Rites of Passage
A Personal Reflection
of the Rites of Passage
by Siv Wilhelmsson, Sweden
Since I heard about rites of passage for teenagers a couple of years ago, I longed for this ceremony and in my way tried to push it to take place. To eventually participate in the ceremony last year as a parent and a grown-up woman was a strong and revolutionary experience at many levels.
From the teenagers’ point of view, the need and desire of a rite of passage seemed to fill a hole of unspeakable longing. So it did to me, and to have the opportunity to do this ceremony together with my own son and my partner was like a dream coming true.
As an apprentice on the Sweet Medicine SunDance Path I thought I had a brief knowledge what this ceremony was all about. But what I met during these days was a depth and a transforming beauty beyond all expectations. A healing that opened new doors and truly honored this passage and made it possible to step into a space of love, confrontation, honesty, humor and let go of what is no more needed. There was a willingness among both teenagers and adults to experience, to learn, to trust, and to catch the opportunity. A three-hour-long sweat where the young men continued to ask questions about manhood speaks for itself.
What I hadn’t expected, though, was the transforming journey for my own part. It was like standing on the edge facing myself as a parent and grown-up woman in the same time. I saw life, the different steps of growing, male and female, from a totally new and very, very honest viewing point that mirrored me as an image maker. The image maker I thought I was, the image maker I wish to be . . . AND THE IMAGE MAKER I AM.
I look forward to the next rites of passage.