From The Bones Of Our Ancestors

From the Bones of Our Ancestors: Rites of Passage for Christians By Kedar S. Brown I received a letter containing an account of a recent suicide: "My friend... jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge two months ago. She had been terribly depressed for years. There was no help for her. None that she could find that was sufficient. She was trying to get from one phase of her life to another, and couldn't make it. She had been terribly wounded as a child... Her wound could not be healed. She destroyed herself." The letter had already asked, "How does one pass through youth to maturity without breaking down?" And it had answered, "With help from tradition, through ceremonies and rituals, rites of passage at the most difficult stages." ~ Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America Almost every culture throughout history has traditions involving the initiations or rites of passage in the wilderness by which individuals confirm the attainment of new life stations, i.e.: manhood, womanhood, or elder years and other important life decisions. The wonder year, the pilgrimage, the vision quest and the underworld journey are typical of such initiatory experiences. Rites of passage are deeply embedded in mythological consciousness as well -- the fasting prophets of Judeo-Christianity, the questing ancestors of the Aboriginal Dreamtime, the pilgrimages of the Buddha and Mohammed, the medieval knights and their quest for the holy grail, the underworld journey of the great matriarchal deities, and Native Americans such as Crazy Horse, Black Elk and countless others." ~ Foster and Little, Book of the Vision Quest It was a life changing opportunity to remember what in my life is sacred and the insights about what to do with that experience. I plan to offer the experience to my children as they come of age. I love it! ~ Carpenter, age 40 Over the ages we have experienced a decline in many of the meaningful rites of passage and initiation practices for our society. The once sacred and transformative ceremonies and rituals that informed early cultures with personal vision, community responsibility, and deeply rooted connection to earth and Spirit have often been replaced by "pseudo initiations." These do not facilitate or support the needed shift in consciousness required to enter into new life stations and responsibilities such as conception, graduation, baptism, confirmation, marriage, divorce, change in career, times of psychological or spiritual crisis, adulthood, and other developmental life passages. The vision quest was the single most wonderful, most terrifying, most eye opening experience I've ever had in my life. I really started learning who I am and what my path looks like. ~ Librarian, age 33 With the absence of such initiatory practices, many will unconsciously abandon their own personal wisdom and truth, adopting the values and stories of a larger culture that often follows a spiritually devoid mythology of consumerism and economic advancement at the expense of its children and elders of all species. My experience was deeply meaningful. It was other worldly breath that breathed new life into me. It made so many whispers in my own soul come clear. It was a cleansing baptism in the waters of my own consciousness and in the waters alive with Spirit. ~ Singer/Song Writer, age 54 Archeological evidence suggests that the vision quest is an ancient pan-cultural rite of passage that has been practiced in various forms and traditions around the world for over 50,000 years. To "walk naked" into the wilderness and pray for vision has been the way of many ancestors as they sought to uncover the mysteries of their own sacred medicine and return to their people with vision and purpose. Listening to God's silence I came away with new clarity and deeper connectedness to God and man. With wounded healers true love abides. ~ Artist, age 60 Throughout history and across cultures there are consistently three distinct phases to every wilderness rite of passage or vision quest ceremony. Severance: Separation from the old life, a letting go. Threshold: A period of isolation in the wilderness. Return: Coming back with renewed vision and purpose to be of service. During the threshold phase of a wilderness rite of passage or vision quest ceremony there are common elements that are also consistent: a) fasting, cleansing the mind and body; b) solitude, to be without other human contact; c) exposure to the natural forces of nature; and d) prayer, seeking and receiving the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Bible exemplifies such stories of rites of passage in the wilderness by which such a threshold is crossed and one returns with the gifts of teaching, service, and healing for others. And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness... (Matthew 4:1) Following his baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus went into the desert for forty days and forty nights to fast and pray for vision. He was tested to extremes and returned to his people with the vision and clarity of his ministry and teachings. