Urgent Message From Mother

I discovered Jean Shinoda Bolen's website while researching women's rights of passage. I like her and the projects she is involved with. I intend to buy her book, Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World. I am looking for worthwhile and meaningful projects of my own. I think the following would be a good one. Maybe one has already been organized in Sacramento. If not, I think I shall. Come back for more info later. Click on post title for link to her website.

Standing For Peace (Mother's Day, May 11, 2008)

Bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence.

“We are standing for the world’s children and grandchildren and for the seven generations beyond them.

We dream of a world where all of our children have safe drinking water, clean air to breathe, and enough food to eat.

A world where they have access to a basic education to develop their minds and healthcare to nurture their growing bodies.

A world where they have a warm, safe and loving place to call home.

A world where they don’t live in fear of violence—in their home, in their neighborhood, in their school or in their world.

This is the world of which we dream.

This is the cause for which we stand.”

ALSO:Croning Ceremony Celebrates the Wisdom of Age
(USA Today)


Clad in purple, surrounded by memorabilia, Linda Sanda stood in her Urbandale, Iowa, dining room and talked about turning 50.

About 40 close friends, co-workers and family members came to mark the occasion. But there were no mocking black balloons or teasing "You're Over the Hill'' banners.

This was a croning ceremony, designed to invoke spiritual reflection, dignity and wisdom.

An ancient rite of passage to honor older women, croning ceremonies had become nearly extinct. But they are making a comeback. And they're going mainstream.

With the oldest baby boomers turning 50 this year, many women are evaluating what it means to stand on the threshold of old age. For some women, croning ceremonies serve as an ideal way to make a statement about that passage.

"I see so many people fighting the aging process,'' says Sandra Bury, another Des Moines-area woman who went through the ritual. "I wanted to celebrate that to become old is a gift. I didn't want to be afraid of it.''

So, I am thinking hard about this croning ceremony. Hmmmmm. I like it.