Creating Circles and Ceremonies: Rituals for All ... - reading...

154 Creating Circles & Ceremonies
Separation from the Mother
In some tribal societies, this was accomplished by a nighttime “kidnapping,” in which
several men of the boy’s family would sneak into his abode at night, bundle him up roughly
in his bedding, and carry him off. This would all be conducted in silence on the part of the
men, but if the boy cried out, the mother (who of course would be in on the whole thing)
would come out wailing something scripted like, “My baby! My baby! Don’t take my baby!”
Isolation and Disorientation
Following the “capture,” the boy is typically isolated from human contact for a time,
while remaining deprived of his normal senses. Sometimes a boy would be placed in a dark
room, blindfolded, and just left there for awhile, while some tribes would place the boy in a
small hole or cave for a period of time, covered over and in total darkness. Some modern
magickal groups will use a coffin for this purpose. The idea is to create a sense of both fear
and disorientation—and a symbolic brush with death.
Vision Quest
If time and circumstances permit, many tribal societies send a boy out on a vision quest
or “walkabout” during this phase. He is taken to some isolated spot, given a few basic tools,
such as a knife and fire-making tools, instructed to avoid human contact, and left alone for a
period of time (which may be as short as a few days or as long as a full lunation). He may be
expected to fast entirely, or to eat only what he can find in the wild. His assigned mission on
this quest is to make contact with his inner spirit, totems, and allies.
The Ordeal
There is often also a challenge and a “life-or-death” ordeal of some kind, requiring the
candidate to undertake a “leap of faith.” The ordeal typically entails something that is really
scary to the boy, but is carefully structured by the men so that it presents no real physical
danger. Such “leap of faith” ordeals might entail bungee jumping or leaping off a tall cliff
blindfolded. Of course, if a person is blindfolded, he has no way of knowing whether the cliff
he is jumping from is 30 feet high or only three feet. A “leap of faith” can be just as effective
from a small height as a great one, provided it is done convincingly and involves a long climb
upwards and voices coming from far below.
Other and perhaps less dramatic types of ordeals may, of course, be equally effective.
Emrys had to drum all night, without stopping or losing the beat, for a Walpurgisnacht ritual.
Joining the Company of Men
After successfully passing his ordeal, the candidate is then welcomed into the men’s
circle. This might include a sweat lodge ritual or other formal men’s ceremony. It might
happen as a part of a “Wild Men Weekend,” or a fire dance. For my son Zack, we held a sweat
and then brought him into a campfire circle where all the men were masked. We each told
stories of how we first became men—our own various “rites of passage.” For most of us, it
was our first sexual experience that was the threshold. This is a time when the young man
might be given a new name—a “man name” to replace his “boy name.”
In some tribes, if he’s old enough, the new initiate might at this time even be sent off to
a private hut where an experienced and willing young woman waited to give him a sexual
initiation. He might be blindfolded for this experience, or she might be masked. Or the hut
might just be totally dark, replete with with furs and cushions.
The Return
In the morning the young man is returned to his mother. He is proudly introduced to her
by his new name, and she is told that “We took from you a boy, and we return to you a man.”