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Initiations and
Vision
Quests
(From:
‘Earth
People’
Volume
1
Number
2
)
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Playing:
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Man'
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Sitting
Owl
for
a
copy
Today
we
hear
a
lot
about
initiations,
vision
quests,
and
rites
of
passage,
but
what
are
we
really
seeking
from
these
ancient
rituals?
Many
people
will
say
they
are
seeking
enlightenment,
but
what
is
enlightenment?
I
believe
that
if
these
rituals
and
ceremonies
are
properly
conducted
with
the
same
amount
of
wisdom
and
compassion
that
the
tribal
elders
used,
then
they
can
in
fact
give
people
what
they
are
seeking.
One
could
say
we
are
not
looking
for
a
meaning
for
life,
but
an
experience
of
the
rapture
of
being
alive,
which
can
only
come
with
a
transformation
of
consciousness.
“People
say
that
what
we
are
seeking
is
a
meaning
for
life.
“I
don’t
think
that’s
what
we
are
really
seeking.
I
think
what
we
are
seeking
is
an
experience
of
being
alive,
so
that
life’s
experiences
on
the
physical
plain
will
have
resonances
within
our
innermost
being
and
reality,
so
that
we
feel
the
rapture
of
being
alive.”
(Joseph
Campbell
–
‘The
Power
of
Myth’)
It
seems
that
during
our
daily
and
personal
activities
most
people
have
lost
the
experience
of
the
sacredness
and
the
wonders
of
life.
The
actions
of
eating,
going
to
work,
taking
the
kids
to
school,
driving
a
car
and
even
making
love
have
all
become
robotic
and
automatic
habits;
living
out
of
our
cellular
memory
rather
than
conscious
choices.
Initiations,
rituals,
spirituality,
mythological
stories,
and
enlightenment
are
all
about
that
transformation
of
consciousness,
from
a
robotic,
mechanical
existence
to
one
of
being
truly
alive.
This
is
where
all
things
and
actions
shine,
so
we
can
see
the
rapture
and
wonders
of
life
everywhere
and
in
everything.
Steve
Bidduph's
book,
‘Manhood’,
is
not
just
an
action
plan
for
changing
men's
lives,
but
as
many
women
have
found,
who
have
read
the
book,
it
changes
their
lives
as
well,
for
the
better.
Mr.
Biddulph
writes:
“The
men's
movement
already
has
an
image
of
harking
back
to
idealised
older
times,
of
primitive
tribal
gimmicks
and
rituals....
Ancient
man
was
an
environmentalist
who
knew
how
to
thrive
in
the
natural
world
in
a
sustainable
way...
The
men's
movement
is
very
interested
in
the
bonding
rituals,
the
symbols,
the
initiation
rites
and
the
guiding
metaphors
from
ancient
times.
We
are
scavenging
for
tools
that
we
can
use
to
make
the
future."
Joseph
Campbell
calls
this
psychological
transformation,
which
everyone
must
undergo,
the
'Hero
Adventure'.
This
is
where
a
hero
or
heroine
finds
or
does
something
beyond
the
normal
range
of
experience.
There
are
three
stages
to
this
adventure,
and
they
are:
1.
Leaving
home
or
separation
from
all
that
is
familiar.
2.
The
frightening,
difficult,
but
exhilarating
journey
often
helped
by
unexpected
and
mystical
allies;
facing
fears
and
a
new
way
of
consciousness;
and
when
the
boundaries
of
the
old
limited
awareness
fade
and
the
new
possibilities
merge.
3.
Returning
as
apparently
the
same
person,
but
forever
changed.
This
is
where
a
deed
has
been
achieved.
The
deed
comes
in
two
forms.
It
is
either
a
courageous
act
of
saving
a
life
or
lives,
going
through
a
physical
or
psychological
ordeal,
or
it
is
a
spiritual
deed
of
coming
back
from
spirit
realms
with
a
message
that
can
help
humanity
or
society
in
some
profound
way.
Vision
quests
are
also
heroic
deeds
or
journeys
that
are
taken
to
reach
the
spiritual
realms
and
to
gain
enlightening
information,
which
will
help
you
to
know
your
spiritual
path
and
know
how
to
stay
on
that
path
in
your
physical
life.
