The Crone Conversations Compendium
In September 2024, The School of Creative Magic hosted their groundbreaking symposium: The Crone Conversations. Now this transformative experience is available in an inspiring and lovingly crafted ebook - and it’s yours for FREE!
The Crone Conversations Compendium is a stunning ebook featuring candid and inspiring interviews with creative women who share their stories, struggles, insights and strategies for navigating the journey into cronehood.
This 112-page digital book contains:
13 video interviews from remarkable creative women about entering the crone years
5 bespoke crone-inspired professional DJ mixes
An illuminating panel discussion on the relationship between art and aging
Journal prompts and creative exercises to deepen your experience with The Crone
Permission to be wildly yourself at every age!
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the crone conversations Compendium
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This is also your entry into The School of Creative Magic, a sanctuary for aspiring, emerging and established creatives ready to step fully into their magic.
When you sign up for The Crone Conversations Compendium, you become a member of The School of Creative Magic community with access to our inspirational library, Sunday love letters and a 10% student discount. Expect a note from us in your inbox to welcome you to the school. (Already a member? You’ve got access to all of this magic. Check the newsletter for details.)
in this compendium we explore
EVOLVING CREATIVITY AND SHIFTING LEGACIES: From changing physical abilities to changing priorities, we explore how our creative practices and perspectives on "leaving our mark" transform as we do.
CULTIVATING RESILIENCE AND JOY IN THE FACE OF CHANGE: Aging brings its share of challenges, from ageism to loss. We dive into the mindsets and practices that help us weather the tough stuff with grace (and humour).
CARING FOR OUR AGING BODIES WITH LOVE AND COMPASSION: From menopause to chronic pain, the physical changes of aging can be confronting. We talk honestly about embracing and nurturing the bodies we're in.
REDEFINING WORTH, BEAUTY AND VISIBILITY AS WE AGE: How do we unlearn the toxic narratives that equate youth with value, and claim our place in the world at every age?
BUILDING COMMUNITIES OF BELONGING AND SUPPORT: No woman is an island, especially as we age. We explore how to find and create spaces of mutual care, inspiration and celebration with other women on the journey.
DARING TO TAKE UP SPACE AND SPEAK OUR TRUTH: In a world that often wants to shrink and silence older women, we explore how to amplify our voices and own our power.
HARNESSING THE POTENCY OF AGING: Wisdom, self-knowledge, zero f’s given - aging comes with some serious gifts. We unpack how to leverage the strengths and possibilities of our later decades.
AGING WITH CURIOSITY, CREATIVITY AND COURAGE: We imagine new narratives and possibilities for our older years, and share resources for making the most of this wild, precious life.
IN TELLING our stories
We discover
new possibilities
Together
how do we really feel about aging?
When was the last time you had an honest and vulnerable conversation about aging?
We are inundated with information about how to hang onto youth, how to dress for our age and how to age ‘gracefully’, but where are the discussions about…
…what it’s like to stop recognizing yourself in the mirror.
…how you move through a world that only sees you as ‘an old lady’ not as an individual.
…dealing with increasing limitations and the fear of pain, infirmity and dying.
…taking care of your aging loved ones, while you are aging yourself.
…the fear that no one will be there to take care of you.
…worry around financial insecurity.
…becoming invisible in the eyes of the world.
…falling out of step with the world.
…navigating ageism.
…the fear of never reaching your potential, fulfilling your purpose or getting to follow your heart.
WE MAY NOT HAVE all THE ANSWERS, BUT WE deeply ENGAGE WITH THE QUESTIONS IN THE CRONE CONVERSATIONS.
Is it all downhill from here?
We surveyed our community here at The School of Creative Magic about how we, as women, feel about aging.
What emerged was a DEEP HUNGER.
We are hungry for a different narrative - one that frames aging as a journey of becoming more fully ourselves, of claiming our wisdom and power, of embracing the full range of our experience and emotions.
Let’s tell this new story, a story that celebrates the gifts and opportunities of our later decades, even as it acknowledges the challenges.
With The Crone Conversations we hope to move the narrative from dread and diminishment to curiosity and self-compassion, from fighting what is to discovering what can be.
We want to be HONEST.
We want to be REAL.
We want to be in it TOGETHER.
Imagine the ripple effects of a generation of women stepping into their older years with confidence, creativity and joy, redefining what it means to age on their own terms.
Imagine the art that would flow from that place, the wisdom that would be shared, the connections that would be forged!
Your Host
Jamie Ridler
Writer, Artist, DJ & Creativity Coach
I remember asking my mom, “How do you feel about aging? How are you handling it?” Incredulous, she looked at me and said, “You think about that?”
Do I ever!
