Rites of Passage

"Most rites of passage fall into three main phases: separation, transition, and incorporation. In the separation phase, the participant is taken away from his/her familiar environment and former role and enters a very different and sometimes foreign routine...The transition phase is the time that the participant learns the appropriate behavior for the new stage they are entering...The last phase, incorporation, takes place when the participant is formally admitted into the new role.."//teacherlink

"Our programs are hard work. Heart-work, and soul-work is not easy, and it brings with it surprises that you never expected, commitments that are difficult to achieve, and personal discipline. "//ropj

"Through ritual forms they take living people and in a symbolic sense cause them to "die" and be "reborn" as new kinds of individuals, shedding old, used-up selves so new ones can take their place. Not only are they given a new status but they will also have experienced inner changes to their sense of identity."//DR