WOW!

it was so good I watched it 3 times in one week.

http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_endangered_cultures.html

toothless grin

Another rite of passage we’ve all been through, is our first loose tooth. Staying awake all night wriggling it, sure its gonna come out at any point now that we feel it moving! The excitement and the certainty of the process becomes our roller coaster. After a few days of excitement and anticipation we adjust and it becomes just a part of our world, our experience. Ya, its getting looser, but its just an immediate part of the Now that we exist in as children. Until finally one day it just falls out in an apple, and we are a mired in wonder once again, as we shove our tongues into the huge, weird tasting hole left behind! This is often our first cognitive experience with the process of growing up and being an active part of life unfolding. Its an entire process, a journey of shared experience, one of our first awareness's of our connection to humanity. When we return to grade school to show our friends the next day, some will lecture us knowingly about what it was like for them, some will stare in wonder and awe, asking questions and making faces, with round eyes of fear and respect. And some, the older kids, will roll their eyes and call us and our friends babies as they run through the play ground and take the ball we dropped as everyone stared at the wriggler. Life goes on, they've been through it, and however frightening a new journey, experience, habit, or behavior may be for those of us on the path for the first time, there is always someone older, wiser, more experienced for whom our avalanche of emotional turmoil is just a well known piece of the pie for a road walked many times, and as familiar as an old pair of shoes. They know there is nothing to worry about and no big danger, its just normal. This is perhaps the most magnificent thing about our human condition. The need to constantly seek new experience, and to live in a state of excitement and adventure, and then to learn it, know it, become its master and share the map with some new greenhorn, bright eyed with fear and wonder, to lend a hand and help trust emerge where perhaps there was none before, to invoke a sense of strength and confidence in our successors before we move along the road to our next new experience. We journey from novice to master to teacher, then set out on new roads where we can begin the cycle again, and conquer new fears and hurdles in our quest to eventually realize were all the same, -even in our differences. We are one. back at home, some of us will find money in exchange for the lost tooth when its left under our pillow. But its the shared experience, the little rite of passage and experiential learning that comes from it that is the real gift, the actual exchange. But the tooth fairy idea leads me to the question, what do other cultures do?

Homecoming

After a long journey, I love the first moment after opening the front door and smelling the good familiarity of home. Our olfactory sense is directly wired to our limbic or instinctual brain,and the brain reacts in some interesting ways to smell. Teaching aromatherapy classes to massage students, I frequently have to explain to my students how after the initial processing of a new smell, the brain begins to filter it out of our conscious sensory perceptions, even if we are still reacting to it. Home smells good, but we can only smell it those first few moments, then we become desensitized to it, even though we still react by calming down, feeling safe, and relaxing easily in that environment. We choose and react to a mate in the same fashion. Initially attracted by the unique scent (beyond deodorants and perfumes) of our lover, we may, eventually over time, not be aware of it at all, but still experience a physical and physiological response of sexual attraction when that person is near. My second husband could always tell if I was about to get sick, or if I was under emotional duress because my smell would change and he could perceive it. So if emotional upheaval has a perceptible smell to it, maybe there really is a “smell” of fear, that dogs or bees, or predators can sense. So while some behavior is ritualistic, some ritual behaviors are directed by smell: arousal, aggression, hunger, nurturing, sleepiness, relaxation, even anger. It depends on what you are smelling. Burnt toast? Smell enhances and has direct links to memory, and can be a ritual of its own simply by recreating a psycho-emotional experience in the brain, for good or ill.
The smell of honeysuckle is one of my very favorite scents. It takes me back to being 7 or 8 years old, and independent, invincible, limited to neither male or female ideals, and imagination was everything. I really could fly, and stop time, and nothing existed at all until I knew about it first hand. There were no theories to cloud the mind with logic and ice, just the warmth of the sun on our faces, and the rainbows in the parking lot puddles, and chocolate pudding at friends houses. The aroma of Garlic and burgers takes me to the age of 11, and down home dinner on the ranch, where my grandmother would toast the sourdough, and make the garlic butter from scratch for their famous hamburger sandwiches, served to every visitor for thier first meal. It was usually home raised beef, so the flavor was something we indulged at “home coming” even during our vegetarian teen years. An important ritual to start the summer off, and mark another year gone by. Roses make me blissfully happy and I feel connected to nature, and God, and humanity, and the whole darn planet and cosmos. They make everything seem right with the world regardless of what is going on. There is a special rose garden I frequent, by a river, and I journey there whenever something or someone very important comes into my life and I want to know why. Like taking tea, I am able to step outside of transition, and rise above the fray of the battlefield to see the perfection of the larger picture, and the clear light of direction shining in my life. Walking around smelling the roses, flitting from flower to flower like a honey bee, I find the answers I seek and I somehow just know what to do, and with whom, the “why” usually sorts itself out shortly after. My confidence in the direction I receive is intimidating to some people, and generally catches them off guard when I act on it. Smell is a powerful influencer.
This shows the allure of incense, herbs, and essential oils in ceremonial settings. Certainly large corporate chains have used it to influence our spending habits for years, (Walmart, Victoria's Secret, Target, Mrs. Fields, Nordstroms, to name a few) so it makes sense that we should become aware of it and utilize it for our own well being. Aromatherapy maybe like casting spells after all. And I just wanted to clear my head, take a hot salt bath, and freshen the air. Hey! What do you know? Its another homecoming ritual. So We do have them, and create them all around our secular lives after all.

