Rites of Passage for Midlife Moving Consciously Through The Transition
As you move into the second stage of life, or midlife, it is important that you look at the rites of passage. When you don’t complete the rites of passages leading up to this time, your younger psyche will follow you into the next phase and it can cloud your perception of who you are and where your road leads. Many people who experience this go through what is known as a midlife crisis, where they search for their lost identity and wonder, who they are.
Different Perspectives On Rites Of Passage
From the Shaman’s perspective, the rites of passage are the spiritual journey each of us will go through during our lifetimes. Often, this is clarified as being the stages of both our spiritual and physical evolution. These rites of passage also show when we are going to experience a life crisis and how we will transform during these experiences. They in turn will give us the intelligence and wisdom needed to enrich our lives and that enlightenment can help to better balance our society.
When we look at the perspective of the Native American, we find there is some social science research that showcases how pronounced the focus on the rites of passage is and how that focus impacts our lives. This includes the importance of spirituality in a person’s life and understanding that the transcendent reality is primary.
This is combined with the knowledge of the elders that has been passed down from the First People known as Heart Knowledge or traditional wisdom. Often, these are delivered in the creation narratives and other generational tales that impact our lives and give us the guidance we need.
While exploring the rites of passage, we find that from one stag to the next, they will be critical to follow from each social position as they tie in both the cultural and human experiences that follow our own biological destiny. From the contemporary approach, there is a belief that our three main biological destinies are to be born, to give life and then to die. It is our mortal heritage that strengthens our culture and allows us to embrace our nature.
Much of the midlife experience (or what is sometimes known as mid-birth) can be impacted by the planets. When we enter the Uranus opposition, we begin the quest to find our authentic self, what we have hidden becomes known to us at this time and we begin to grow and evolve.
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With the Pluto Square, we start to face the deception and lies we have formed in our own lives and the detoxification from our false self occurs. This then results in the death of the false self we have embraced and our true self becomes the forefront in our lives.
With the Neptune Square, we begin to experience dissolution in our ego and we stop focusing on the linear and embrace the mystery that surrounds life. No longer do we look at the illusion of control. Instead, we begin to surrender to life and come to terms with more than our dreams as we become disillusioned by the world around us. We find the things we really believe in and no longer fear embracing them.
This is important because each of us will enter the rites of passage in our midlife. It will be important that we do look at our younger psyche and ensure we are doing the things that help us to find who we are and remain true to ourselves at all times.
Often, things such as finding our chosen career path and growing through the company, marrying the woman we love and having kids and guiding them through life are all ways we can break free from the younger psyche successfully. Even the annual celebration of our birth can be used as a time of reflection on our previous year and to explore the growth we have had during that time. In some cases, we may find we have shed off more of our youthful nature than we realized up until that point.
Our lives are full of evolution and growth all the time. It is important for us to embrace the rites of passage in them to ensure that when we reach our midlife transformation, we are prepared for the next stage of our journey. After all, it will be the growth in our lives that will help us to find our true selves and that knowledge will continue to guide us in our transformation.
Remember to grab your free e-book on making a conscious midlife transition, “Integrating Mind, Body and Spirit – Keys to Life of Fulfillment”, HERE.