INTERVIEW |

RITES OF PASSAGE AND INITIATION

Johanna asked Amrita if she could interview her for a project she was doing at school. Amrita agreed if she could interview Johanna.

The following is the first part.

Go to Johanna speaks to read what she had to say. 

JOHANNA INTERVIEWS AMRITA

What does a Rite of Passage mean to you?

It's been my way of growing myself up.

It took me until I was 34 to realise that I wasn't a girl anymore. There was no one to tell me, or treat me otherwise. I was still being called a girl by friends and also at work. I was in a powerless and small place inside and outside myself.

A major life Passage was when I left England. The following year, 1979, I experienced a spiritual awakening. Something deep within me was altered. At the time I wasn't conscious of what it was. So although it drastically changed my life, I didn't have any point of reference for it.

I didn't know that these events could be marked with ritual.

Part of me went through a death. I felt reborn. My whole life and the way I saw the World had changed.

What is a Rite of Passage?

A Rite of Passage marks a transition.

It offers time away from everyday life and is an opportunity for reassessment, reevaluation and regeneration.

It's a movement from one phase of life or way of being, to another. This can be the transition from child to adult, single person to married, ending one aspect of a working life, acknowledging another.

These events can be ritualised and time away can be taken to contemplate their significance.

Emphasis can be placed beyond the personal on the big picture.

It is not just the obtaining of a driver's license or a young man shaving for the first time though it can be. There is something spiritually significant about an experience for a Rite of Passage to be truly that. Something is consciously acknowledged and ritualised.

A true Rite of Passage or Initiation ceremony involves a number of different elements.

My definition: Conscious awareness of what the Passage is. Its significance. Awareness of where you are at the beginning and then at end of your Journey.

If you recognise what has changed, what allowed that to happen and ritualise it in some way, that helps make the experience real. It brings it back into your daily life. With understanding about what the liminal space (time between) is offering, you can be conscious of the benefit of your Rite of Passage.

A Rite of Passage allows an embodiment of a spiritual experience in some way.

An ordinary event does not usually qualify as a Rite of Passage. What takes place occurs on many levels: the physical, emotional and spiritual. If the experience goes deep enough there is an effect on levels that are also subconscious but which may become conscious at some future time.

Why did you start running Rites of Passage camps?

While running seven-day camps with teenagers it became clear there was something missing!

Some teenagers seemed to be begging to be challenged, tested and strengthened. I sensed there was a way to support young people to move through adolescence with more understanding and awareness.

A true Rite of Passage marks a transition. Adolescence is one of our biggest ones. Once I became aware of this I began facilitating ten-day Journeys for teenagers.

These were clearly a Rite of Passage and for some an Initiation process.

A Rite of Passage matures and readies young people for what they face during their transition. It also offers a signpost to where they are headed. It is useful to include Initiation and Ritual as an accepted part of growing up.

These experiences are more powerful when there is family and community involvement and follow-up.

What changes have you seen in yourself since you have become Initiated?

The little me was wounded, damaged and unconscious of her spiritual connection.

Every time I go through any kind of an Initiation I give aspects of myself back to myself. I am able to stand in my centre and power and to accept and love myself as woman to a greater extent. I take risks, live more fully and am more of myself, more and more and more.

I have Initiated myself, at times through bleeding (menstruation), by isolating myself in the bush, by participating in rituals offered by others and by running my own workshops.

Recently having gone through the change (menopause) I have gone even deeper into the process of maturing and reclaiming myself. At times I have been excruciatingly challenged as I faced my limiting beliefs and personal demons.

By cutting away the illusion, the dross, my Essential Nature has become more visible, this has allowed me to become whole.

By coming to the edge, jumping off and sometimes reluctantly going into the void, I have learned about life. This has allowed Spirit to work and shine through me.

How have Rites of Passage affected your lifestyle?

They have brought to my awareness many different levels of consciousness.

When I take myself away from everyday life, space is created within me for something new to arise. Often I change direction at these Rites of Passage times. I am constantly led to create situations that allow this deepening process to occur. It feels like I've lived many lives in this one.

I see Rites of Passage and Initiations as crucial for my spiritual awakening, deepening and evolving. I then translate this into my work. I co-create Rites of Passage for others that are appropriate within this culture.

Could Rites of Passage be a value system?

Yes. Rites of Passage and Initiation are an important part of culture.

Through them people generally and young people in particular, can experience their sense of place and where they belong in the scheme of things. There can be confusion, isolation and disconnection for some young people that could change with appropriate Rites of Passage. They also support young people to mature. They enable them to take more responsibility for what's going on within and around them.

With appropriate Rites of Passage we could support our children to mature both emotionally and spiritually. We could bring all of our goodness to each other and the World.

Rites of Passage assist individuals to connect consciously to their deeper, Essential Selves and allow an intimate relationship with Spirit and the Earth.

Are Rites of Passage like an education?

When a person is ready and willing, Rites of Passage can be a real education. They are an invitation into that which is beyond our personal sense of self. They can be an introduction, consciously to our Essential Nature and to Spirit.

With children the question, Who am I?, is not relevant because they just are. As a young person that kind of question becomes vital. Without asking appropriate questions young people can remain immature and disconnected.

Moving through a Rite of Passage can bring an awareness of our capabilities and responsibilities. It paints a picture that shows we are conscious about who we are at this point in our lives and prepares us for the next phase.

It is helpful if there are guides - adults who can answer questions wisely. These people deserve respect. They have gained wisdom from their experiences of life or from spirit beings or God.

For teenagers to sit in a circle and ask their questions is a great gift to them, to the adults present and to me.

No one told me much that was useful to prepare me for menstruation or my first sexual experience, or about the challenges of leaving school. This was an enormous disadvantage and it left me floundering and vulnerable.

At what point in life are Rites of Passage most powerful?

Obviously birth is the first Rite of Passage and then the next is around seven or eight years old because at this time the child can lose the natural connection to Spirit. But within the context of moving into adolescence ten is an age for girls to have a Ritual in preparation for what's changing in their bodies and what happens when they menstruate.

The time between twelve and fifteen for both males and females is the time to acknowledge the physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual changes they face.

Rites of Passage help teenagers to embrace the Journey towards manhood and womanhood more easily.

Leaving school, first sexual experience, changing life directions, marriage, pregnancy, menopause, retirement and death are all events that are well served by ceremonies, rituals or Rites of Passage processes. There are many more.

We are lacking rituals that weave strong threads. These threads create rich tapestries to carry us through life into a fulfilled and satisfied spiritual maturity.

Are Rites of Passage still relevant?

More so than ever!

A material focus in life is no longer enough.

Many people have moved away from religion and feel disconnected. Others are bringing meaning into their lives and are reinventing the ways in which they pray. They are yearning to reconnect with the Sacred.

When what seems ordinary is celebrated it becomes special.

Absolutely everything constantly changes.

Life is enriched when these changes are marked with Ritual.

Amrita offers her services to groups who wish to organise Rites of Passage camps for young people. Incorporated into a camp is raining of a team of volunteer assistants. For further information contact us.

Amrita interviews Johanna. This talks about special events can impact on someone.

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