Heartache and Hook ups

Something about heartache and disappointment, or unfulfilled expectations carries some of us to inspect the inside of a tequila bottle. What an interesting and self destructive ritual, but a ritual just the same. When something we care about or have vested interest in does not work out according to our petty human plans, we can walk away, try again, lick our wounds, plot revenge, or just give up. But the emotional component needs an outlet, and the siren song of self destructive behavior is a road to easily indulged, but still a fairly common response to the multifaceted human condition. Some people have a healthier way to nurture themselves through disappointment, but we’ve all made choices we regret from pain, numbness, anger, or apathy. Drinking your problems away just gives you problems and a hangover, but even the physical pain of this condition is a ritual of its own sort, and many would argue that in modern American culture learning to manage ones drink, and crying through the results of NOT managing it are common rites of passage for many young adults. Learning self control, moderation and natural consequences for behavior is an important skill for managing ones life in the modern world.
Some people might fast, or pray or meditate, or immerse themselves in someone else's problems in order to lose track of their self pity and make a positive difference in their community. But what happens when a person is struggling with a major life crises, or transition, or loss of identity, or a spouse, or a child? Certainly grief is a process, and everyone handles it differently and at their own pace, and their is no one right way to get through it, tequila, meditation, dancing naked under the full moon, or moving to a new city to rebuild ones identity with a new life. Time is the common thread, and there is no way to rush it, push it or hurry it up. “You can’t step in the same river twice.” Nor can you push the river for your own plans.
Sitting around, nursing my own problems I chose to lean on a friend. While visiting, my friend had an old flame visit one night for a hook up. It was interesting to observe the “remember when” talk, and the mating dance of casual familiarity, and best behavior. The boastful stories of sexual or alcoholic prowess, previous relationship navigation's, and work life interpersonal skills. Laughing at everyone's “party piece” stories and bad jokes. The mating dance, whether its a hook up, or a heartfelt love connection is a ritual, a ceremony, and even a rite of passage in any kind of relationship. My favorite is the unrestrained expressions of appreciation for the other persons time, talent, effort and interest, an expression that often seems to fade to a bitter place of expectation at later stages in relationships.

