Sacred Emergence: Initiation into Adulthood for Young Women

2019 Sacred Fire is warming up: Come join us!

Posted by Around the Fire Editor | Jan 16, 2019 | Hot News, January 2019 |

Mark your calendars, extend invitations to family and friends, make your travel plans! Fire Speaks and Light up Your Heart events are coming to Santa Monica and Mt. Tamalpais (CA, USA) in March, Asheville (NC, USA) in May and County Galway (Ireland) in June. In addition, Sacred Fire is hosting a Lifecycle Living exploration in Alice Springs (Australia) and a Ukalai Gathering for Women at the Blue Deer Center (NY, USA), both in March. Two more opportunities for Ukilái Annual Gathering of Men are also on the horizon: in Scotland in April and Utah in May. Do you feel called? We hope you will join us.

Women and Men in a World of Growing Conflict

Posted by Sherry Boatright | Dec 12, 2018 | December 2018, Edit for later use |

by Sherry Boatright, Sacred Fire Carrollton, Georgia (USA)

Over the last two years, I’ve been glued to online news media. It has become altogether a questionable habit as I find myself moving from one unsettling story to the next. I’m working to get a grip. The upside, though, is that I’ve also discovered great writers and compelling studies about what’s going on in the world, from climate change to local and global politics, from women’s and men’s issues to health and family life.

Take kids for instance. Years ago, Carol Gilligan showed that girls up until age 9 or 10 are confident and expressive of their feelings. But as they move into adolescence, they begin to hide their feelings for fear of not fitting in.

Now my newsfeed tells me that boys are also born with a great talent for emotional openness, but that in adolescence they begin developing their manhood and differentiate themselves from girls.

A Role for Initiated Young Women

Posted by Britt Espinosa | Dec 3, 2018 | December 2018, Event Landing Page |

“When I emerged from my own initiation three years ago, I wondered how the experience would continue to impact me. Naturally, the next two years unfolded how they were supposed to. By creating an intentional and ritual separation from my mother and my childhood, I created enough space to finally connect to my core and discover the essence of who I was as a woman. And I found that as I followed this deep, feminine, instinctual self, more and more opportunities and connections flowed naturally into my life.

Still, two years later, I had reached a point of feeling lost, disconnected from my life purpose, and unsure of what I had to offer the world. Serendipitously, I was invited to join the Sacred Emergence Initiation staff and hold space for the next group of young women during their initiation process. The experience of being on “the other side” not only helped me to reconnect deeply to the pace of the land and the warmth of true community, but it also allowed me to rediscover the gifts I already possessed and had to offer to the next generation of women. By helping those remarkable souls step into their womanhood, I simultaneously stepped deeper into mine. By giving back to the community that has selflessly supported me, I felt the roots of connection and the lineage of this particular initiation ritual growing deeper and deeper.”

Young Adult Initiation: An Alchemical Process

Posted by Around the Fire Editor | Oct 21, 2018 | Edit for later use, Youth and Elders |

Successful initiation into adulthood involves more than getting a driver’s license, reaching legal drinking age or completing school.

In humans, successful initiation into adulthood requires physical, mental, emotional and spiritual ingredients, and depends on more than a symbolic coming-of-age ceremony. Humans are born with a latent energy that stays dormant until certain conditions are met. There needs to be a particular readiness and then thoughtful preparation, up to a year or longer. Older adults and elders who understand the important movement from dependence to independence support the initiation process. The process is kind of like baking a cake: various ingredients are brought together in specific proportion, are then subjected to heat over a period of time and, if done correctly, are transformed into something new. Then with independence come responsibility, sacrifice, and the understanding that there are consequences to one’s actions. Initiation also provides a special gift: a greater understanding of life purpose, path and destiny. Deanna Jenne, ritual leader for Sacred Fire’s Sacred Emergence initiation for young women, speaks of “shining the diamond”, a term from Chinese medicine. “We help the young woman really know who she is.” David Wiley, ritual leader for young men’s initiation, adds that in an uncertain world, as autonomy sets in, mistakes will be made, yet making mistakes is a natural human phenomenon. “The key is learning from those mistakes, and how to move with them successfully.”For more information about Young Men’s Initiation
For more information about Young Women’s Initiation

Young Adult Initiation: The role of fathers

Posted by Britt Espinosa | Oct 18, 2018 | Event Landing Page, November 2018 |

A father wonders how to support his 10 year old daughter toward eventual ritual initiation into adulthood. David Wiley, elder and ritual leader, gave this answer:

“Traditionally, as a young woman is getting ready to emerge and move into the world and become more independent, the influence often moves from the mother to the father. So in some ways, the mother was there to produce the nest, hold the family, keep and teach about relationships. But when it comes to moving out into the world – “What is the world about? What am I going to encounter there?” – you often find that young women will exhibit separation energy through fights with their mothers. At this point it is common for them to look toward the father. Daughters want to hear from their father in a way that is confident, patient and reassuring. With my daughter, I could make my suggestions and let her be and she eventually picked up on the advice and could move with it.”

Event Type: Sacred Emergence: Initiation into Adulthood for Young Women

2019 Sacred Fire is warming up: Come join us!

Women and Men in a World of Growing Conflict

A Role for Initiated Young Women

Young Adult Initiation: An Alchemical Process

Young Adult Initiation: The role of fathers

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