wise Women) was, by gathering this folklore together for the first time, to bring back to life the funny and feisty aging women who have been so thoroughly forgotten.
If the contemporary cultural mythology suggests that older women serve no purpose then, quite simply, we need to change that mythology. It’s long past time to take control of, and tell, our own stories — and, for that purpose, we need tales in which we can shine.
The Stories We Tell
Throughout human history, we’ve sat around fires telling each other myths, folk tales, and fairy tales. Myths explain how things came to be and generally deal with substantial matters: deities, cultural heroes, the creation of the cosmos, the purpose and meaning of life. They provide the foundational narratives for entire civilizations: narratives that underpin their religions, values, and behaviors.
Folk tales are rather different: they’re secular narratives and the province, by definition, of “the folk.” They reflect the concerns and aspirations of ordinary people, and they’re often deeply rooted in the specific places in which those people live.
Fairy tales, or “wonder tales,” are included within the category of folk tales; they usually contain supernatural characters such as fairies and giants, and involve magic and enchantments. In the oral tradition, fairy tales are constantly shapeshifting to reflect and accommodate changing times.
At the heart of all fairy tales is transformation: they help us to believe in the possibility of change. We come to understand how we might escape an impossible situation and begin as a consequence to reimagine ourselves; we see that there are so many ways of living fully and authentically in a world that is filled with challenge and sorrow. These are the stories that offer us a more fertile and functional set of values to live by; they remind us that, tucked up safe in the rambling, roundabout lines between once upon a time and happily ever after, lie the secrets of a meaningful life.
These stories are so very compelling because of the archetypal characters, images, and motifs interwoven through them: they’re like keys that unlock the imagination, opening the door to the shadowy, cobweb-covered rooms that shelter the mysteries of our inner lives. In the vehicle of a myth or a fairy tale, archetypal characters become energies, interlaced with instructions that guide us through the entanglements of life.
New Archetypes Rising Inside Us
In different periods of our lives, new archetypes can rise up inside us, demanding to be known, insisting on revealing new and more authentic ways of being in the world. This certainly happens as we journey through the last rich decades of life, and together, the archetypes that call to us can form a kind of “Council of Grandmothers” to watch over us and guide us.
These potent old stories offer up wisdom that is accessible and relevant to all women — whatever their skin color, sexual orientation, or ancestry. They’re not in the business of excluding: the archetypal characters who inhabit them are universal and, as students of folklore know perfectly well, most of the themes and motifs in these stories are cross-cultural too. The simplicity of these stories, songs, and rhymes allows each of us to bring to them our own history, our own predilections, and our own interpretations. We draw from them what we need, and they give with equal generosity to all those who come looking for their wisdom.
In spite of the evident challenges of midlife, menopause, and the decades that follow, more and more mature women today are looking for ways to reimagine and reclaim the power of the second half of life. We’re all looking to become wise women, each in our own unique way.
Copyright © 2024 by Sharon Blackie.
Reprinted with permission from New World Library.
Article Source
BOOK: Wise Women
Wise Women: Myths and Stories for Midlife and Beyond
by Sharon Blackie.
From early childhood, we learn about the world and its possibilities through myths and fairy tales. The heroines, though, tend to be young princesses or fair maidens, and the evildoers older women: wicked witches or unforgiving matriarchs. Yet a wealth of lesser-known European stories feature mature wise women with personality and power. Compiling many years of research, Sharon Blackie has reclaimed these tales, presenting them in evocative prose that will resonate with women of all ages.
This dazzling array of not-to-be-messed-with older characters provides compelling role models for today’s listeners, who seek to redefine their relationship with aging. These women outwit monsters, test and mentor younger heroines, embody the cycles of the Earth, weave the world into being — and almost always have the last laugh. Each story is accompanied by background commentary that highlights important themes and reveals its insights into how we might live meaningfully and authentically in the second half of life.
Click here for more info and/or to order this hardback book. Also available as an Audiobook and as a paperback and a Kindle edition.
About the Author
Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on the development of the mythic imagination, and on the relevance of myths, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today.
As well as writing five books of fiction and nonfiction, including the bestselling If Women Rose Rooted and her latest, Hagitude, her writing has appeared in anthologies, collections and in several international media outlets. Her books have been translated into several languages, and her awards include the Roger Deakin Award, and a Creative Scotland Writer’s Award. Sharon is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and has taught and lectured at several academic institutions, Jungian organisations, retreat centres and cultural festivals around the world.
Visit her website at SharonBlackie.net/
More Books by the author.
Article Recap:
This article challenges outdated narratives about elder women by exploring the power of myth and folklore to reshape identity in later life. Sharon Blackie offers inspiring insights into how older women can reclaim the Wise Woman archetype and step into their most authentic selves with strength and purpose.
#WiseWomen #Elderhood #FeminineArchetypes #StorytellingPower #SecondHalfOfLife #MythAndMeaning #SharonBlackie #WomenOver50 #CulturalMythology #PersonalTransformation
