The Crone is not an ending — she is an initiation.   

Together we listen to the land, tell our stories,   and claim our authority as elder women.

Across cultures and generations, women crossed into elderhood held by community, ritual, and shared meaning. In our time, many women find themselves making this crossing quietly and alone, often without language, mirrors, or guidance. There can be a sense of becoming less visible just as inner life is deepening — a subtle questioning of place, purpose, and belonging.

And yet, something profound is stirring. A longing to live the later years with integrity, clarity, and inner authority — not from exhaustion or resignation, but from truth.

Wise Women Rising has grown from listening to this call. It offers a grounded, compassionate space for women who sense they are at a turning point — emotionally, spiritually, and psychologically — and who wish to meet this transition consciously. This is a space to pause, to reflect, to release what is complete, and to step into the Crone threshold with dignity, presence, and a quiet, embodied strength.

Held on sacred Irish land, we gather as women to explore elderhood through ritual, story, and soulful connection.

Guided by facilitators  Martina Breen, Jan Flynn and Barbara Roth, in this immersive experience you’ll be invited to:

• A rite of passage into elderhood
• Guided reflection and life-story work
• Myth, poetry, and Celtic ritual
• Connection with land, lineage, and inner authority
• Nature-based practices

What you will experience….

Remembering (The Past / The Maiden–Mother Story)

• Harvest stories from life — what has been given, lost, learned.
• Guided writing / storytelling circle: “The seeds I have sown.”

Reclaiming (The Present / Threshold of the Crone)

• Reconnecting to body, wisdom, nature, and sacred feminine
• Blessing of hands and heart — “I reclaim my power and peace.

Rebirthing (The Future / Elderhood as Gift)

• Creating a personal blessing / legacy statement.
• Rite of Passage and Circle of Witnessing

Celtic Elements

• Threshold Rituals:
• The Four Directions / Celtic Wheel of the Year:
• Poetry and the Art of Blessing
• Fire Circle / Crone Initiation:
• Storytelling Evening:
• Sacred Sites Pilgrimage: (optional Extra – after retreat) not included in retreat cost.

Wise Women Rising is for women who sense they are standing at a threshold in their lives — whether named or unnamed — and who feel the call to meet this transition with honesty, presence, and care.

This programme may be for you if you:

• Are moving into, or already inhabiting, the later seasons of life and are questioning who you are becoming now

• Feel a quiet (or insistent) invitation to release roles, expectations, or identities that no longer fit

• Are longing for a deeper sense of inner authority, clarity, and grounded self-trust

• Carry grief, unfinished stories, or a desire for forgiveness and integration

• Value reflection, depth, and meaningful conversation over quick fixes

• Are drawn to a circle of women where lived experience is honoured and wisdom is shared

You do not need to identify as a “Crone,” nor to have spiritual language or prior experience. What matters is a willingness to pause, listen inwardly, and engage with this season of life consciously.

This programme may not be supportive if you are looking for therapy, a skills-based course, or a fast-paced personal development programme. Wise Women Rising offers sacred community time, ritual, reflective time in nature and heart wisdom sharing.

Crossing the Crone threshold is not about age, appearance, or withdrawing from life. It is an inner transition — one that many women feel stirring long before they have language for it.

In many traditional cultures, this transition was recognised and ritually held. Elderhood was not accidental; it was initiatory. Wisdom arose not from perfection, but from having lived — loved, endured, lost, forgiven, and integrated experience over time.

In our modern world, as women, we meet this threshold without guidance or community.  Women may feel less visible just as their inner authority is ripening. The Crone threshold asks us to meet this moment consciously rather than drift through it — to pause, reflect, and claim the wisdom that has been earned.

Crossing the Crone threshold is not about becoming hardened or invisible. It is about reclaiming authority rooted in lived experience, integrating grief and forgiveness, and stepping into a grounded sovereignty that no longer seeks permission.

Wise Women Rising offers a space where this crossing can be named, honoured, and shared — not as an ending, but as a deepening into presence, dignity, and wise freedom.

Dates: August 15th – 21st inclusive

Location: Slí an Chroí Retreat Centre, Co. Wicklow, Ireland

Group Size: 14 participants maximum

Investment: $300 deposit secures place. $2,400 full price

Jan Flynn

Jan Flynn is a retired business executive, a retired college business professor, and a practicing consultant with a focus on generational transition in family businesses. She has been involved in women’s circles and personal growth for more than 50 years. Jan is a retreat guide for the Center for Conscious Eldering and has completed the Certified Sage-ing Leader program through Sage-ing International. She also serves on the Board of Hope Springs Institute.

Among other things, Jan is a graduate of Auburn University and holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University. She is a mother, a grandmother, a quilter, a veteran traveler, and a certified BBQ judge. Jan lives with her partner, Jake Jacobs, on beautiful Lake Sinclair in Eatonton, GA.

Jan can be reached through email at [email protected].

Barbara Roth

Barbara is a proud crone who retired from formal work life after 44 years in 2018. Since then she’s been on her elderhood journey finding experiences and ways to support others that fit for her. As a Choosing Conscious Eldering facilitator, she has attended and/or led 6 retreats in the SW of the United States as well as contributing articles and poems to the Conscious Eldering newsletter. She joined a women’s literary club shortly after retiring as well and currently serves as its president. The Lansing Woman’s Club has existed since the 1800’s, meets each Friday 7 months each year, members research and deliver literary papers each week. One of the three papers Barbara has researched and delivers was on becoming a Wise Woman/Crone.

Barb’s education included an M.A. in Child/Human Development with a minor in Women’s Studies. Her career included supporting women and families locally, state-wide and nationally through a variety of positions. She is enthusiastic about her shift from child and youth development to supporting women in their transition to elderhood. Barbara lives in Michigan with her husband and enjoys time with her daughters and grandchildren as well as creative hobbies such as writing, knitting, cooking, hiking and travelling. Barbara can be contacted at – [email protected] 

Martina Breen

Martina practices in her native Ireland as a Psychotherapist, Spiritual Wisdom Teacher and Certified Sage-ing Leader (CSL). For the past 33 years, she has been following her calling to self-understanding and spiritual development by undertaking a number of vision quests, 9-day Vipassana retreats and other deep Spiritual Journey experiences. She teaches life writing programs based on the Ira Progoff method of journaling and is a member of the Irish facilitation team of the Sacred Art of Living and Dying series. Martina is passionate about the art of ageing consciously and brings to Choosing Conscious Elderhood her skills of facilitation, counseling, sharing wisdom teachings, and her life experience as a grandmother and mother, daughter, sister and friend.

Martina may be reached at [email protected]