Traditionally,
the
vision
quest
takes
place
in
a
small,
designated
area
set
aside
in
the
forest,
in
the
bush,
in
a
man-made
lodge,
or
in
a
cave
or
high
plateau
for
up
to
four
days
and
nights
without
food
or
water.
The
purpose
of
this
type
of
quest
is
to
empty
oneself
of
ego
and
open
to
the
Creator
through
prayer
and
giving
thanks
to
all
of
creation
for
the
gifts
and
lessons
which
have
been
given
so
far
in
one's
life.
One
asks
for
a
vision
and
help
on
the
path
to
become
a
better
human
being
and
for
guidance
in
the
next
steps
of
life
on
that
path.
In
the
ancient
tribal
societies,
the
males
went
through
an
ordeal
that
taught
them
what
it
was
to
be
an
adult
male,
and
to
protect
the
social
order
of
life.
This
ordeal
usually
left
the
initiates
with
some
form
of
physical
scaring
that
would
remind
them
forever
of
their
new
status
with
the
male
ranks
of
society.
There
were
often
further
scaring
(or
in
some
cases
tattooing)
to
acknowledge
other
shifts
of
consciousness
and
other
rites
of
of
passage
that
came
later.
The
females
also
went
through
an
initiation,
beginning
at
the
time
of
her
first
menses,
(or
"Moon
Time")
where
she
was
made
to
sit
in
a
little
hut
for
the
duration
of
menstruation,
to
realise
what
she
was.
Joseph
Campbell
writes:
"She
is
now
a
woman.
And
what
is
a
woman?
A
woman
is
the
vehicle
of
life....
Woman
is
what
it
is
all
about
-
giving
birth
and
the
giving
of
nourishment....
And
she
has
got
to
realise
that
about
herself.
The
boy
does
not
have
a
happening
of
this
kind,
so
he
has
to
be
turned
into
a
man
and
voluntarily
become
a
servant
of
something
greater
than
himself."
[He
becomes
a
member
of
society.
Ed.]
I
could
go
on
and
on,
describing
and
explaining
initiations
and
heroic
deeds,
but
my
main
point
is
to
explain
how
every
act
of
life
is
a
heroic
adventure.
Otto
Rank
has
said
that
everyone
is
a
hero
in
birth.
Here,
there
is
tremendous
psychological
and
physical
transformation,
from
a
water
creature
living
in
amniotic
fluid
to
becoming
an
air-breathing
mammal.
Even
the
mother
in
the
act
of
giving
birth,
is
performing
a
heroic
deed
by
giving
life
to
another.
How
many
of
these
heroic
deeds,
in
our
society
today,
are
being
recognised
and
celebrated
in
the
way
of
our
tribal
ancestors?
Do
entire
communities
come
to
celebrate
each
and
every
one
of
these
transformations
of
consciousness?
Do
they
compel
each
new
mother,
child
or
initiate
to
feel
like
a
hero
by
honouring
him
or
her
for
numerous
days
and
making
really
feel
like
the
centre
of
the
world?
In
male
tribal
initiations,
the
whole
society
recognised
the
initiate
was
now,
and
always
would
be,
a
mature
adult,
and
everyone
treated
them
as
such,
thus
making
it
impossible
for
the
person
to
revert
back
to
the
old
childish
ways
of
life.
How
often
in
today's
society
do
you
see
someone,
say
a
criminal,
go
through
a
transformation
and
begin
a
new
and
healthier
way
of
life,
only
to
gradually
slide
back
into
his
or
her
old
habits?
I
find
it
also
ironic
that
in
nature
and
in
the
traditional
tribal
societies
there
is
no
such
thing
as
adolescence
or
youth;
that
is
not
in
the
teachings
of
the
Medicine
Wheel
either.
In
nature
and
in
the
traditional
societies
it
is
through
these
rites
of
passage
that
the
children,
when
psychologically
ready,
are
transformed
into
adults.
This
youth
consciousness
that
is
created
by
our
society
having
reduced
or
neglected
these
ancient
rites
of
passage
is
a
hazing,
unguided;
neither
child-like,
nor
adult
like
consciousness
that
I
have
seen
last
into
some
men's
old
age.
And
dare
I
say,
is
one
that
has
overtaken
our
society
with
it's
idealisation
of
the
rich
and
famous.