Feast of Gratitude

Thanksgiving is my Favorite Holiday, and it’s uniquely American. I love the food, and the gathering of friends and family. I love taking the time to think about gratitude and being thankful for what we have in our lives even when life isn't going the way we want it to. I love the way we put so much thought and preparation into the feast and the gathering, so that every little thing is just right according to our own particular traditions in the whole. Sure most people have the traditional meal of turkey and stuffing and some kind of pie but the side dishes are varied and often a vitally unique piece of this puzzle to each family group. I once had someone request lumps in the mashed potatoes. For some people it’s just not thanksgiving without candied yams, or green beans, or apple banana salad in a special heirloom bowl.

My favorite is to host the dinner, which in my world lasts for all four days of the weekend. The games, and movies, and activities engaged in over the entire weekend, as well as the various breakfasts are all part of the tradition and ritualized experience, as much as the feast itself. Let’s face it, as a country we like to eat. And fattening up before the winter with shared resources is a very interesting kind of ceremony with deep roots and purpose, regardless of how some people just fatten up to go shopping these days, which is a fattening ritual filled with unconscious symbolism of its own.

Winter can be cold, and dark and long. Building up a stock pile of supplies, and a layer of fat can insure basic survival. Sure nowadays we have electric lights and fireplaces, huge furnaces, and can walk to the corner store when we need more soup. But that was not always the case. Having a huge feast or community gathering was one way to account for everyone, and be sure we were all set to get through winter. The tradition of going in groups from house to house, Christmas caroling, was really a way to check on the neighbors and to make sure everyone still had enough food at midwinter. We would do it again around February first, checking up and sharing firewood through the community. We might call it Imbolc, or St. Brigid's Day, or just a fire festival, but there it is another little tradition, or ritual to check on the health and well being of the community at large in the coldest climates.

Without these rituals we are isolated again, even from our closest neighbors. Our sense of connection is diminished, and our dependence on technology increases. No wonder so many people perish in the heat or cold when New York City has a black out. According to James Burke and his documentary series “Connections”, all this chaos was the ultimate result of the invention of the plow. So dig in, feast up, invite the neighbors and consider how we are all connected and it’s probably a good thing. Also, enjoy some different programming this holiday and expand your mind along with your belly, and be grateful we live in the information age where we still have the freedom to do that.

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/james-burke-connections/

Clockwork Orange

It has been my opinion since starting this research that our society has few if any rituals, or rites of passage which is a big part of what is wrong with us, why we feel disconnected and why people seem to be increasingly desensitized to cruelty and violence. Its not the only reason, but it certainly seems to contribute. But where is it taking us and what would that look like? According to some, the cult film classic “A Clockwork Orange” gives us a fantastic cinematic representation of what happens to an individual in a society devoid of meaning, rituals and rites of Passage: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066921/

"In future Britain, charismatic delinquent Alex DeLarge is jailed and volunteers for an experimental aversion therapy developed by the government in an effort to solve society's crime problem... but not all goes according to plan. Director: Stanley Kubrick, Writers: Stanley Kubrick (screenplay), Anthony Burgess (novel) Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee and Michael Bates"

This is an ugly view but probably not far off the mark. According to Men's writer Robert Bly, a youth with no positive male mentor or rituals for Rites of Passage is very likely to become a violent, undirected thug without morals or any sense of belonging to his community. To fill this inner need and drive and lack of recognition and direction he may form or join street gangs with other unguided or misguided youth. -Left with a sense of connection only to his gang members and those he can intimidate or exert power over. He is an individual without hope of growth, improvement of his lot in life, or meaning in the present or the future. Power and violence are what make him feel strong. Possibly what make him feel anything at all.

