Maid, Mother, Crone

The seasons of a woman's life — maid, mother, and crone — are shown on this art piece I have.  Or I can imagine a fourth aspect, if we include the baby.  Before I was a young woman, I was a girl, beginning as a baby girl.

Think of the Baby learning at her mother's breast.
Think of the Maiden as independent and strong.
Think of the Mother as nurturing.
Think of the Crone as wise, changed, and transformed.

In The Spiral Dance (Harper, 1979), Starhawk said:

"The Maiden aspect of the Goddess shows women how to be independent and strong; the Mother aspect shows women how to be nurturing; and the Crone aspect shows that respecting elders is important and focuses on wisdom, change, and transformation."

Our society focuses on youth as the most (maybe the only) important time of life, but some women now have "croning" ceremonies as a rite of passage into a time of wisdom, freedom, and personal power.  After I retired, I was croned in a circle of my friends.  My son said there's no way he would call me a crone.

Is there a word for an old man that is equally as negative as "crone" for an old woman?  Because our society does not value what a woman does or what she learns over a lifetime, women often refuse to divulge their age and many (if not most) women at some point dye their hair in order to look younger.  Men, though, are said to look distinguished with gray hair at their temples.

Respect your elders, people, even if they happen to be female!