It
would
seem
our
current
economic,
industrialised
society
doesn't
have
the
time
to
give
it's
members
this
experience
of
being
truly
accepted
and
honoured
as
a
human
at
these
crucial
times
of
transformations
of
consciousness.
As
a
result,
our
society
is
full
of
inhuman
acts
toward
each
other;
murder,
rape,
child
abuse;
toward
the
self
in
various
addictions
to
substances
and
activities
which
are
an
attempt
to
gain
a
surrogate
or
defacto
recognition
of
these
heroic
adventures;
and
to
the
planet
and
'All
Our
Relations'.
Rites
of
Passage
and
Rites
of
Passage
Gone
Wrong
Inspired
by
and
including
the
writings
of
David
Tacey,
a
doctor
of
Philosophy
at
Latrobe
University.
(From:
‘Earth
People’
Volume
2
Number
6
)
This
subject
can
also
be
called
“The
Hero
Adventure”,
and
is
related
to
another
article
I
have
written
called
‘Suffering
and
Compassion
or
Sacrifice
and
Bliss’.
In
Volume
1
Number
2
of
‘Earth
People’,
I
wrote
a
brief
introduction
on
this
VERY
IMPORTANT
aspect
of
life
in
my
article
‘Initiations
and
Vision
Quests’
(above).
It
is
so
important
that
Joseph
Campbell’s
first
book
that
he
wrote,
‘The
Hero
with
a
Thousand
Faces’,
was
solely
on
this
subject.
And
it
is,
in
fact,
the
beginning
of
all
life,
as
we
are
all
heroes
in
our
birth;
and
the
seeking
of
a
spiritual
understanding
of
life
that
often
comes
around
middle
age
is
another
of
the
major
hero
adventures
that
we
experience
during
the
passage
through
a
lifetime.
I
recently
read
two
articles
on
this
subject
that
appeared
in
respected
journals
written
by
David
Tacey,
a
doctor
of
Philosophy
at
Latrobe
University.
I
was
amazed
to
see
that
these
articles
appeared
in
1995
and
1997/8,
and
if
read
and
understood
by
society,
it
could
solve
possibly
all
of
our
problems,
yet
today
the
problems
still
persist.
All
I
can
say
is;
is
anybody
listening
out
there?
To
refresh
your
memory
of
my
previous
article
or
to
give
a
brief
overview
to
those
who
have
not
read
it,
the
main
points
are
as
follows.
Joseph
Campbell
calls
this
psychological
transformation,
which
everyone
must
undergo,
the
"Hero
Adventure."
This
is
where
a
hero
or
heroine
finds
or
does
something
beyond
the
normal
range
of
experience.
There
are
three
stages
to
this
adventure,
and
they
are:
1.
Leaving
home
or
separation
from
all
that
is
familiar.
2.
The
frightening,
difficult,
but
exhilarating
journey
often
helped
by
unexpected
and
mystical
allies;
facing
fears
and
a
new
way
of
consciousness;
and
when
the
boundaries
of
the
old
limited
awareness
fade
and
the
new
possibilities
merge.
3.
Returning
as
apparently
the
same
person,
but
forever
changed.
This
is
where
a
deed
has
been
achieved.
The
deed
comes
in
two
forms.
It
is
either
a
courageous
act
of
saving
a
life
or
lives,
going
through
a
physical
or
psychological
ordeal,
or
it
is
a
spiritual
deed
of
coming
back
from
spirit
realms
with
a
message
that
can
help
humanity
or
society
in
some
profound
way.
The
rites
of
passage
then,
are
the
celebrations
that
Lynn
Andrews
speaks
about
in
her
article,
‘Rebirth
of
the
Self
Lodge’
(Not
published
yet).
They
are
the
celebrations
within
the
whole
community
of
these
returns
from
the
hero
adventures,
and
the
recognition
of
the
shared
importance
of
the
revelations
with
which
each
individual
hero
has
returned.
It
is
this
return
that
David
Tacey
points
out
in
his
two
articles,
‘Rites
and
Wrongs
of
Passage’
and
‘Youth
Spirituality
and
Authenticity’,
saying
that
the
return
often
doesn’t
happen;
and
he
connects
this
phenomena
to
society’s
drug
problems.
