Rites of Passage
[Image: "Druid Vow" © 2007 Michael Green and used with permission]

"This mythical imagination appears as a revolt against the basic perversity of matter, against creation's profound indifference toward us. It is a way to force nature to recognize our necessity, for the only justification for our long and painful history is that we are not in any sense a useless suffering nor the last link of an itinerary destined for destruction; we mortals are what makes nature immortal. If matter is perverse, if nature is indifferent, and as indifferent to itself as it is to our human destiny, it is because they are unaware of what makes them act within the vast unfurling of time."

— Claude Mettra (prominent French radio journalist), "Epilogue: The Contemporary Need for Myths—A Testimonial," in Bonnefoy, ed., Mythologies 1991, v. 2.1231.

Watch 26 NEWYouTube excerpts
from Mythic Journeys '06!

• Girls to Women:
  Coming of Age Rituals
  
  "How important is it for one's community to acknowledge a young girl's journey from child to adult? Does your community or spiritual society recognise or ritualize this transition? If the answer to that question is no, why not?" Na'ii'ees, the Apache Sunrise Ceremonies; Latin American Quince Años; Wiccan Coming of Age rituals; and Jewish Bat Mitzvahs — all recognize important steps across a liminal threshold.
  — by Brenda Sutton [read on]
  
  

• Resonance in the Classroom
  
  "It was an ordinary question, one that I had fielded numerous times in previous semesters. On this particular day, however, instead of giving the answer that immediately popped into my mind, I stopped for a moment to mull over the possibilities. There was a pause in the flow of my thinking, a break in continuity as I asked myself, "Which answer has the best chance of getting through to this particular student?" Suddenly I had a visual image of a small door in the back of my mind."
  — by Chris Bache [read on]
  
  

• "Open Your Eyes"
  Introduction to
  Rethinking Adolescence:
  Using Story to Navigate Life's Uncharted Years
  
  "We need practical approaches for connecting with young people at the level of the heart, seeking out kernels of wisdom for doing so by using myths, stories, movies, and songs. Story speaks to both students and adults on a spiritual level. Story can be used to help adult leaders better comprehend the condition of the young, and it can help the young better comprehend themselves."
  — by Jay D'Ambrosio [read on]
  
  

• The Initiation of Perseus
  
  "If we peer back into the depths of human history, we will see that the initiation of boys happened intentionally. It took place primarily in the presence of the father and/or a company of men. These rites usually involved an ordeal, or challenge, that tested the boy emotionally, physically, and spiritually. If we carefully listen to ancient myths and stories, we can still hear the echoes of this crucial practice of male initiation. ...mine the Greek myth of Perseus for the masculine rites that lay hidden just beneath the surface of the story."
  — by Jay D'Ambrosio [read on]

• Contemporary Fantasy's
  Foliate Face:
  An Interview with
  Charles Vess
  
  An American storyteller best known for his artistic work in support of mythic narratives, Mythic Journeys guest Charles Vess is now at the height of his artistic career. The Neil Gaiman film Stardust, with art inspired by Vess' illustration, is scheduled to release August 10th. Enjoy this interview from the IAFA conference that highlights the artist's influences and artistic passions.
  — by Kelly Searsmith [read on]

• Read a Sample Chapter of
  Changeling...
  ...and see art created
  by Theo Black
  for this Mythic Passages publication.
  

• Fantasy in the Big Apple
  
  Award-winning author Delia Sherman tells of the inspiration for her new novel, Changeling, about the faerie realms in New York City's Central Park. "When my parents were out and I didn't want to go to sleep, my babysitter (who was Japanese) told me about the Funny Man. He had a long nose, she told me, and if I didn't go to bed right away, he'd turn himself into a bird and fly across to my window and take me back to the Carlyle Hotel, and then I'd be sorry. Did I believe her? Well, there are a lot of strange things in New York."
  — by Delia Sherman [read on]

• Reading the
  Mythological Feminine
  
  Dr. Doty narrows 3.5 yards of relevant works from his library's bookshelf on the 'Mythological Feminine' down to a baker's dozen (or so), realizing that probably three or four times as many titles might have been cited in this topic.
  — by William Doty [read on]

• Male Initiation in America
  
  "In our culture, we retain patterns of socializing young people, but little more. Our initiations teach the values of competition, materialism, and individualism — within the heritage of Puritanism, militarism and unease with the physical body. Most of our rituals, then, are reaffirmations of the status quo. Our rites of passage merely note very mild transitions into the consumer lifestyle, rather than marking any meaningful change."
  — by Barry Spector [read on]

• Saving Persephone
  
  "The story of Demeter and Persephone offers a compromise for the young girl in transition. Persephone, through the strong intercessions of her mother, remains in touch with her genuine feminine identity, her 12-year old self.... Mothers, grandmothers, teachers, aunties or friends may guide daughters through the perilous rite of passage that is puberty so that girls become women who stay connected with their powerful and authentic life force."
  — by Judatha Temple Kline
  [read on]
  