In my 40s, I found my changing face and body unnerving. Perimenopause sent me down a spiral that could have easily had me tearing apart my life. I had hoped I would grow older with fire and grace but instead, I grew smaller, frightened and increasingly invisible. When I finally shared the truth with other women, it became clear I was not alone.
THAT IS WHY I HOSTED THE CRONE CONVERSATIONS.
Open, honest and vulnerable discussions about aging are deeply needed. I've been a creative coach for 20 years. I’ve interviewed hundreds of phenomenal creatives on the popular Creative Living with Jamie podcast. And I have to tell you, I was blown away by the wisdom and power of The Crone Conversations. I have watched and listened to everything repeatedly. Every time I do, something sinks in a little bit deeper or opens a little bit wider.
Your Path, Your Pace
This is your journey to embrace in your own way. Whether you binge watch these interviews or make them your weekly viewing pleasure, the wisdom and magic of The Crone Conversations Compendium will meet you exactly where you are.
That's the joy of croning - we get to do it our own way!
With your registration you will also join our community. If you are new to The School of Creative Magic, expect an additional welcome email introducing you to the school.
Our Guests
OUR SPEAKERS
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Pixie Lighthorse
WRITER
Pixie Lighthorse is the author of 7 books for compassionately healing our insides so we can affect change in the outer world. She resides in Central Oregon, on the traditional and ancestral homelands of The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs. -
Chris Zydel
WILD HEART QUEEN
Chris Zydel, AKA the Wild Heart Queen, is head creative goddess at Creative Juices Arts. She has 45 years of experience as an expressive arts facilitator and compassionate creativity guide and an unshakeable faith in the power of creative self expression to heal hearts and change lives. She knows deep in her bones that everyone is deeply, wonderfully and gloriously creative and is on a relentlessly love-soaked mission to prove that to the world.
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Susannah Conway
WRITER AND TEACHER
Susannah Conway is a writer and teacher living in London with her kittens, Mousey & Lolly, and she’s been sharing her heart online since 2006 (old school blogger!). She is the author of the memoir This I Know: Notes on Unraveling the Heart and spends her days helping people access their creative joy and nurture a deeper kinder relationship with themselves. -
Ananda Leeke
THRIVING MINDFULLY COACH
ARTIST, AUTHOR, AND HUMAN DESIGN DOULAAnanda Leeke is a Thriving Mindfully Coach, Human Design Doula, artist, and author. Ananda discovered mindfulness and self-care when her career as a lawyer stressed her out. During her healing journey, she became a yoga + meditation teacher, reiki practitioner, and artist-in-residence at Howard University Hospital and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. She penned Love’s Troubadours, a yoga-inspired novel; That Which Awakens Me, a mindful creativity memoir; and Digital Sisterhood, a mindful technology memoir.
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Ginny Lennox
EDUCATOR
Ginny Lennox is a 78 year old educator who considers aging a privilege. Ginny is a lifelong learner, educator, and someone who loves to encourage others to follow their heart. Ginny uses many of the strategies that she learned as a Kaizen-Muse Creativity Coach to not only embrace aging but to enjoy every moment of this new and exciting stage of life. Ginny believes you are never too old to believe in yourself and your dreams. -
Dr. Sabina Singwell
FOUNDER
SCHOOL OF BITCHCRAFTSabina McAllister Singwell is a writer, indie author, cultural critic and food and body liberation coach. She teaches women and non-binary people how to stop apologizing for their apologies and start apologizing to them. She brings together feminism, pop culture and body positivity in her hilarious and insightful newsletter and blog called School of Bitchcraft. Her book, Love Letters From Your Body, is out now and you can order it from her website or anywhere you buy books.
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Joy Agcongay
MARKETING FLOWFINDER
MENTOR & GARDENER
Joy Agcongay is a marketing mentor, guiding women introvert entrepreneurs to increase their visibility. She integrates expressive arts and contemplative practices to align marketing strategies with personal values, rhythms, and innate wisdom. Joy holds introvert-friendly space for gentle exploration and deep reflection, while curating sustainable marketing approaches to nurture authentic connection. She helps grow thriving businesses that resonate with her clients true nature, transforming marketing from a challenge into a compassionate practice of creative self-expression. -
Jo Ann Levitt
AUTHOR
THE SPIRITUAL PATH TO AGINGJo Anne Levitt is currently engaged as a Spiritual Wellness provider at Canyon Ranch in the Berkshires. She has been a Kripalu faculty member for more than 30 years. As nurse, counselor and Healing Touch therapist, her focus has been providing healing and alignment through a variety of services, including meditation, energy healing, channeled dialogue and spiritual guidance. She is the author of The Spiritual Path of Aging.
