Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage Today

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Rites of Passage for All Ages • coming together in community of all ages to learn and grow, to share, to celebrate, to transform.

IMAGINE • GATHER • HONOR • CELEBRATE
the Power and Beauty of every passage of life

What is Rites of Passage?

Rites of Passage are ceremonies and rituals that honor and celebrate the passage of a person’s journey through life from one role, phase of life, or social status to another. The primary passages are traditionally defined as conception, birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, eldership, and the final passage of death. There are many other life events and significant experiences that are marked as life passages.

Rites of Passage are the ceremonies and rituals that celebrate each person and honor their growth, often by their whole community. It is an acknowledgment from one transition of life to the next. When we celebrate these times life becomes lived fully with health, hope, happiness, harmony, and humor. The rites of passage are precious beyond compare.

THE TREE OF LIFE

The stages of the rites of passage are like a Tree.
Each one of us is in a particular stage of development,
somewhere on this Tree.

CONCEPTION:
The seed is planted, the soil is fertile, the seed dies for the new life to be born.

BIRTH: Even as its roots stay well within the darkness of the Earth, the tiny plant knows which way to grow. It peeks up through the Earth and always moves towards the light.

CHILDHOOD: Its roots grow stronger and deeper, or wider and shallower. The little sapling bends with the wind as it grows stronger. As it adjusts to its environment and receives the nourishment it needs, its leaves and branches appear.

ADOLESCENCE: The tree is vibrant, full of life and potential, its essence bursting; flower buds appear and begin to open.

ADULTHOOD: Fragrance wafts through the air, and pollen is carried by bees and the wind to fertilize and impregnate new life. The blossoms begin to develop into fruit.

ELDER: The fruit has ripened. There is now an abundance of food to nourish and nurture new life.

DEATH: It has lived its life. What is left returns to the Earth in honor of all she has given. This in turn replenishes the soil with nutrients. Death gives new life.

We are looking forward to the first USA EARTH LODGE family program in 2010.
A community week for the whole family.

Interested in joining us?
Interested in hosting a Rites of Passage event in your area?

Contact us at info@ritesofpassagetoday.com

The Rites of Passage Program of the Sweet Medicine Sundance Path is a stream of knowledge within the non-profit organization named the Deer Tribe Metis Medicine Society (DTMMS), which was founded in 1976 and incorporated as a 501-C3 in 1986. With the 501-C3 incorporation, all donations and contributions are tax deductible for all individuals and for-profit organizations. The organization of DTMMS is dedicated to propagate the knowledge that world peace can be achieved through autonomous individual freedom for all races, countries, and people from all walks of life.