  
  

• How Gilgamesh Became
  the Lord of the Dead
  Part Three:
  Gilgamesh Journeys
  Through the Zodiac
  
  "With the slaying of the Taurus bull, discussed in Part II, we have already passed through the springtime equinox for the Platonic Month of the Age of Taurus. Now, in the course of Gilgamesh's solar journey through the twelve signs of the sun's annual passage through the year, we are moving forward through the ecliptic, from Taurus to Gemini to Cancer to Leo, etc."
  — by John David Ebert [read on]

• Jick's Journey
  
  This original 3-act comedy-adventure play is set in a mythical forest inhabited by archetypal creatures and one little girl, Jick, who journeys through dark woods on a quest to save the new day from Koubis, a fox, and Phisto, a serpent. Along the way, Jick meets Nerus, an otter who thinks himself a walrus; Aluna, an owl who must bargain with fools; Pheebes, an angry 'possum; Vlad, a depressed Romanian-speaking flea who lives on Pheebes; and, Seera, a firefly, who illuminates the night.
  — by Sally Drumm [read on]

• An Analysis of the Car Crash of James Dean, Together With a Consideration of His Transformation Into the God of Roads and Highways
  
  "In order to perform a myth, there must first be a prototype. Every archetype has a prototype, and Dean was the prototype of the man for whom the acceleration of his persona to light speed via celluloid was simply not fast enough. He desired the acceleration of his physical body to light speed."
  — by John D. Ebert [read on]
  
  

• A Tale of Elegua,
  Trickster God of Crossroads,
  Beginnings and Opportunities
  
  "Clothed in red and black, Elegua is the Guardian of the Crossroads of Life to the peoples of Nigeria, Benin and the Afro/Cuban practitioners of Santeria. Also known as Eshu, he sees in all directions and watches humanity, laughing at their weaknesses, encouraging their strengths. Whenever there are decisions to be made, Elegua provides opportunities and second chances —
  if you're lucky.
  — by Brenda Sutton [read on]
  
  

• Mrs. Bluebeard's Husbands:
  Horror's Renewed
  Masculine Image
  
  "The Bluebeard fairy tale, which had various versions in the oral tradition of folk tales, functions as a template for many modern narratives, in both subtle and clear-cut ways. Bluebeard figures prominently in the horror and thriller genres, and continues to be a compelling source of investigation for storytellers, even as the particular images of horror continue to change."
  — by Mitch Finn [read on]

• A Clockwork Pattern:
  Rites of Passage in
  Stanley Kubrick's
  "A Clockwork Orange"
  
  "What would Arnold van Gennep, the Belgian anthropologist who coined the term rite of passage, have to say about Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange? What would he make of the disturbing movie that Kubrick called a "psychological myth"? Surely he would notice that the movie follows the three-part pattern that he had discerned in the initiation ceremonies of indigenous peoples.
  — by Gershon Reiter [read on]
  
  

STORIES

• Changeling
  — Delia Sherman [read on]
  
  
• "The Hunter and His Son"
  — from The Waters of Life by Michael Meade [read on]
  
  
• Bluebeard
  — Charles Perrault [read on]
  
  
• The Ugly Duckling
  — Hans Christian Anderson
  [read on]
  
  

POEMS

• Fairy Tales for Writers: The Princess and the Pea
  — Lawrence Schimel [read on]
  
  
• Rite of Passage
  — Gwen Knighton [read on]
  
  
• Seven Ages of Man
  — William Shakespeare [read on]
  
  
• The Soldier Maid
  — Traditional [read on]
  
  

• Mythic Glossary:
  Changing Woman

Do you wish that you could have gone to the Human Forum this year?
Did you go and now wish that you could share what you heard with others?
Well then, we have good news for you!
Visit Conference Recording Services
to order tapes, DVDs and CDs from a life-changing event.

Filmmaker George Quasha will soon be releasing the Part II of the Myth Is DVD.

If you attended Mythic Journeys '06, you'll remember the documentary that played continuously outside the main programming room with marvelous thinkers like Michael Vannoy Adams, Rebecca Armstrong, Coleman Barks, Phil Cousineau, Meinrad Craighead, William Doty, Kristen Eckmann, James Flannery, Honora Foah, Matthew Fox, Ellen Hemphill, James Hillman, Sam Keen, Robin & Stephen Larsen, Margot McLean, Micheal Meade, Joyce Carol Oates, Ginette Paris, Laurie Patton, Huston Smith, Ulla Suokko and Robert Walter all speaking to the importance and understanding of myth in our modern world.

Part II includes interviews with 431 more amazing minds!

For the opportunity to view and order either one or both of these powerful documentaries, visit www.quasha.com.

If you haven't seen the
film trailer for the upcoming
documentary film project
on Mythic Journeys '06
by Imaginal Cells Inc...


...you should!

The Mythic Imagination Institute creates experiences that explore
— through art, hands-on activity
and inter-disciplinary conversation —
the mystery and metaphor inherent in myth and story.