Rites of Passage, Time to Pass the Torch On

There are many times that we find ourselves on a whole different path. Our life is never the same ever again. There is no going back.

It is important to acknowledge these significant times. As many cultures do with Rites of Passage, where children enter adolescence, then adulthood. Boys become men, girls become women.

There is also the Global Rite of Passage, never happened before, discussed at the end of the page.

Women have been celebrating these momentous times forever, gathering at retreat centers. What isn’t talked about a lot is the rites of passage for men and for our teens now entering adulthood, taking up the torch as we reluctantly pass it onto them.

 

As I recently wrote to my nephews and nieces:

As the next generation rises, we the “People of old” pass the torch onto you. Be wise and strong. It is a special time in history. It belongs to you now! 

We will always love you and be with you.    

 

There is no road...  By walking, one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path …"  Antonio MacLado

   

“As the curtain rises, we see an adolescent culture entering into a monumental rite of passage into adulthood. The elders who have been in charge are no longer showing us the way - for the way is so different they truly don’t know what it is....

In this rite of passage, then, there are no figureheads to lead the way, no authority figures who will solve the big problems for us. For the task of initiation is to awaken our own authority. ...Not only are we on our own, we are simultaneously the first few generations saddled with the responsibility of saving the entire world. Our ancestors worked to save their tribe, expand their empire, or defend their country now the protection of the planet itself is at stake...

The root of the word authority is author, which means that we are all writing this story together through the collective speaking of our truth."

-Waking the Global Heart, by Anodea Judith, PhD, 2006

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There is a new "Global" Rites of Passage happening now. Our adolescent Earth is now entering adulthood. Our human population has grown to its adult SIZE. The population has almost tripled in just 50 years.

"What does it mean to come of age as a species? How do we weather the coming storms and create the necessary transformation? How do we make sense of what we have done in the past, so as to better understand what we must do now?"

- Waking the Global Heart, Anoeda, 2006, page 26