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And He wrote upon the tables... (Exodus 34:28) Moses fasted and prayed on the mountain for forty days and forty nights seeking guidance and vision. He returned to his people with the Ten Commandments. Elijah also quested and fasted for vision forty days. From this vision while fasting Elijah also received power to anoint a prophet in his stead and bestow upon him a double portion of the grace he possessed, and to mount up above the earth in mid-air. (2 Kings 2:9-11) Whether in the lands of North America or the lands of the biblical stories, the desire for initiation and rites of passage experiences to provide escort through the thresholds of our lives is consistent. The experience of conscious rebirth in rhythm with the spirit of the land provided me the ritual necessary to understand how to carry my song with grace and joy. ~ Student, age 28 I have a story to tell you. But before I tell this story, it's important to know that the point of any good story is not that it be understood; for if a story is understood, then it has nothing more to teach you and it is "dead." Stories are living and breathing entities. The point of any good story is to notice where you enter the story, or where you leave the story, or where your attention stays fixed in the story even though story moves forward. It is in these threshold moments that you will find the coded messages for your own healing and awakening. You came into this world with specific gifts and the sufficient power to deliver these gifts. It is only you that possess these particular gifts. If these gifts remain unacknowledged and undelivered, then the life you live will be one that is not entirely your own. So... as they say, "once upon a time" or "once below a time;" or "once standing next to what you think is time"... there was a village. This village existed a long, long time ago, in a place older than the pine needles on the trees, a place far, far from here, further east than the sun and further west than the moon. In that time and in that place there was a village. In that village there was a circle of warriors standing shoulder to shoulder facing outward around a lodge. Within that lodge there was a circle of grandmothers facing inward and within that circle of grandmothers there was a woman bringing new life into her village. As this little one made its passage into the village, sounds of chanting, singing, deep breathing, screaming, drumming, rattling, prayers of gratitude to the ancestors and prayers of gratitude for this new life, were heard pouring forth from the lodge in the way in which chanting, singing, deep breathing, screaming, drumming, rattling, and prayers of gratitude were often heard in that time when a women was bringing new life into her village. As lightning touched the earth, the cries of this child could be heard in the circle. This child grew up sitting around council fires late into the night, listening to stories from the elders. She heard many stories of a time in the village when there was much laughter, ceremony and ritual, singing, feasting, dancing, deep connection to the ancestors, and gratitude among the people. The old ones spoke of this time, with a longing in their eyes, as that of the "singing stone." As one moon crossed over into the next, he noticed that a dark cloud had descended upon the village. People began to forget who they were, where they had come from, and why they were here. Most of them could no longer hear the guiding voices of their ancestors echoing deep in their bones. The anguish of this forgetting had shadowed itself among the people in fear, anger, and sadness. As she grew to that place of betwixt and between... no longer a child and not yet in the land of adults, she decided that if she could find this singing stone and return it to her people, the sun would again shine and the sounds of laughter, singing, dancing, ceremony and ritual, gratitude, and connection to the ancestors would once again be present within the village. He went to his grandmother and grandfather and said: "Grandmother... Grandfather, I will go in search for this singing stone and return it to our people so they can remember who they are, their connection to the ancestors and the entire web of life." To which they replied, "Yes, granddaughter, it is time for you to go. You must first go to your father and ask for his blessing and then go to your mother and ask for her blessing. After you have done this, return here to this fire." So he went to his father's lodge to receive his blessing. Along with his blessing his father gifted him with one finely crafted arrow. As he walked away his father wept for he knew he would never see his child again. She then went to her mother's lodge to receive her blessing. Along with her blessing her mother gifted her with one finely crafted bow. As she walked away her mother wept for she knew she would never see her child again. He returned to his grandmother and grandfather and they said, "Before the sun rises and anyone awakens you will leave this village into the east. Do not look