rites of passage

The funny thing about the name E. chose—Heaven’s Battle Front—is that his is a peaceful tribe. They are not warriors, but explorers, he said, and anyone over 16 (who grew up in the tribe) could join. E. described the tribe as a large, family-like community that was divided into sub-tribes, Read more…

When I designed the Tribal Rites of Passage workshop I wondered if any of the young people would choose to imagine their tribe along ethnic lines. It wasn’t something I actively wanted to avoid or encourage, but during mentor training I mentioned that to help their partners think about the tribes they belonged to (or wanted to belong to), they should be somewhat creative in asking questions. Where do you fit in? What type of people do you admire? Do you participate in any sort of community? Whatever tribe they chose, I wanted it to be something deeply meaningful, rather than just an automatic or default answer.

C. was the only one in the group (aside from one of the adults, and I’ll get to that later) who wished to define her tribe ethnically. (more…)

The first person who presented—let’s call him A.—decided just to stand up and describe his ritual without any visual aids (he and his mentor both claimed to be “unable to draw,” and since content was my first priority, I saw no reason to object). He was the one I mentioned Read more…