According to Bly the solution lies in rebuilding community in the neighborhoods, of getting the elders to step up and mentor the youth, and to give them acknowledgment of what it means to be caring, gentle, strong, responsible men. Men must be with other, older responsible men to do this. What about women? -It seems to be a bit easier for them as in general they have more opportunities to be with older women in the extended family circle and activities that women share.


http://www.pbs.org/kued/nosafeplace/interv/bly.html

Robert Bly: "And we have to realize that the greatest danger to the culture is coming from these young unparented males all over the world. And if we want to do something about that, instead of pouring money in from Washington, one thing you would do is you would go to South Los Angeles and you would ask in the black communities who is a responsible older male here. And they would know. They only know that at the block level. Then you'd go to that older man and you'd say to him, “Listen, I'm gonna give you eighteen thousand dollars and I want you to keep two young men out of prison in that time.. It costs thirty-five thousand to keep a young man in prison. It costs more to keep a young man in prison than to send him to college.” And the older man then has something to do and the younger man has someone to talk to and be with. And it's astonishing the changes that come in young men when that happens."

So elders and mentors may help to create and recognize rites of passage, and are important for the safety, well being, and healthy development of community in our societies. We do have them, but they are often subtle, overlooked, or go unrecognized. Some mentors may come and go in our lives, some coming of age rites may include little to no pomp or circumstance but appear as mundane or secular activities to the participants: babysitting younger children, taking the city bus alone, learning to drive, menstruation, wet dreams, interest in sex, becoming sexually active, graduations, quinceanera, barmitzvah, batmitzvah, vision quests, college road trips, traveling to a foreign city or country alone, marriage, becoming a parent, and more. Robert Bly gives us the solution for creating mentors and community, but what can we do to increase the celebration factor of these important events and add to the ritual, sense of meaning and importance in identity development for the individual and their sense of place in community in the broad spectrum? and do we need to?

Fall out

As children we often have perfect faith in our parents (our gods) and the world that is presented to us. Over time we slowly learn that we cannot always count on people, or circumstances. People let us down, even the ones we trust most, or don’t live up to our ideals, parents are not always all knowing, all loving deities but common human beings facing hurdles and challenges and tests of character that they do not always overcome. As small children everything is bigger than we are and faith in something even bigger is not much of a stretch, to imagine daddy always catching us, the freeway extending to eternity and some giant god figure always looking out for our interests. But eventually we grow up and have to face the emotional letdown of being in charge of ourselves, our own wellbeing and our own moral code. This is the point at which many religions step in to fill the gap. So is a child brought up in a religious culture less likely to face a crises of faith later in life or during troubling events?
As a child with perfect faith in the world, and everything in it, I remember the terror I felt when I first heard of “Galloping Gertie” the bridge across the Tacoma Narrows that buckled in a heavy windstorm, and realized that the things built by man were fallible. I was terrified to cross bridges by car for many years after that. It was also my first introduction to the devastation possible in nature. Something I had been brought up to feel I was connected to and a part of. Now the natural world that I had never really distinguished as a force separate from the rest of my world became suspect and angry and dangerous. The very idea sent me hiding under a blanket in the back seat for years, and I had travel terrors about drowning in a car until well into my twenties. But it wasn’t really the force of nature I feared, but the arrogance of man. To this day even extreme weather and natural events such as earth quake, hurricane and tsunami fail to strike fear in me despite evidence to the contrary. My personal trust in nature itself and connection with the earth and the natural world prevails even when faith in every other part of life or belief systems has failed.

Exploring Myths

Exploring Myths


Curious about the evolution of myth and its tie in to ritual, ceremony and celebration, I visited the University of Oregon campus to sit in on a few Classical Mythology lectures, with my daughter Devon.

She lent me her text book for the two weeks I was there: Classical Mythology written by Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner, and I was particularly struck by the section on Structuralism and Myth: “Most physiological theorists regard myths as a natural expression of the psyche - one that functions therapeutically to purge unacceptable desire, provide creative energy, reconcile individuals to their environment, and attribute moral order and meaning to the universe. Structuralism further refines this concept as viewing myth as a refinement of the minds binary organization.” This supports my views on the need for faith, spiritual beliefs, and the human condition without ritual or ceremony.