And
the
following
is
a
summery
of
‘Rites
and
Wrongs
of
Passage’,
which
describe
the
main
points
in
that
article:
‘Rites
and
Wrongs
of
Passage’
Rites
of
passage,
which
are
the
soul’s
evolution
by
incremental
changes
in
consciousness,
involve:
Separation
from
the
existing,
limited
awareness
(Childish).
Transition
into
a
hazing
period.
Return
of
the
self
into
a
big
picture
awareness
(Maturity).
(See
also
Joseph
Campbell’s
‘The
Hero
Adventure’
above.)
1.
If
culture
does
not
help
young
people
come
to
terms
with
age
related
changes
in
personal
orientation,
then
the
soul
itself
is
forced
to
carry
the
burden
of
transformation.
2.
If
culture
and
society
do
not
actually
respect
or
conduct
life
cycle
rituals,
then
the
initiatory
process
will
take
place
anyway,
despite
the
absence
of
formal
recognition.
3.
Today’s
undirected
self-initiations
remain
problematical
precisely
because
they
lack
the
guiding
hand
of
cultural
wisdom
and
informed
adults.
4.
When
the
soul
gives
the
urge
for
change
it
does
not
provide
the
rational
understanding,
the
culture
is
supposed
to
do
that.
5.
Young
people
are
thrown
back
on
themselves,
and
they
cannot
always
be
expected
to
respond
positively
to
the
archetypal
dictates
and
urges
of
the
soul,
especially
when
these
urges
remain
unconscious
and
are
presented
to
the
ego
or
conscious
mind
in
symbolic
and
non
rational
form.
6.
Ad
hoc
attempts
at
initiation
can
get
stuck
in
not
being
fully
realised
and
experienced,
because
the
urges
of
the
soul
are
misunderstood
and
even
condemned
and
opposed
by
society
at
large.
So
young
people,
charged
by
youthful
idealism,
rebellion
and
the
natural
deep
urge
of
the
soul
can
be
caught
in
being
forced
to
frequently
act
it
out
in
negative
re-occurring
cycles
such
as
risk
taking
behaviour
and
drug
addiction.
Given
some
of
these
insights
by
David
Tacey,
the
real
reasons
for
drug
addiction
can
be
more
easily
understood,
by
exploring
the
effects
of
the
rites
of
passage
denied
in
the
next
section.
Drug
Addiction
and
the
Rites
of
Passage
Denied
The
evolutionary,
sacred
urges
of
the
soul
are
relegated
to
the
profane
and
sordid
margins
of
social
experience,
because
modern
culture
has
failed
to
address
a
basic
primal
urge,
the
need
for
ecstasy
and
transcendence.
The
rites
of
passage
incorporate
ecstasy
as
the
new
frequency
of
enlarged
awareness.
This
enlarged
awareness
is
not
wanted
by
the
adult
world,
which
sets
about
to
limit
it,
and
in
so
doing
creates
sickness
of
the
soul
in
its
young
people.
Rites
of
passage
thwarted
by
society
create
pathological
behaviour
in
its
young
people.
Society’s
drug
prohibition
efforts
have
failed
because
they
do
not
address
the
deeper
issue,
the
urge
of
the
soul,
which
is
the
propelling
energy
and
why
young
people
take
drugs.
1.
Drugs
serve
to
separate
them
from
normal
society,
into
the
sense
of
being
an
outsider,
participating
in
an
illegal
activity.
This
fulfils
the
soul’s
need
for
separation,
even
if
it
is
only
psychological,
and
not
physical
or
spiritual.
2.
Drugs
create
a
transition
away
from
normal
conscious
reality
into
a
hazing
between
what
was
the
old
awareness
and
what
the
new
soul
perception
experiences.
This
reinforces
to
the
soul
the
fact
that
the
journey
has
begun
with
a
real
sense
of
transition
because
of
departure
from
the
old
existing
awareness.
3.
In
the
transition
phase,
young
people
find
that
drugs
dissolve
the
boundaries
of
the
former
self.
And
they
encounter
a
hazing,
which
releases
them
from
the
confined
consciousness
they
were
trying
to
separate
themselves
from,
and
into
an
ecstasy
and
a
wider
ecstatic
experience
which
links
them
to
the
bigger
picture
of
themselves
and
the
world.
