I’m Sande Ramage, an ageing woman, also known as a Spirited Crone, who delights in Soul Pilates. Just like the fabulous physical Pilates, our soul needs attention to help develop a tender resilience. Strong enough to stand in our own truth but tender enough to sit alongside others and listen compassionately to their truth.
The Spirited Crone blog is where I tangle with and write about spirituality one word at a time. I do this because the exploration of the ‘more’ captured me as a small child and is quite possibly the purpose of my existence. It will not let me go.
At two weeks old, I was adopted into a loving Baptist home where the Bible was seen as the inerrant word of God. Those two major life events, being born into the void and separated from the source of life to be raised in a dogmatic religious framework provided the purpose of my life without me even realising it.
Woven throughout was a deep engagement and love of story, particularly those found in Jewish scriptures and the world of Narnia, both complex and multi-faceted environments that enchanted and asked much of me.
Creative imagery matters to me, which may be why the Crone emerged as I started to age. She appears in many cultures and mythologies, and now in The Game of Thrones, often seen as a wise woman but can be feared when she appears as the Witch or Hag.
In the triple goddess imagery, the Crone represents the last aspect of life alongside the mother and maiden. Integrating the Crone archetype has been valuable as I try to recover my innate spiritual sensibilities and to open up the possibilities of spirituality beyond institutional religion.
Christianity has not always been kind to the Crone. Even so, I’ve slowly come to recognise that the growth of her in me is part of reclaiming my own spirituality, without wanting to diminish the enormous contribution the Judeo/Christian tradition has had in my life. This included education in theology, teaching, religion, ethics and pastoral care, ordination as an Anglican priest then chaplaincy experience in schools, the military and health.
These days my work includes being spiritual care coordinator in a public hospital where I’m professional lead for a team of chaplains. I work with many staff through teaching on spirituality and compassion along with facilitating reflective practice groups. I’m also a restorative justice facilitator and a professional supervisor. You can find my supervision services on: sanderamageprofessionalsupervision.nz
All of this, along with my previous experience in health promotion, public health and change management offers rich background for exploration of the ‘more’. So too does being an ordinary human being who loves engaged conversations and Australian shiraz, along with exploring my dreams through a Jungian lens, reading historical fiction about Tudor times and dark crime novels. I love those Scandinavian writers! Thanks for dropping by….
sande.ramage@gmail.com