The text later goes on to say: “The newest approach to myths is not cultural but biological, experiments have revealed that when individuals were in an intense of prayer or meditation the neurons in a section of the brains parietal lobe (responsible for spatial orientation and awareness of one’s body) stop firing” … and even further, “ Not only do people who suffer temporal lobe seizures often have intense religious experiences, but stimulation of the temporal lobes in healthy subject also induce such experiences even if the subjects had no previous inclinations or beliefs”. I find this highly significant to our human experience and the unconscious rituals we sometimes create. These thoughts stayed with me as I continued to explore more every day experiences.

The class was instructed by Christina Calhoon, and the main lecture was about Dionysus. “The God of Enlightenment through Partying.” Later, Devon and I discussed its relevance and possible connections to my work. We were in the time of year filled with parties, celebrations and family traditions, one of which for some people is to drink too much to tolerate the stress that seems to accompany the family gatherings. Thanks Giving was only days away.

When I posed the question: what happens when an anticipated ceremony does not take place?” Devon responded from her own knowledge and notes, “The type of reaction depends on the type of ceremony or ritual that has not occurred, and the cultural myths surrounding that ceremony or ritual. Such as the Greeks sacrificing bulls, and giving them a reason to eat beef, even though cows were rare. Without the charter myths, eating beef becomes an occasional activity with no real meaning or purpose.”

Reenactment of heroic deeds, purification ceremonies, and historic events serve as ritualized reminders to people, for moral behavior, promise of a better future, or redemption. Rituals help control violent behavior and channel aggression in the populace. The baseball ritual is a prime example of a regular and important ritual. Watching it on television doesn’t have the ambiance and ritualized participation of being in the ball park, where one can smell the popcorn, sing the songs, and pay to much money for an old hot dog and half a cup of stale beer. These seemingly mundane things put together add to the joy of the ritualized experience. And if a game or sporting event were to be canceled or not occur, fans generally become angry, destructive and even violent, whether in their living rooms, or in the stadium parking lot.

Devon said, “It’s easy to see how the transfer of ritual was made from religious to secular activities. The Greeks held the Olympics to honor the Gods. Modern sports have their own "gods" and heroes and legends. Some sports were historically played to honor important events such as the death of Caesar, in ancient Rome. In roman history early history is closely tied to myth. After the death of Caesar, the brightest comet in history passed the earth, during the games held honoring his life. It was believed that this was his soul being taken to the heavens by Venus.”

So faith and religion and myth are closely bound together, across societies and cultures. Ceremonies, celebration and ritual are a frequent part of that. Myths explain the origins of things and set the stage for religion. So ritual is an activity that carries symbolism and meaning forward, to sanctify a course of action, decision, or promise for the individual or community.

Impotence

What happens to a person or society when an expected ceremony or ritual does NOT take place?
There is an emptiness, a sense of anger, and uselessness that infuses the individual psyche, with existentialism and apathy. A change is needed, sensed, anticipated, even prepared for, and then the ceremony or ritual does not take place, and nothing happens. The status quo is maintained, (for good or ill), or even reverts to a previous stage of influence on behavior, desire and motivation. A sense of depression and futility ensues. And the actions one takes around that can very from homicide and suicide on one end of the spectrum to false euphoria, intense grief or denial on the other. Yet it often seems to be this very state of mind, this depression that requires us to reach outside of ourselves or search deeper within and appeal to a higher power, source or deity.
Rituals help us to recognize and honor the gods and spirits we revere, and to face the helplessness we humans face in our everyday lives and routines, especially when we realize there really is very little about our lives and worlds in our direct control. Unrequited or unconsummated love, loss of work and personal/community identity, traumatic events, violence, or a death in the family are problems many of us face everyday. How do we cope and heal and get back to meaningful productive lives?
Letting go and living in the NOW generally requires trust in something outside ones self and sphere of direct and personal influence. Religious or spiritual beliefs help us to attribute meaning or a sense of acceptance to those things beyond our control. Accepting things as they are with no hope of change or improvement isn't an easy part of human nature. We are wired to seek more, to push the envelope of our experience to new limits, crescendos, and moments of renewal. We have seen across cultures, tragedy and holocaust, that it is often the very idea and power of faith itself that allows the avenue of improvement to proceed or manifest through the most difficult of circumstances, the attitude of carrying on, persevering, and riding out the storm, the drought, or the imprisonment. Faith is a powerful tool opening the door to many experiences of increased good. But where does this faith come from? What challenges it? What forms and shapes it and grooms it? And what happens to a society or people without it?

