Hagitude Membership
Reimagining the Second Half of Life
Our old women are the dark heart of the forest, the stone womb of the mountain, immanent in the living land itself. They’re elemental beings: storm-hags, fire-keepers, grandmothers of the sea.
They show us how to live when everything we thought mattered to us has been stripped away; they teach us how to stay rooted in the face of inevitable death. They teach us how to stand firm in the face of all the culture’s bullshit, and laugh.
you don’t mess with a witch
A Woman’s Journey from Menopause through Elderhood
Join me in bringing together a vibrant and diverse tribe of women to explore the ways in which we can flourish during what is so often portrayed as a time of decline. How can we map the territory, prepare ourselves for yet another searing transformation, and move into the second half of life with a new sense of vitality, creativity and vision?
Grounded in myth, story, dreamwork and archetypal psychology, this inspirational and practical yearlong intensive and ongoing membership program offers the opportunity to learn together (with and from each other), to create together, and ultimately, to become together. Please scroll down to see content, team members and guest teachers.
How can navigate the stormy waters of menopause and find continued growth, meaning and authenticity in the second half of life?
How might we work with the stories of the little-known but powerful elder women in myth and folklore – both to inspire us to create new stories of our own, and to reimagine our journey to and through elderhood?
How can we uncover, and embrace, our own unique, archetypal Inner Hag?
How, by working with and understanding our own stories, and our own mythopoetic journey through life, can we fully and finally embody the unique gift which each of us brings to this world, at this time?
How can women elders pass down their deep feminine wisdom for the benefit of the wider Earth community, in these ever-more challenging times? What resources can we develop together to help others on their journey?
Why Join?
If you’re standing on the threshold of menopause and looking for support to navigate this intense and transformative alchemical journey, this program is for you.
If you’re already on the road to elderhood, this program offers you a chance to explore your continuing journey more deeply, and also to pass some of that hard-earned elder wisdom down to others.
If you’re a younger woman who’d like to spend some time in the presence of elders, and help us develop the resources you need for the journey to come, then of course you’re very welcome too.
This program is based on the transformations that arise as a consequence of changes in women’s bodies over time – especially the hormonal, other physical and psychological changes that occur at menopause – and women’s embodied, lived experience. If you would like to join the program, please be prepared to understand and honour this.
This program is far from a passive learning experience: it’s a rich, creative and mythopoetic immersion into meaning-making with a community of likeminded others. Above all, together we’ll create the rituals and resources needed to inspire an elder-woman revolution in this challenged and challenging world which needs us more than ever.
At the end of this structured yearlong program, you’ll be invited to continue the journey with us, in community, for a small monthly fee.
inside the membership
What you’ll receive
On the first day of each month, from October 2022 onwards, you’ll be sent an email informing you that your monthly module page is open. During the course of each month, we’ll then work with the following threads:
Your monthly invitation
A workbook laying out our theme for the month, including prompts for reflection, creative expression and sharing.
Storywork and story-sharing
We’ll collect together myths and stories from around the world which can help us navigate our journey through the second half of life. You’ll also be prompted to write and work with your own stories; providing a sharable resource among members.
The community forum
The community forum – our virtual House of Elders, available both on this website and via an app – will be there for focused discussions around each monthly subject area, as well as for informal discussions and networking with other members, and the sharing of resources and inspirations.
inside the membership
What you’ll receive
On the first day of each month, from October 2022 onwards, you’ll be sent an email informing you that your monthly module page is open. During the course of each month, we’ll then work with the following threads:
Your monthly webinar
A live 60-minute Zoom teaching/discussion session with Sharon.
Storywork and story-sharing
We’ll collect together myths and stories from around the world which can help us navigate our journey through the second half of life. You’ll also be prompted to write and work with your own stories; providing a sharable resource among members.
Sharing circles and dreamwork
Open sharing circles each month via Zoom, hosted by team members Angharad Wynne or Martine Steen; monthly dreamwork sessions hosted by Katharine Donovan Kane.
The community forum
The community forum – our virtual House of Elders, available both on this website and via an app – will be there for focused discussions around each monthly subject area, as well as for informal discussions and networking with other members, and the sharing of resources and inspirations.
Guest teachers
At regular intervals through the year, there will be live talks, discussions and workshops with guest teachers. (See this page for more information.)
