Letting Go – Day 13
30 Days of Letting Go Day 13
By Jenny Griffin
Shamans and Dreamers – Rites of Passage
In many cultural groups worldwide, young men and women are put through tests of strength, endurance and character when they reach puberty. Rituals exist around many of life’s big events; marriage, childbirth and death being just a few. All of these represent a communal acceptance of the passing from one way of being into another. It’s as if the whole community lets go of seeing a child as such and begins to see them as a man or woman.
The act of ritualizing such steps is important in a person’s understanding of who they are. As we go through the steps of the graduation ceremony, we understand we’ve moved from adolescence into some semblance of adulthood. As we walk down the aisle with our beloved, we understand that we’re leaving the label of single behind. All of these are new beginnings, and as we discovered right at the start, with birth, they also require a letting go. Perhaps it’s the only way to move completely into the new role. Most high school graduates don’t go back to high school the next year just to hang around in those locker-lined corridors, they move on, into something new.
Some of our rites of passage in the west are not clearly defined. When exactly does adulthood begin, and what is expected of us? How do we release our adolescent self without the understanding of what that means? We are not always taught the rules and norms of adulthood and how we fit in. There may be rough guidelines as to what might be expected of a 25-year old, a 35-year old and a 45-year old; certain criteria that give you some credibility as a responsible grown-up, but they are not written in stone, nor are they universal. Sometimes life throws a curve-ball at you and you end up somewhere you would never have imagined at high school grad.