Milk shakedown

Sitting in a burger joint, I ordered a milkshake. I don't normally indulge in the dairy drug, but it had been one of those days following one of those weeks, smack in the middle of one of those months. I presume I don't have to explain what I mean by that, because everyone has their own version of what that means. It is a shared or common experience of our modern culture and society to know what those ominous words allude to emotionally even if not specifically. I just needed a great big, old fashioned, real ice cream milkshake to go with my giant, juicy hamburger and fries that afternoon. As I indulged this ravenous, and delectable dairy binge, knowing I would regret it for the next four days, I was struck with the wondering of WHY did I feel such a need and a drive to fulfill it so indulgently. And as I realized that this strange indulgence was a particularly ritualistic piece of middle modern America, my milkshake arrived for me to deconstruct. “What is it that makes me desire this? And what is it that makes this good?” The tumbler half full of extra shake is as much an important part of this ritual as the straw, the spoon and the flavor. It is a little personal ceremony to scrape it out and lick the spoon, like moms baking batter, or bread hot from the oven. Some things, especially around food, have a very important ritualistic component as an integral part of what makes the experience good, important and worthwhile... But I do not know WHY that is. The more questions I ask on this journey, the more I seem to get or encounter as part of my search for the answers.

shared experience: Ritual or Habit?

I am fascinated by the little everyday rituals that we perform and participate in often unconsciously, like the kiss goodbye to the loved one, or the daily latte, or the order of our morning or bedtime activities. One ritual that helps us relate to our culture and some class aspects of our white middle class society is the morning latte, or coffee shop experience. One waits in line, makes the monumental decision of which pastry to eat, and what kind of heated beverage to wash it down with, then obediently pays their fee, and finally relinquishes the witty banter of the barista to the next person and moves to the opposite counter to await their piece of this dogmatic culture. Once the beverage is placed before us, we may sit at a cafe table and checks our email, or read the news like half the rest of the clientele. Not everyone can indulge this type of daily or even weekly ritual, but the idea and understanding of it is assumed, expected and extremely prevalent in Northwestern and urban societies. Shared experiences like this one and others are important for a sense of belonging in any group of people. Fitting into a new group, job, church, or social structure depends on the ability to find and discuss shared experiences with others of the same group.

Out with my roommate on one of our routine internet access searches for job hunting and solidifying holiday travel plans, I watched as she created the shared experience she had described to me when we went to a local coffee shop to use the internet. Times are hard and with each of us struggling to find enough work to pay our share of the rent, internet is a luxury we just cannot afford, it hits somewhere out past the power bill, laundry and groceries. We frequent a busy cafe attached to a book store, so its not as obvious or annoying to the cafe workers that we never purchase anything, but the smells of the food and coffee are nerve wracking when ones belt is tightened. I watched over my lap top while she sat in her very nice looking clothing, expensive earrings and every hair in place, sipping coffee from a paper cup that she had picked up from the bank across the street, and eating a danish from home. We had picked the danish up from the local food bank the day before, but when she got to her mall job later in the day, she would be able to describe her “shared experience” of the coffee shop lifestyle to her coworkers, and they would never suspect that she would be lucky to pull in and live on a mere $800 dollars this year. This recession that supposedly isn't one has fostered a lot of desperation borne creativity in people that is manifesting in different ways. If tattoos are a poor mans way to have and own artwork, as well as being a rite of passage for certain populations and cultures, then creative ways of social climbing are rituals and ceremonial gestures of their own. If only to maintain a common ground of conversation to fit in better with ones coworkers, and maintain a five hour a week job in an economy where every part time job expects bachelors degrees, open availability and priority over any other job, and only pays minimum wage.

