A six month rite of passage experience
to claim the power of the queen,
the freedom of the matriarch,
and legacy of the crone
Join us as we create an intergenerational collective of women to celebrate
and share the wisdom gained from our experience.
We will gather to share the grief of what has passed from us,
our rage at what lies around us, and expand our capacity to live now
and into the future with vibrancy and vigor.
We were the rebels and wild ones in our youth.
We are not aging like our moms and grandmothers.
We have more opportunities and longer lives.
Exploring Eldership:
Embracing the Initiations of Aging
with Vitality, Vision, and Voice
You may be finding yourself in an era that requires you to parent differently
Perhaps your career, relationships, and identities are shifting or completing
The relationship with your body, hormones, and nervous system is new territory
You may be grieving the paths that won’t be lived and the ones that are complete
Perhaps you are caring for aging parents while becoming aware of your own mortality
Your inner voice may be screaming What NOW? What’s NEXT? or Why BOTHER?
When I was 55 years old, there was a particular night I sat on my porch and
believed that all I had to look forward to was diminishment, deprivation and death.
That year:
I had separated from my spouse
suffered a career ending injury
had to retire from that 30 year career
had to leave my apartment because my monthly retirement wouldn’t cover my rent
had to put my mother who began suffering from dementia into a Medicaid nursing facility
had to take responsibility for her health and finances
and had to watch my youngest child move away from home
This was not the life I had imagined
I felt so lost
AND THEN I GOT MAD
I REFUSED TO BELIEVE THAT AGING WAS A LONG, DIFFICULT ROAD INTO INVISIBILITY!!!
I REFUSED TO BELIEVE THE SOCIAL MESSAGE THAT MY VALUE DECREASED AS MY AGE INCREASED!!
I decided then and there that I was going to disrupt this paradigm and began to imagine how to create a life that I would enjoy moving into my elder years. I knew what I didn’t want. Now I began to imagine what I DID want.
To feel deeply engaged with life
To know who I was beyond the roles that had defined my value
To reclaim desires, dreams, and parts of myself I had postponed
To create a vision for the next twenty or thirty years that felt worthwhile and rewarding
To find women with whom I could speak honestly about aging, mortality, freedom, rage, my changing body, legacy and more
To live into my elder years with vigor and vibrancy
To offer the wisdom of my varied and vast experiences to younger generations
AND I WANTED THE SAME FOR ALL MY FRIENDS
for we had begun to talk, to whisper about all of this, and I found that I WAS NOT ALONE
These changes, these shifts, these questions became a major part of conversations and I knew in my heart,
we did not have to flail about, or accept the systemic stories.
We could reclaim the Crone, the Wise Woman, the Threshold Keeper.
We had a template, both real and mythic, of a matriarchal system where aunties and grandmothers were revered and respected.
We had cultures that could show us how to embrace our aging proudly and how to help one another
and younger women through the seasons of life.
SO LET’S DO IT!
YOU ARE NOT ALONE
Exploring Eldership: Embracing Aging with Vitality, Vision and Voice
is for women 50 and above who are ready to become Elders, not just Older
Each month, you will receive an eldership manual exploring emergent dimensions of this passage, with teachings, reflections, and carefully chosen resources to help you make meaning of what is changing and consciously shape what comes next. Using the archetypes of Queen, Matriarch, and Crone, we will transmute our grief to freedom, rage into power, and changing identities to responsibility and legacy.
In our monthly video gatherings, we will bring these themes into honest conversation, supportive ceremony, and collective witnessing. This is a place for the grief, rage, freedom, uncertainty, and opportunities in becoming an elder. Here we will share our intergenerational wisdom and curate the lives we desire.
Between gatherings, our private online chat community becomes the metaphorical cottage front porch for the questions and revelations that cannot be contained inside one monthly call, so we do not have to navigate this initiation alone. This ongoing collective is designed for connection and to develop livable, sharable, and sustainable action as we navigate the changes and challenges
An in-person retreat gathering will be offered in late spring 2027 at an additional cost so that we may ritualize our new authority as elders.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to identify as a witch or follow a particular spiritual practice?
No. As long as you are open to the archetypes used, and willing to participate in ceremony as a way to honor these portals, you are welcome.
Do I need to be a mother, grandmother, partnered, or retired?
No. We have vast experiences and all are welcome. This variety makes up the tapestry of wisdom that deepens our understanding.
I don’t feel like I am an elder, or anywhere near that stage of life, and the word Crone creeps me out!
I hear you. This is not just for women who might feel they are in their elder years, but even more for women who want to craft that future self, curate the life around it, and disrupt the narrative about what is possible as we age. And let’s reclaim the word Crone from the patriarchal systems that took the power and wisdom of the wise woman and made her into an old hag.
What does “intergenerational” mean in a program for women over 50?
A woman of 80 has a different perspective than a woman of 60. Gathering across decades enriches knowledge and connection.
How long are the monthly gatherings?
Our video gatherings will be through the Zoom platform, last 90 minutes, and will be recorded.
How much time should I expect to spend with the manuals?
The reading, resources, and assignments are all optional and are yours to keep and continue working with after the course is complete.
During the course, you will have a month to work with each manual before you receive the next one.
Is the 2027 retreat optional?
The retreat is optional. It most likely will be held in New Orleans in late May of 2027 with the cost approximately 1500-2000 depending on accommodations. Confirmed information will be available by the end of 2026.
If you standing at this portal ready to meet the woman who is emerging
and to claim your place within a collective of powerful elders,
you are invited into Exploring Eldership
Early Registration $400
This option ends October 10th
Registration then increases to $450
Course begins November 1st
Early payment plan: Two payments of $200
Email cozycronecottage@gmail.com for this option