Crone Magick has a definite place in the life of humans. It teaches us to fully comprehend the entire cycle of life, from beginnings to endings.
    The Crone has black, dark, blue, or deep purple as her color. This represents the color of darkness where all life rests before rebirth.
    This aspect of the Goddess is winter, night, wisdom, counsel, deep mysteries and prophecies, the gateway to death and reincarnation. The Waning Moon is her monthly point of power.

T    he Crone is honored at the Pagan holidays of Halloween (Samhain) and Winter Solstice. Many Christians still celebrate the day after Halloween as All Saints Day, a day for remembering the dead.
    The Winter Solstice is shared with the Maiden and the Mother, for that holiday is a special time of the triple Goddess, the rebirth of the Sacred Child, sometimes called the Sun King.

    As with the other two aspects of the Goddess, Crone Magick can be used with meditations, candle burning, poppets, and other general Rituals. Since the Crone is not a birth Goddess, her Magick deals with harvesting and the resting of fields, animals, and humans. Her powers affect the ending of all cycles; knowledge of the deepest of mysteries and prophecies  in her domain.
    Within humans, the Crone is the cyclical slowing down of the physical, the total aging process, the desire for rest from the life's daily activities. The person begins to turn inward, spending more time in contemplation and planning more explicit goals. Priorities change. The frantic pace of the outer world assumes less importance.

Following are examples of Rituals that fall within the Crone's domain of power:

1. Ending relationships, jobs, friendships.

2. Menopause, or coming to terms with aging.

3. Divorce.

4. A regrouping of energies needed at the end of a cycle of activity or problem.

5. Rest and calmness before making new goals or plans.

6. When the garden or plants are ready for winter.

7. Harassment of any kind.

8. Retribution on rapists, murderers, abusers.

9. On the death of a person or per; of any animal or human. Contemplation of the end of your own life cycle.

10. When moving from a dwelling place or job.

11. When strong protection is needed from attacks on the physical or psychic levels, or even annoyance by spirits.

12. To understand the deepest of Mysteries.

13. Developing trance or communication with the guides and other spirits.

    The power of the Crone can be summoned with dark shades of candles, such as black, dark blue, or the deepest of purples. If you must call upon her for protection or retribution, be certain that you are justified in your actions.
    Even then, it is best not to state what you want to happen, simply place the problem before the Crone and let her decide what, if any, penalties will be exacted and how they will occur.
    Follow the suggestions for candle burning given in The Maiden and Mother.

    The Crone can be honored during the late fall and winter by arranging gourds and bright autumn leaves in a bowl or cauldron.
    This is a visual reminder of the turning of the cycles and seasons. At Halloween, it is nice to light a black candle at sunset in remembrance of all your ancestors who have gone before you. Place the candle in a safe place to burn out.

    At Winter Solstice, many Pagans burn white, red, and black candles in honor of the Goddess in all her aspects, but also as a visual reminder that everything is born, is creative, dies, and is born again.

    The Crone aspect of the goddess is the hardest to relate to because of the negative propaganda she has received over the centuries.
    However, common sense tells us that we all return to her cauldron. We need to recall that this descent into the cauldron or abyss is only a time of rest and renewal. She should not be dreaded, but welcomed.
    One good mental exercise to dispel fear is to meditate upon going into her cauldron like existence, meeting her face to face, and feeling the love she bears for all her creations.

    The Crone is not the end of anything, but rather blends once more into the Maiden aspect of rebirth and renewal. There is really no end to the cycle.
    Like a gigantic wheel of existence, the cycle repeats itself over and over. The dark void of the night sky and outer space are symbols of the Crone. She is the deep power of recycling and re-creation from basic elements. She is the natural end of all cycles, even mental and spiritual.
   The Crone is our will to rest and be revived, our intuition speaking when a relationship or activity should be ended. She is the balanced destructive re-creative seed within the cells of every creation, whether human, animal, or galactic body.

    She is not the fearsome cowled figure bearing a scythe, but rather a loving Goddess who gathers all into Her belly cauldron to be remade and reborn.
    We must teach ourselves to once more see her as she is: not annihilation, pain, and perpetual suffering, but deep love, comfort, and understanding.