Burning Ritual/ ceremony

Burning ritual/ ceremony

We took old taxes, love letters and personal papers to the local beach. We sought out wet logs, and large pebbles to create a fire pit. working with found materials and the earths natural fuel. We lit sage, and smudged each other, and called the directions, we thanked the great Spirit for our lives and blessings and the lessons we have had, and asked for help to release the past. We banished worry, and invoked prosperity and self worth, We asked for help finding employment and not loosing my car because I cannot afford the payments and insurance. We jumped over the flames, laughed at the birds and the wind and the waves. Sang songs and drank peppermint hot chocolate. By the time we left we felt strong, and grounded and clear, and calm and very thankful and forgiving. It was a beautiful day. We thanked the Spirit and the directions, and the elements. We vowed to do this much more often. We went home and as we plunged back into the mundane world of errands and others we felt overexposed, to vulnerable to their harsh inconsideration. By the time we'd had dinner with some well meaning friends and made it home we both felt sick to our stomachs from swallowing their careless, condemning words and judgments along with our dinner. We had to eat something in the safety of our own cocoon just to try and erase some of the damage. We cried inside at the lack of ceremony, and sensitivity in even our closest friends because they like us live in a culture that worships consumerism and the dollar, instead of openly honoring what is truly sacred and beautiful, and makes the world a better place to BE ones true self. We realized that even if other people are brusk with it or shoot us down we must continue to practice being real, being vulnerable, being authentic as often as we can. Living in the moment and releasing the past whether its a moment ago, an hour ago, or the treasured wounds of our childhoods. We have to do the best we can regardless of how its received or perceived. This is the only way to feed the Soul and keep it alive, and living through poverty makes you realize what it is that is truly valuable.

What is it!?

I am fascinated with the spontaneous eruption of what I have come to call the Happy Dance, people caught up in little tiny moments of profound joy, excitement and celebration. The scope of my project is to directly observe when and how this occurs in people, and what the variations are across cultures, heritage, and social-economic lines.

While there are undoubtedly many writings on the subject of rites of Passage, and ceremony from Jungian philosophy to the ideas of Joseph Campbell and as a classmate suggested even Robert Bly, my project is based on the instances I can directly observe in the world around me, and or interview real people about, to remove the results from the realm of theory and have it be applicable to the real world.

How will I do this? I will live my life and observe my own and my friends reactions to everyday circumstances and events from the mundane to the profound. From the moment to moment events in our lives: a new dishwasher, a new apartment, a new love, to the holidays that mark the passage of time and seasons, and how we as a people and culture react and choose to participate in the observance of these celebrations or not.

I will theorize and pontificate on the the significance of a daily latte, and the irrelevance of post, post modern-commericalism. I will tie it all together with ideas to expand the scope of my project into the next quarter and hopefully the next significant step to the research and travel for direct observation and experiential learning of the Happy Dance itself.


Lack of ceremony in the form of rites of passage for average American culture can point to such extremes as the total downfall of society and values as proposed in Stanley Kubricks “ A Clockwork Orange”. While some of the upper echelons of society may have debutant balls as a public coming of age acknowledgment for their young women, but this sort of over the top presentation to society is hardly the normal circumstance for much of our society. While Jewish culture has Barmitzvah, Batmitzvah, for young men and women respectively, and Latin Americans have a Quincertanos celebration for a young woman's 15th birthday celebration, - which is often as elaborate and expensive to the family as a wedding, there seem to be fewer such rites of passage for men, which perhaps leads to the allure of gangs.

