Resources: Rites of Passage & Initiation

Books

• Crossroads: The Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage
  Edited by Louise Carus Mahdi, Nancy Geyer Christopher, and Michael Meade
• Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of the Soul by Michael Meade.
• The Way of Transition: Embracing Life's Most Difficult Moments by William Bridges.
• Men and the Water of Life: Initiation and the Tempering of Men by Michael Meade.
• Of Water and the Spirit: Ritual, Magic, and Initiation in the Life of an African Shaman by Malidome Some.   A modern account of traditional African initiation by the gifted educator who lived it.
• Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World  by Bill Plotkin.  A rich and vibrantly described model of "soulcentric" human developement.
• The Rites of Passage by Arnold van Gennep.  Generally acknowledged as the first anthropologist to write about this theme.
• In Search of the Warrior Spirit: Teaching Awareness Disciplines to the Green Berets by Richard Strozzi-Heckler
• Rites of Passage: definitions and descriptions (pdf) by David Hatfield

CD:

• Initiation and the Soul: The Sacred and the Profane.
  Mythologist Michael Meade explains the 3 stages of initiation processes and the role of initiation in understanding meaningful change, healing, and creating healthy community. This 2 CD set is available through www.mosaicvoices.org.

Websites:

• Every Child's Rite. A 4 minute video presentation on the importance of rite of passage work by the Pathways Foundation of Australia which does rites of passage programs for males and females all over Australia. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bolU5ruT-pQ