By Tamara Walker
One night I was sure I was going to lose her, and on my way home I walked into the black forest along a trail we shared for years and a hooting barred owl called to me in my grief.
Rites of Passage – Cultivating Soul Sparks in a Dark Time
Echoes of Grief - a recounting of Ritual and Reclamation
By Patti Kwok
…She walks the perimeter of chairs containing a reservoir of grief seen in the dark forest pools of another’s eyes, that arrested posture, the smell of secret longings, a place for uncovered grief to finally rest; tremors of hesitation break the sound barrier of forgotten depths where ritual matters.
Creating ‘The Beloved Earth Community’ At Rite of Passage Journeys
By Randy Morris, PhD
An experience that is common to participants at Journeys is the strong sense of solidarity that is created while on a wilderness trip or experiential weekend. What heads out as a group of strangers often returns to base camp with deep friendships that seem more intense than much longer relationships back home.
Mentoring Youth & Remembering Stan
By Chris Laliberte
Stan Crow founded Rite of Passage Journeys and directed it for almost four decades before he passed in 2009. I started my time here at Journeys in 2018, though was lucky enough to have encountered Stan “in the wild” twice during the formative years I was mentoring youth in the wilderness. At the time,
Reclaiming Ritual: A Personal Experience
By Tamara Walker
...to show up with everything you’ve got. It could be with a group of friends or strangers, or might simply be alone. Ritual is a delicate candle flickering or a drumming, thrumming explosion of sound. It’s most perfect place is exactly where you are: a beautiful cathedral, an old cracked basement, beside a laughing brook, or in the empty lot across the street. If you can stop long enough and resist the world of running and getting, to notice the texture of small things, find your way to that imaginal place where deeper conversation begins.
What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?
By Emily Pease
Growing up is hard to do. Adolescence can be a rocky adventure (sometimes even a mis-adventure) not confined just to our teen years. Many of us, myself included – an upper 20-something, are still trying to figure out exactly what adulthood looks like. A life stage that is obtainable but ever elusive. When I look to the media and even societal expectations I am filled with ideas of adulthood being responsibilities that I must fulfill one by one, as if on a checklist to growing up.
Is Your Child Ready for a Coming of Age Experience?
By Amanda Ayling
When is it the right time for your child to have a coming of age initiation? We often get calls and emails from parents asking us if their child is too young or too old for a Coming of Age to be meaningful. We don’t claim to always have the answer to these questions but there are several things that we suggest you look for when considering this momentous rite of passage for your child…
An Amazing Summer
By Elder Fred, 1935-2010
It has been an amazing summer! In my wheelchair, I have been able to go outside almost every day. I have watched our landscape attain its intended beauty through the hard work of our adult children and grandchildren. Trips to the community gardens have provided sheer delight. Sitting under the new gazebo I have watched the garden unfold, realizing an earlier vision. Although I can no longer dig, plant, weed or harvest, the ongoing dialogue with my fellow Biogaians (Songaia gardeners) keeps me in the loop of the landscape and garden plans and activities.
Earth as Teacher
By Dave Moskowitz
When I was 15, I fell head-over-heels in love with the natural world. Learning about and being in nature became an obsession, one that led me to drop out of high school so that I could spend all of my time outdoors. Being able to escape to the oak woodland-covered hills of central California when I was a teenager helped me cope with this challenging time of life. While I was wandering through the woods, friends where also dropping out of school but they were getting addicted to drugs, and even committing suicide. I found a great deal of healing for myself through time spent alone in the natural world.
The Stance of a Mentor
By Stan Crow, 1939 - 2009, Director Emeritus, Rite of Passage Journeys
In a recent seminar, someone said, "You have said, several times that a good mentor challenges the mentee to meet various goals, do their best, etc. That sounds combative to me, is that what you mean?"
I had to admit it could sound that way, and, I guess at times it could even look that way, but it certainly isn't my stance.
