Source: Columbia Daily Tribune
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2007/Apr/20070414Feat001.asp
Being called a crone is not generally considered a compliment among older women, but in Wicca it is a term of reverence for the wisdom and power a woman has earned by the final stage of her life.
The stages in a woman’s life reflect the three faces of the goddess in Wicca: the maiden, the mother and the crone. The three faces of the goddess and their manifestation in a woman’s life are being celebrated this weekend in the Ozark Avalon Church of Nature’s annual Triple Goddess Gathering.
"As Wiccans, we see the goddess as being both within ourselves and around us in nature," said Rose Wise, high priestess of Ozark Avalon. "Each woman is a goddess and part of the larger goddess that is reflected in the natural order."
Wicca is a form of neo-paganism believed to have evolved from Gardnerian Witchcraft, which was founded in the 1940s in England, incorporating the beliefs and celebrations of the ancient Celtic people.