Throughout the year, guided by Sharon, we’ll work with the model of the Fool’s Journey (a journey through the Major Arcana of the Tarot) as a representation of the journey through the second half of life.
Guided by Angharad Wynne, we’ll explore and collect stories from ancient European myth and folklore about women in the second half of life: grandmothers and wise women archetypes. These mythic ancestors will guide us through our journey.
Guided by Tanya Shadrick, we’ll work with monthly writing prompts and share regular live conversations around our own stories of change in the second half of life, in order to grow our creative confidence.
Through the course of the program, guided by Katharine Donovan Kane, we’ll explore what we can learn from our dreams.
We’ll also focus in, month by month, on the specific subject areas below.
Subject areas
1. Introductory circle
– Why are we here? What does it mean, to be elder, and why do women elders matter?
– What is a hag, and why do we use the label?
– Introducing the threads which run through the program: the myths and stories of elderhood; growing our creative confidence; dreamwork; the Fool’s Journey.
2. Menopause: standing on the threshold
– Menopause as an initiation into a new phase of life
– What wisdom do we need to navigate this transition?
– How do we make space for it?
– What rituals and resources can we create to mark and ease the passage?
– How do we pass on what we’ve learned to women approaching menopause?
3. The House of Elders
– What wisdom do we need to navigate this new phase of life?
– How do we make space for it?
– What rituals and resources can we create to mark and ease the passage?
– How do we pass on what we’ve learned to women who are just embarking on this journey?
4. Individuation: the work of the second half of life
– What is individuation, and how do we do it?
– Erik Erikson’s ‘Stages of Life’
– How can we orient ourselves to the changing landscape of our inner life, as we age?
– Identifying and letting go of outworn roles and stories
– Meeting the Shadow
5. Gathering the stories
– What myths and stories can we find to illuminate our path into elderhood?
– How do we pass the stories on?
– Becoming a wisdom-keeper, a story-tender, a story-teller
6. Your Inner Hag
– A deep dive into personal archetypes
– Gathering your Council of Elders
7. Mythopoesis
– Deeper explorations of the imaginal world
8. Spiritual eldering
– The holy longing
– Uncovering our spiritual authenticity and authority
– What is our ‘native’ spiritual lineage?
– How do we reimagine old traditions for a new world?
– Developing the practices and passing them on
9. Becoming a good ancestor
– Exploring the Motherline
– Identifying and creating your legacy
– What is it that you want to pass on, and how will you do it?
– How do we help others to become good ancestors, and what resources do we need to do it?
10. Sacred activism
– How do we mine our deep feminine wisdom for the benefit of the wider Earth community, in these ever-more challenging times?
– The many different faces of activism
11. The Valley of the Shadow of Death
– Staying present in the face of our own mortality, and that of others
– Befriending Death
– Illness as a portal to enhanced inner vision
– Rituals and resources
12. Closing circle
– Developing, sharing and committing to our plans for the future
Martine Steen
SHARING CIRCLE HOST
Ruthie Kølle
HEDGE-ANGEL & ADMIN HELP
Katharine Donovan Kane
DREAM CIRCLES & MENTORING
enrolment is still open
How to join
This intensive program began in October 2022 and was originally priced at £260 for the full year (ending on 30 September 2023). However, we are finding that people are still interested in joining, catching up with existing written and recorded material (all live sessions are recorded for later viewing), and enjoying the remaining months of the program live. And so the price of the program has been adjusted so that it is now £195.
You’ll have access to the program web pages and your material (but not to forum content) after the program ends, for the lifetime of this website.
Most live sessions take place at 4pm or 5pm UK time, usually Saturdays or Wednesdays, but all sessions are recorded for later viewing. Much of the ongoing discussion with the team and with members, and the key work of the program, is focused around the community forum, so please don’t worry that you’ll be missing out if you can’t make all the events live – there’ll be a lot going on during the course of the year.
Join now
Complete the form below to join the Hagitude program. The price of £195 for the yearlong intensive is in UK pounds because that’s where we’re based; PayPal or Stripe will automatically convert for you if you’re paying with a card or account which uses a different currency. (Currency exchange rates change by the hour. This currency converter offers you live rates, though they may or may not reflect the rates actually given to you by your bank or credit card provider.)
Please note that, as indicated in the Terms of Service which you are required to agree to before signing up below, we do not give refunds for online programs once the program has begun and material accessed.
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