The Lost Art of Rites of Passage: Warrior Mind Podcast #320

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In this episode of the Warrior Mind Podcast I’m going to talk about the importance of rites of passage and the lost art of experiencing them.

Rites of passage are a category of rituals that mark the passage of a person through the life cycle, from one stage to another over time, from one role or social position to another, integrating the human and cultural experiences with biological destiny: birth, reproduction, and death.

These ceremonies make the basic distinctions, observed in all groups, between young and old, male and female, living and dead.

Studies of crises in the adult life cycle in Western society today have highlighted our creation of various life phases and the various cultural and psychological problems that result from them.

These works, however, have not considered the relation and importance of ritual to these stages in our lives.

Those of us in modern Western society indeed experience numerous forms of crises and transitions: menopause, surgery, “empty nests,” divorce, 40 something, retirement are just a few examples.

They are traumatic and anxiety-provoking, and yet they regularly occur uncelebrated.

We do make attempts to enact rituals at several crossroads in our lives, although we usually do so alone and secluded.

 Enjoy this podcast the lost art of rites of passage

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Four universal components to the symbolic structuring of any rite of passage are evident. These structural components can be found expressed not only in ritual behavior, such as initiation ceremonies, but also in the literary motifs of oral and written literature.

First: A rite of passage presupposes an orphaned status. The individual is symbolically understood as an “orphan,” somehow incomplete. In oral literature themes, the individual is represented as alone and often abused and bullied by an adversary, in need of help.

Second: A rite of passage involves a separation, a journey and a sacrifice. The individual may be physically removed by the elders from his or her village and taken to a “bush school” for a period lasting several weeks or even months. The inductee may venture on a vision quest to a far mountain site, the quest lasting up to several days

Third:  A rite of passage involves the acquisition of power and knowledge, the void is filled. Having been rendered receptive, as warmed wax, the individual can be molded in the imprint of the sacred. The soul is exposed to the spiritual teachings and sacred archetypes.

Fourth: Any rite of passage involves affirmation and rebirth. With the knowledge of the ancestors re-gained or the vision of a spiritual guardian received, the individual returns to the ordinary world, his or her self-redefined, with a new status. He or she returns triumphant, overcoming what had been an “orphaned status.”

The 12 Mystical Stages Of Our Spiritual & Physical Evolution

1. BIRTH
   • The Gift Of Immortality And Magic

2. PUBERTY
   • A Preparation For Life (age 12)
3. SEXUAL INITIATION
   • The Touch Of Passion (Age 21)
4. SEPARATION FROM THE FEMININE
   • The First Threshold (Age 24)
5. ALLIANCE WITH THE MASCULINE
   • The Father Quest (Age 27 -34)

6. THE REALIZATION OF BETRAYAL
   • The Myth Of Success (Age 35 – 38)

7. MID-BIRTH
   • A Spiritual Birth Into Our Power (Age 39 – 44)

8. RECONNECTION WITH THE FEMININE
   • Rediscovering The Lost Pieces Of Self (44 – 48)
9. INITIATION INTO THE TRUTH
   • Exposing The Mythology of Self-Deception (Age 51 – 52)

10. ATONEMENT
    • Forgiving The Sins Of Sun And Moon (Age 58 – 60)

11. SPIRITUAL ELDERHOOD
    • Master And Mistress Of Two Worlds (Age 74)
12. BEYOND REALITY
    • Death – The Final Passage (?)

If we don’t find the time and the process for Rites of Passage, part of our “old selves” continues with us into the next stage and taints and filters our perspective.

If we have never experienced a Rites of Passage we can be looking through the eyes of a 4-year-old, a teenager, a young adult and our current station in life, giving us an obscure view of reality.

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