We often describe the process of becoming someone as “personal growth,” but it may be more accurate to say that we develop in stages or phases that are marked by initiations. Emerson calls them “ascensions of state.” There may be long phases and short ones, sometimes overlapping and simultaneous. Each initiation might well be a challenge, and, from one to the next, we may feel that we have entered a different state. Our task is to deal with these initiations effectively, knowing that each one will take us to a new level of vitality. An initiation entails a liminal time when we are neither back in familiar territory or secure in a new one. Therefore, passages demand that we know how to live through liminality, the in-between time. Life phases may focus on work, relationships, place, age, education, or even some other area of experience.
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You are navigating a major life transition.
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You want to cultivate resilience and insight in times of change.
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You are curious about how life’s passages shape your vitality and sense of self.
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Class 1 – The Meaning of Initiation and Liminality“Initiation” means beginning, as in starting over. More specifically, it is the process of leaving behind one phase in life and entering another. This may include some pain and re-orientation. There may be a liminal time when you have not truly made a break with the past and yet haven’t adjusted to the new situation either. Initiation benefits from some education about it and a few skills for navigating it.
Class 2 – The Leap into the Unknown
When I was writing my book on work, I talked to several people serious about their careers who told me that it was essential for them to take a leap into the unknown. Risk-taking was part of their success. They couldn’t always make smooth transitions from one job to the next. So there are two kinds of passage: the smooth and the explosive. The latter calls for some courage and adventure. It might be good to know this secret of life before we have to deal with it.
Class 3 – Marriage and Other Bonds of Love
Engagement, marriage and divorce all demand noteworthy turning-points in your life. The shift from the single life to being with a partner is radical and demands a change in perspective and identity. In the glow of romantic love, this change may be easy, but it can become challenging. A relationship may benefit from rituals and expressions of a change in state. The loss of a partner can also take the form of a life passage and needs reflection and preparation.
Class 4 – Aging and Illness can be Critical Moments of Passage
A string of birthdays becomes a turning-point when elements of your identity undergo an alchemy of change. Aging is not just growing old but turning into a rather different person again and again. It can help to treat aging as a rite of passage. Illness, too, whether in old age or not, is an initiation into the deeper, darker and more unsettling aspects of being a person of Earth. It is not just an event but a challenge to the soul, requiring reflection, adjustment and vision.