back for there will be no fanfare for your departure. And remember grandson... listen to your own deep wisdom and that of your ancestors that echoes through the trees and rivers out there and you will find your way." Before first light, she walked out of the village the way you walk out of a village when you are going on a journey to remember something long forgotten. She walked into the east; into the morning sunlight, into the wet dew on the ground, into the clear, cool air of spring. Walking some distance into the east, she came upon Eagle standing in an old oak. "Can you tell me where I can find this singing stone my grandmothers speak of?" she asked. Eagle replied, "I have heard of this one you seek; however, it is not here and I cannot tell you where to find it. I suggest you travel south and see what is there for you." Thanking Eagle for her words, he turned south. Far into the South he walked, into the fire of midday sun, into warm southern winds, into dark green vegetation of summer. There he came upon Snake sunning on a large stone. "Can you tell me where I can find this singing stone my grandfathers speak of?" he asked. Snake replied, "I have heard of this one that you look for. However, it is not here and I cannot tell you were to find it. I suggest you go west and see what is there for you." Thanking Snake for his words, she turned west. Into the West she walked, into the setting sun, into autumn leaves... bright colors on the ground. There in the west, by the waters of a river, she found Bear. "Can you tell me where I can find this singing stone my grandmothers speak of?" she asked. Bear replied, "I have heard that such a thing does exist. However, it is not here and I cannot tell you where to find it. I suggest you go into the north and see what is there for you." Thanking Bear for her words, he turned north. Far into the north he traveled, into the deep snows of winter, into the cold, clear, dark night of silence, into the season of deep surrender and grace he walked. There, on a snow-covered meadow he came upon Buffalo. "Buffalo, I have searched the four corners of our land. I have grown weary from my search. Can you tell me where I can find this singing stone my grandfathers speak of?" he asked. "This singing stone you search for; yes, I have heard of this one, however it is not here and I cannot tell you where to find it. I suggest you go up on the mountain for four days and nights and pray to creator and to your ancestors and see what is there for you." He thanked Buffalo for his words and made his way up the mountain. Four days and nights he sat on that mountain in prayer. As he greeted that sun on last morning he was clear that he must return to his village. He offered his gratitude to the spirit of the mountain and she turned toward home. She walked toward her village, the way you walk back into a village when you have been on a great journey, looking to find something long forgotten. As he neared the village, she heard voices moving down the creek the way voices do move down creeks deep in the forest. Coming closer now, he recognized these voices to be singing something. She could not yet make out the words. Rounding the bend, he saw family, friends, children, and village elders standing on both sides of the path. Seeing their smiling faces, she could hear their words clearly now! All together singing! "Welcome home, Singing Stone. Welcome home, Singing Stone." That night, Singing Stone dreamed she was sitting by a council fire with Eagle, Snake, Bear, and Buffalo. Singing Stone expressed much gratitude for their lives and the medicine they had offered him. Buffalo replied, "Granddaughter, do not thank us with your words. Let the way in which you live your life be your thanks and this we will see. Go well, Singing Stone. Go well." The "bare white unembellished bones" of this story were told to me by Stephen Foster, author of Book of Vision Quest, many years ago. Its original source is of anonymous Native American ancestry. I have taken a storyteller's poetic license in the retelling of this story to you as it lives and breathes through me. I offer my deep gratitude to the hearts and lands from which it came. In the depths of the soul, anyone's soul, there is a desire for initiation. Initiation means one thing dies and another comes to life. ~ Michael Mead, Author and Story Teller Kedar S. Brown, M.Ed., LPC is a therapist with over 25 years of experience. He is co-founder, co-director, and a ceremonial guide for Rites of Passage Council, a non-profit organization offering indigenous based healing programs in the U.S. and Ireland. Kedar blends many creative and expressive forms of depth psychology, with more ancient methods of healing through vision quest ceremonies, sweat lodge ceremonies, and other wilderness rites of passage experiences for adults and teens. Kedar lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, NC and can be contacted by calling (828) 231-4290 or by email at Kedar@RitesofPassageCouncil.com. To learn more about Rites of Passage Council and see a calendar of upcoming events visit www.RitesofPassageCouncil.com.