All this food for thought brings me to a personal realization that while I have had the fortune to be raised with an unusual exposure to Native American culture, I spent many summers growing up with the Chiloquin tribe on their sacred ceremonial land, and participated in special ceremonys each summer, I have not always had the time, energy, knowledge or resources to provide my own daughter with the Rites of Passage for her own life and development that I think are so tragically lacking from our own culture.

As a Thanksgiving baby we have always acknowledged my daughters Birthday with an extra big celebration of that uniquely American holiday, and a side party just for her. But how does that translate to a Rite of Passage? At 13 I taught her to walk in the dream world, to remember and practice controlling her dreams. This is a skill that has served her well and far surpasses my own abilities. At other ages I made special acknowledgment of her growth and development as well, but something still seems lacking. Even her graduation from high school last year, while recognized by our society as an important rite, seems lacking in some basic elements of personalization to give it the significance to the individual it proposes to be.




As a project for this class I want to construct an acknowledgment of my daughters coming of age. I am going to visit her for her birthday. She is 19 and a freshman at the U of O. Lets see what I can come up with. Ideas run rampant through my imagination. A sense of ceremony is surely in order, as well as Celebration, and some kind of symbolism. A task or accomplishment would be good and perhaps a significant alteration, endowment or marking. A tattoo comes to mind, simply because she wants one, and it is an art I studied at one time and was taught to do. My own first tattoo was a rite of passage I sought for myself, and the few pieces of art I have on my body are all very significant and meaningful. After working in the Body art industry for nearly a decade, I have unique opinions and talents in that arena, but my desire for this project and my interest in rites of passage far surpasses that. Body art was simply one step on that larger journey and exploration of this entire subject. I want to create something that breaks through the shell of apathy and existentialism, into a place that fosters fulfillment and passion, and excitement at being alive, excitement and anticipation for the journey ahead. For myself, for others, for my adult child, for society.

POA

define: ceremony
ritual
Celebration
happy dance

research dance, dance rituals of indigenous peoples, VS disco/ nightclub scene
observe spontaneous eruption of celebration

What constitutes CEREMONY? How and why is it important in our lives? How does it show up in our lives and across cultures? Through time? Politics? Religion? History? Relationships?

How do you intend to explore the topic? Books, interviews, questions? Experiences? Travels? Research? Happy Dance documentary filming? Dance as celebration as ceremony?

What is ritual?

Rituals: IMHO

Repetitive activities or actions. We have a thousand rituals every week, every day, from the morning routine to the worship of our deities. From the number of times we clink our spoon against the coffee cup, to the coffee itself.

Our daily routines become rituals that mold who we are and who we become, as well as influence the future choices we make. Waking up and stretching, watching cartoons, hurrying out the door with two small children and arguing them into their shoes and coats to catch the bus. All these things can become rituals and often do, yet we don't often think of them that way: The morning paper, the route we take to work, walking the dog, even doing the shopping.

The Vision: how it began

It started with a spark, a vision of pure spontaneous joy, boundless in its mired expressions, bursting forth from humanity. I've observed it across years in my friends, loved ones, even strangers. We all have a happy dance. Usually several for different occasions or circumstances. Most of us are completely unaware of our own happy dance. A happy dance is a completely spontaneous, physical expression of joyousness or satisfaction, that cannot be duplicated, contrived, or recreated. It is an authentic spark of spirit, of passion, of life form in in purest unbridled essence, escaping our usually rigid mannerisms, and controlled expressions.

For years I've said I want to study happy dances, and the hows and why of what makes them what they are. So here begins the journey of this task. a Journey that has started with more questions to be answered before lift off then I bargained on. So here we begin, to explain, define, and expound on the ideas behind and woven through happy dance, one at a time. These definitions and explanations come from conversations, reading, and popular culture as well as my own observation, education and theory. I will always attempt to give full credit where it is due to the ideas herein, and most especially with direct quotes.