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Kimberly Wilson
PSYCHOTHERAPIST
& MIDLIFE MUSEKimberly Wilson is a psychotherapist in private practice, author of seven lifestyle books, and host of the Tranquility du Jour podcast. She also designs an eco-fashion capsule collection and serves as president of Pigs & Pugs Project. For 25 years, she has been devoted to studying, practicing, and teaching the art of tranquility to global audiences. Kimberly’s mission is to help midlife women discover more balance and beauty in their everyday lives.
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Shoshana Kuttner
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
YOUNG ACTORS PROJECT
Shoshana Kuttner is on a life-long mission to help humans find and share their real voice from a confident, relaxed state of being. She honed these skills in three decades of storytelling as a Performer, Director, Producer and Sound Designer. Shoshana is co-founder of the non-profit Young Actors Project, holds a B.A. in Drama, an M.A. in Social Entrepreneurship and a PhDJ. She travels the world sparking up systems of transformation as a DJ and Facilitator of Expression. -
Beckah Reed
SUBTLE ENERGY HEALER
Beckah Reed had a substantial career as a modern dance performer, teacher and choreographer, which took her to communities across the globe, focusing on connection and humanistic issues. The dance of life led her into practicing and studying specific formal healing and meditation modalities, which she now shares with clients seeking transformation through subtle energy and spiritual embodiment. -
Sunny Schlenger
MENTOR
Sunny Schlenger has been a flowmaster, professional organizer, life coach, author and mentor. She helped launch the "custom-tailored" approach to getting organized which was licensed by Harvard University's training program. She has worked with thousands of people, assisting them in their quest for self-realization, productivity and peace. Sunny is a resident of Sedona, Arizona.
BONUS INTERVIEW
Tanya Geisler
Speaker, Leadership Coach
CEO of Tanya Geisler CoachinG
Tanya Geisler is a certified Leadership and Executive Coach, an in-demand international TEDxWomen speaker, and a writer who teaches leaders how to combat the Trailblazers' Complex (often called the Imposter Syndrome) and lead with ICONIC impact to achieve their ultimate goals. Her clients include best-selling authors, VCs, industry leaders, MPs, movement makers, founders, entrepreneurs, and legendary motivators.
OUR COMMUNITY OF WISDOM
our art & our age
A panel discussion with the artists of devotion
One of the core programs here at The School of Creative Magic is Devotion, a deep 3-month immersion into developing a body of work and fully owning your identity as an artist. With sensitivity, insight and a shared language of creative expression, seven graduates of this program dive deeply into the question of evolving creativity and more.
Panelists are: Allyson Gunnell, mixed media artist; Candi Byrne, encaustic artist; Gouri Krishna, botanical artist; Helen Yee, musician; Kim LeClair, improv artist and founder of The Mystery Department; Sam Tucker, writer and painter; Susan Miller, visual artist.
Our DJS
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Joanna O’Neal
Joanna O’Neal is a mostly-retired entrepreneur who has developed, owned, and/or operated several health-focused businesses. In 2019 Joanna divorced, entered semi-retirement. She now works to expand her consciousness and her love and connectedness to self and others. Joanna also spends time helping non-profit organizations that share her passion for dogs, children, and health. She recently completed a master level embodied leadership course preparing her to create and hold conscious dance floors as a badass DJ.
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Anne Marie Hogya
Anne Marie Hogya is a movement artist, DJ, and occupational therapist with over two decades of dance training and clinical practice. A cross-genre, elixir-mixer, she plays music that moves you into intelligent motion. Her dance floors are brave places of permission to push your edges and pray with your feet. As an embodiment leader she apprenticed and trained with Gabrielle Roth, creator of 5Rhythms dance, and has been teaching this free-form practice since 2008.
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SYSTEM OF YES
A DJ, producer, and sound designer, System of Yes blends diverse musical styles for manifold bodies. Highlighting and celebrating global music and artists of the African diaspora, System of Yes believes that music and dance is the answer. Exploring multiple genres - she celebrates global music of the African diaspora - from AfroHouse and ampiano; deep house, electro, and techno; to Balearic, soul, funk, R&B, disco and experimental.
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CIANA
CIANA is irreverent, devoted to the divine, and a gatherer of people. She’s also a bilingual creative force: writer, translator & gallery owner, who’s lived in Latin America, Italy, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. At age 55, she became a DJ. Her sets fuse world beats, house, funk & pop remixes. Her music makes people sweat and sway, go deep & take flight. Maestra of whimsical, raucous ritual, CIANA invites it all.
Get Your Free Compendium today!
You are invited to The Crone Conversations. In these conversations you will find insight that resonates with your spirit, perspectives that open up possibilities, the affirmation your heart has been yearning for and a view of the light on the horizon.
With your registration you will also join our community. If you are new to The School of Creative Magic, expect an additional email introducing you to the wonders that are in store for you.