Youth Rites
(ages 12+)
The transition from childhood into adolescence is one of the few rites of passage that will take its course regardless of our cultural support. As the young person hits puberty, everything that they have been as a child will begin to completely transform. The vital force within their blood and bones will begin to fire, transforming their former young selves into something new. If the family/community has the cultural means to prepare the child for this physio-spiritual evolution years in advance, their emerging self will be capable of sailing across the great wide waters of adolescence with much more grace and power. They will be primed with the wisdom stories and knowledge teachings of their trusted people: ready to journey beyond the safety of their parental nest with courage and confidence.
Again, this crossing of the threshold between childhood and adolescence will happen at certain levels of their being, no matter what. However, with the proper rites of passage– something that will challenge them and carry them beyond their perceived limits– they will be empowered and propelled in an enormously beneficial direction with their lives. If this is done at the appropriate time, when they are truly ripe and ready, such a rite of passage can powerfully accelerate the realization of their highest destiny: helping them to channel the growing fire within their beings in a life-giving, soul-enlivening way.
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Adolescence in itself is one of the most beautiful and exciting stages of human development. It can also be one of the most volatile and dangerous. It is a time when the soul begins to seek its sense of self within the wider world, leaving behind the relative safety and comfort of childhood. The essential question during this period of one’s evolution is “do I have what it takes?” If the culture does not provide what the soul needs here, the adolescent will magnetize to themselves whatever experiences they feel will give them the answers that they crave. During this phase of life, it is more important than ever for the youth to have trusted mentors and teachers who are equipped to help them navigate their adolescence, and grow towards adulthood. With the right kind of guidance, this passage of a person’s life can move them toward a swift and powerful actualization of their human potential.
Initiation
Within any intact culture, a person’s initiation happens organically as the young man or woman shows clear signs of being ready. Elders, mentors, and/or spiritual teachers will call forth these ones, helping them to find their way out of adolescence through an immersive spiritual process. One that is intended only as a beginning. A beginning that may take weeks, months, or years to complete. This process is generally intended to open them to the next stage of their soul path, and to infuse them with all of the knowledge and experience that they will need in order to cross their final threshold into fully initiated adulthood.
In our western world this does not commonly happen. Yet it is needed more than ever before, as most of our society and its leaders are displaying all of the most common characteristics of uninitiated behavior: making decisions based in greed, lust, jealousy, ignorance, fear and egoic self-interest. We need leaders and way-showers who have been through their rites, and are operating from a place of the deepest possible wisdom, compassion and humility. People who are standing in their power, centered in their hearts, capable of seeing the big picture with clear vision and true understanding.
Seeking Vision
Initiation is only the catalytic beginning to one’s realization of full adulthood. There is a necessary stretch of space and time that separates that beginning and the actual vision rites. During this time, the individual is cooked by that which was bestowed upon them during their initiation. All of the spiritual blessings and lessons that they have received must marinate and meld with their consciousness. They must integrate these energies and move into absolute integrity with them in order to be permitted an opportunity to use them with real vision and power. This can be a time of many trials, difficult tests, or perhaps a great quest. The challenge and contraction is often necessary to forge the required strength and ability for one to realize the full potential of their greater purpose. For all of its stronger notes, however, it is an incredibly exciting and expansive period, as well. So much of one’s future may start to take shape here, revealing major life themes and key players. Signs and synchronicities are often a constant, as the Universe speaks to the seeker in the original language of their soul. Guiding them with mysterious precision towards actualizing their highest human potential.
When it is finally time to take the leap and realize the most authentic expression of the Self, we must dive in all the way: crossing all necessary thresholds in order to flower within a greater vision for our world. When we go out to call forth and catch this vision, we are going out on behalf of all that we love and hold most dear (family, friends, community, and the entire web of life and light to which we belong). In this way, the vision is not for our own personal gain. It is for the whole, and for the wholeness to be realized within each of us.
Walking with Vision
It is no small task to return to the world with our soul vision. In fact, this can be the most difficult and confusing part of the entire journey, as the dominant cultural-consciousness does not remember or reinforce the essential importance of this process and its necessity to the harmonious continuation of life on earth. Rites of passage are often seen as nothing more than an archaic attempt at one’s own personal development. Yet the one returning with vision knows that something immense and ineffable has taken place within themselves (if done right). They are imbued with the gifts and blessings of an alchemical transformation: having turned so much of their pain and longing into pure medicine and power.
Regardless of the state of the world and how it receives us, it is ultimately our responsibility to find a way to creatively implement what we have been given. Most often this will begin with embodying a new way of being. In time, it will translate into an activated expression of doing. And from there, the manifestation of our heart and soul vision will be able to naturally emerge.
Ascending Through Death, Disease & Disaster
As much as we would all love to choose the place and time of our transformational passages, the truest initiations cannot be planned by the ego. They will come like lightning: striking us with the pure fire of illumination. All of our greatest hopes and dreams may melt before our very eyes in this moment. Stinking like burnt flesh. And yet, in this same exact instant, we are given the most powerful testing grounds for our soul… the place where our most precious prayers can finally be answered.
When we are forced to face our own mortality, or that of someone very close to us, it can be absolutely devastating. The fear alone can threaten to swallow us whole, like a shark rising up from the depths of a pitch black ocean. And that danger is very real. But so too is our ability to face these challenges in a way that will awaken our hidden power and potential.
My own spiritual evolution has been heavily motivated by this very force. It is a force of nature. One that ultimately works to reveal our sacred purpose and hidden power.
Inner Path Mentoring
One-on-one sessions are designed to create greater depth and connection within your life, supporting you to break free from your conditioned limitations, and to move you into alignment with your higher destiny. This is a step upon the path of self-actualization, following an ancient understanding of human development and soul initiation. The foundation of this work is the practice of inner tracking. We will work together to create greater self-knowledge and awareness: using tools and techniques such as Astrocartography, the Gene Keys, and Clarity Breathwork in order to explore the many facets of your conscious and subconscious being. The ultimate intention is to activate, awaken, and empower your most vital life.
This session work is generally conducted over the phone. You will need to find a relatively calm, quiet space for the call. Free from distractions. After some initial distance work, in-person sessions can be arranged for those who feel called to work with me out on the land, in the elements.
The Rites of Soul Initiation
The deep-dive passages of soul initiation are essential to the development of whole human beings. Yet they are often dangerous, chaotic and incomplete in this modern era, with so little cultural wisdom and support to help guide us through alive and well. I offer my services as a helper and guide for those who are actively engaging this transformational path, or have been chosen by it unwillingly.
This work uses the same initial format and foundations as Inner Path Mentoring. In addition, we will add various nature-based tasks, and a fully customized rite of passage for those who have worked with me for an extended period of time. The rite of passage threshold presents itself naturally, when the signs become clear that the cycle of soul initiation is completing itself, and the individual is ready to emerge from their alchemical journey.