 SO ....Who is the elderwoman?
The late Joseph Campbell once remarked:
"People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on a purely physical plane will have resonances within our innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive. That's what it is all finally about." The Elderwoman concept is all about that 'rapture of being alive' in an aging, female body. It has two main messages. The first message is that aging does not have to be dreaded. It is, in fact, an amazing and wonderful adventure. Up till now, there have been few maps for this sort of journey. So what is being presented here is the first attempt at a meaningful how-to manual for what we are calling the elderwoman, i.e. an intelligent, energetic, fifty-plus woman who wants the afternoon of her life to have as much meaning and excitement in it as the morning did - or even more.  The second message is that not
only can the elderwoman of today live rapturously in her body as it
experiences the gradual lightening of age but also that she has an
important role to play in today's rapidly changing world.
At a time when the most pressing social imperative is to find ways in which human beings may live more lightly and co-operatively on the earth, the elderwoman is perfectly placed to inspire others in the task of lightening their own impact on the ecosystem of our fragile planet. Not through guilt, but through a sense of self-confidence, freedom, joy and deepening sensuous delight.  Marian writes ... "Like most of us, I gave little thought, during my twenties, thirties or even forties, to that stage of my life which is nowadays often referred to as the 'Third Age,' i.e. for me, as a woman, the section which lies between menopause and death. In my fifties, I watched my own process with fascination. Not only my body was changing, but there were mental, emotional and spiritual changes happening within me also, some of them quite scary. I began to study the whole subject in more depth and the result of that, a decade later, was the publication of my book: 'Transformation Through Menopause'. As I moved into my sixties, I kept watching, learning and studying. What I discovered is that the 'Third Age', when it is fully and consciously embraced, is a time of harvest. It is a time of joy and wonder and richness, of freedom and of power. That discovery led to the writing and publication of my second book: 'ELDERWOMAN: Reap the wisdom, feel the power, embrace the joy'." (Click the gold button to go to the next page, 'What is she like, this elderwoman?') 
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