This
“high”
satisfies
the
urge
of
the
soul
for
transition.
4.
The
return
stage
of
the
soul’s
journey
is
marred
by
the
nightmare
of
a
return
into
an
imperfect
world,
which
rejects
their
soul’s
experience
of
ecstasy.
Rather
than
society
understanding,
acknowledging
and
assisting
them
into
the
process
to
integrate
this
new
awareness,
it
exiles
them
further
as
criminal
outsiders.
5.
The
return
stage,
in
many
instances
never
happens
because
of
cultural
prejudice
and
hostility.
Permanently
and
psychologically
exiled
from
society
and
the
opportunity
to
develop
a
new
mature
self,
these
young
people
seek
that
which
satisfies
them
the
most,
the
“high”
of
ecstasy,
the
place
where
their
soul
felt
good.
6.
Young
people
return
to
the
hazing
stage
and
remain
stuck
in
it
by
habits
of
addiction
to
kill
the
emotional
pain
of
depression
resulting
in
dissatisfaction
with
the
world
and
their
immediate
relationship
to
it.
Adults,
rather
than
treating
them
as
people
on
a
hero’s
journey,
reinforce
the
return
to
the
hazing
by
rejection.
This
rejection
creates
soul
sickness.
7.
The
new
awareness,
still
trapped
in
transition,
has
no
opportunity
to
return,
and
is
not
given
the
practical
opportunities
to
grow
into
a
new
self
by
lack
of
place,
purpose,
position
and
fulfilment
in
society.
Having
departed,
the
soul
cannot
return
and
complete
the
cycle,
and
so
engages
indefinitely
in
repeated
attempts
to
dissolve
the
self
in
drugs
or
suicide.
The
only
remedy
from
this
is
cultural
awareness,
understanding
and
assistance
in
the
return
phase
of
rites
of
passage.
So
maybe
now
you
can
see
why
I
feel
it
is
so
important
for
society
to
understand
and
implement
any
and
all
of
the
mythological
messages,
which
are
actually
all
the
same
message.
And
all
mythologies
contain
this
pedagogical
function,
which
includes
these
rites
of
passage
for
youth,
as
well
as
other
rites
of
passage.
As
I
have
pointed
out
in
the
article
‘Dreams,
Mythology
and
Symbolism’
of
Volume
1
Number
3,
myths
serve
four
functions,
which
are:
1/
The
Mythical
Function.
Realising
the
wonder
of
the
universe,
and
the
wonder
of
yourself
as
a
living
symbol
of
the
Creator.
Also
that
behind
the
surface
of
the
forms
of
the
world
there
is
a
mystery
that
somehow
supports
the
surface
physical
world.
“If
mystery
is
manifest
through
all
things,
the
universe
becomes,
as
it
were,
a
holy
picture.
You
are
always
addressing
the
transcendent
mystery
through
the
conditions
of
your
actual
world.”
2/
The
Cosmological
Dimension.
This
is
today
the
concern
of
science,
to
show
the
shape
and
nature
of
the
universe
and
it
is
this
aspect
that
changes
according
a
societies
understanding
of
the
world.
Early
societies
related
this
to
the
visible
world
of
the
sun,
moon,
and
seasons.
But
cosmology
and
structure
of
the
world
must
be
shown
in
a
way
that
allows
the
mystery
and
the
experience
of
awe
to
still
come
through.
3/
The
Sociological
Function.
Where
the
myth
is
supporting
and
validating
a
certain
social
order.
This
is
where
myths
vary
from
one
place
to
another
and
from
one
culture
to
another.
According
to
Joseph
Campbell,
it
is
this
function
that
has
taken
over
in
our
current
world,
and
is
out
of
date,
in
all
the
pages
and
pages
of
rules
on
how
to
behave
and
what
you
should
wear
etc.
4/
The
Pedagogical
Function.
This
is
the
function
that
everyone
must
try
to
relate
to,
and
gain
from
the
wisdom
of
nature,
realising
the
brotherhood
we
have
with
plants,
animals,
minerals
and
all
living
beings
of
the
universe.
This
function
of
myths
is
the
one
that
can
teach
us
how
to
live
a
human
lifetime
under
any
circumstances,
as
it
teaches
us
the
stages
of
life
from
birth
through
maturity
and
death
to
rebirth.
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