HAGITUDE: Sharon Blackie on the power of aging

Aug 24, 2023

Sharon Blackie, advocate for the power of aging, talks about rejecting cultural pressures as she ages. She explores the ancient archetype of the Hag, embracing creativity, and self-expression in the second half of life. The podcast delves into the significance of ancestral cosmologies, the power of stories, and the qualities of old women. It also discusses the connection with the land, the existence of archetypes, and the need for older women to embrace their worth and create change.

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ANECDOTE

Finding Her Roots

Sharon Blackie, in her late 30s, felt disconnected from American narratives while living there.
This prompted her to rediscover her own Celtic heritage and its mythic figures.

INSIGHT

The Great Grandmother's Influence

Discovering a cosmology initiated by a Great Grandmother changed Blackie's perspective on women and herself.
It offered her insights into feminine creativity and the deep connection between women and the land.

ANECDOTE

The Hero's Journey Unsuited

In her 20s and 30s, Blackie followed a career-focused, outwardly driven path, mirroring the hero's journey.
However, she felt this path didn't suit her feminine psyche, as it devalued qualities like nurturing and intuition.

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Sharon Blackie calls us to the ancient archetype of the Hag as a figure of unapologetic emergence from cultural pressures that lock us into outworn roles and limiting beliefs.

Drawing upon her transformative experiences in menopause Blackie grounds the mythic figure of the old woman who fashioned the world in her fierce determination to dissolve and reconfigure her professional and personal life. Identifying and rejecting cultural pressures to look and act a certain way as she ages, she claims the second half of her life for a post-heroic journey of intense creativity and unapologetic self-expression.

Ancient Celtic fairytales, myths, and folk stories carry the spirit of the Cailleach, the divine old woman who shapes the landscape and scourges it clean through winter storms. This Queen of Winter is sharp and wild. Those who discover the Cailleach within carry her ruthless truths as unavoidable facts that demand acknowledgment. Her stark reality strips away one's inner illusions and avoidance of death, leaving her sharp eye facing outward. Tending the web of life becomes the great task, and acting to restore balance to the community, the central role.

The path to the Hag is hidden in stories. Blackie reminds us that reviving ancient themes and images expands our imagination and helps us recover the dark woods we once knew well. Wise old ones revive awe and connection. Trees and plants, rivers and crows have secrets to teach us that require a depth of listening undisturbed by collective gibbering.

Elderhood can be a time to shed the roles assigned to us. Menopause can be welcomed as a rite of passage with the Hag silently waiting for us to see her. If we have learned how to recognize her, renewal and reclaiming is possible. The stories of those who have gone before us carry a strange beauty that can stir a memory in our soul and set us on the path.

REFERENCES:

Sharon Blackie

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