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.
The work of it is powerful yet simple: a process of severance, threshold, and incorporation. There is no dogma, no 'right' way to do ceremony. There is council, community, intent, solo time (questing) in self-generated ceremony, and mirroring. These are the barebones of both the Adult Mountain Quest and Adult Wilderness Quest ceremonies.
Singing with others. Community singing has become a medicine to shift my energy. It isn’t a panacea for grief. I still sometimes end up on the floor in my sorrow. But in that heaviness of heart, I am not alone. I am surrounded by a village of song that supports the metabolization of the emotions that are waiting to move through me.
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.
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.
