Rites of Passage/Rights of Passage

Industrial society has subordinated the interests of the family to the interests of the economy. Once economics served social ends now society serves economic ends. The role of social education and acculturation is accomplished through the media and popular culture. The role of the community in traditional societies was to incorporate the technology for living (culture) in a series of classes or social experiences that were part of the educational system delivered through intensive experiential instruction at significant points in the social and physical development of community members.

Desire and duty
One of the most persistent and pronounced aspects of the human experience is the urge that facilitates procreation. On the one hand there is the spark that creates the flame that we call desire. On the other hand there is the patient tending of the relationship, the gentle stoking of the fires, the consistent feeding of the flames that sustains it that we call duty. Differences in expectation between cultures results from varying arrangements and approaches to acknowledging, addressing and responding to these two important aspects of the human experience. The grand design and purpose of both impulses serve to ensure propagation and continuation of the species. Each society due to unique environmental or emotional conditions, circumstances and needs adopts an approach and expression that best supports it. Knowing the role and responsibility in that dance is conveyed to community members through rites of passage.

Infatuation and obligation

There has been much research that is slowly catching up with the ancient wisdom that guided traditional societies. One area is in the science of the mind. The modern world is a manifestation of European culture. This cultural orientation is profoundly shaped by an experience called "the enlightenment." The basic orientation of this worldview is low context. In cultural terms it translates into individualization of relations (social, economic, etc.). The cultural kernel that was embedded in social relations of Europe prior to the enlightenment survived the protestant reformation. The low context worldview propagated by the enlightenment combined with the per-enlightenment binary cultural focus  allowed for the elevation of values like greed and self-interest to the exclusion or deprecation of values like sharing and collective interest.

The Enlightenment era was ushered in by objections to corruption of the Catholic Church. The desire to command and control, extract and exploit, created conditions where religion was used for secular purposes. While the church extolled the divinity of the head of the church, the Pope, accounts of the person in that role both promoting and indulging behavior and values that were antithetical to the professed religious values of the church. This behavior by church officials were common and rife up and down the church hierarchy. Violation of vows of celibacy and selling of indulgences, among other major and minor moral violation, were so rife within all levels of the church hierarchy that the protest movement against it, whose start is usually attributed to Martin Luther, resulted in the creation of a new religious Christian tradition, the Protestant movement. Those challenges to religious authority extended to secular and scientific authority and an examination of biblical based understanding of the world. However, this moral response did not root out the cultural kernel that made such behavior acceptable and desirable.

When faced with choices like "do I pursue that which I am fascinated with even when it conflicts with my obligation?" our worldview based on our values provides the answer. For low context individualistic cultures like modern (European) cultures, individual needs and satisfaction are held to be the highest value. For high context collectivist cultures like many traditional (non-European) cultures, collective needs and collective agreements are held to be the highest value. That does not mean that in either case the tug of infatuation won't be present. It also doesn't define or limit the range of emotional responses to infatuation. But it does determine and limit the range of behaviors one might engage in as a response to the infatuation.

Carnal/Lust and Caring/Love
The role of rites of passage is designed to lift up the ancient worldview and perspective we see reflected in the writings of Kemet. The role of education is designed to prepare members of society for appropriate and effective behavioral responses and promote the appropriate beliefs that support desired values. Inappropriate behavior is considered a failure of education not a failure of character. While it is not described in this way, popular culture educates a society in what is right and what is wrong. The images and ideas conveyed through media and formal educational processes also promote and provide behavior and values.

The low context thinking that characterizes european culture divides our lived experience in a way where we can only be one thing. We are horny or we are holy. We divide our physical expression of attraction that is mediated through hormones from our emotional expression of caring through compassion and caring. But what is love and how did it get conflated with lust? 

We love our parents, our siblings and our children (for example). But that has nothing to do with sexuality. It is all about sociality. When we say we "love" it speaks to affection not necessarily attraction. The two are not mutually exclusive. But neither are they mutually inclusive. Also, they can be present serially. The sexual attraction that is sometimes referred to as love is a product of the limbic brain system. It is automatic and often considered autonomic. But with training and conditioning that is part of a structured program, such as a rites of passage, and with reinforcement and support from society, our physical reactions can be mediated or provided the meaning that we determine. 

Of course, we may not be able to control our physical reaction but we can interpret its emotional significance and the appropriate response. You get a warm feeling and are appreciative of the sexual energy of a friend or associate. What is the appropriate emotional response to the physical activation? Whether you think "I want to get some of that" or whether you think "someone will be lucky to be with them" depends significantly on our cultural conditioning and what is deemed appropriate. We see this as part of the concept of "taboo" in more traditional cultures. But even in modern european culture and society the practice of sexual activity between immediate family members, i.e., incest, is considered taboo. Active and intentional socialization provides direction for society and guidance for individuals. 

 The role and need for intentional informal socialization that is provided by rites of passage programs
is real and present. It is lacking due to a general commodification of most aspects of capitalist consumer culture. The home is the first school and the care givers are the first teachers. In order to support the vision and values we hold for community and as a community, rites of passage are essential. They provide new entrants with the  "rights" of passage into a new social role. May it be so.

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Hidden purpose/Exposed intent/Prostate Radiation Treatment

Life is messy. We would like to imagine it all squeaky clean with each hair in place. But ideas and experiences are birthed like newborn babies. We like to think of them handed to us neatly wrapped in a blanket. But really the ideas and experiences of life emerge from pain and effort covered in piss and shit just like babies. But they are full of potential and possibilities.

They ask that I show up for treatment with empty rectum and full bladder. So I drank prune juice before bed and am up drinking water so my bladder will be full. Waiting on bowel movement. That is how I begin my day for the next month. Start with piss and shit but full of potential.

 This same duality is a feature of our lived experience. The binary/low context orientation of euro-culture would have us think that the way we should experience things is as distinct, "pure," and abstracted from all the contextual factors that contribute to and create our experience.

I am making a distinction between "duality" and "binary." I am using duality as a noun and in its sense where it reflects "interchangeability"  or the equivalence of two seemingly different things. I am using "binary" as a verb in its sense where it reflects two mutually exclusive conditions. 

We see this concept of non-binary duality in conditions and circumstances such as:

 System change = self change

Biomimicry = Nature Culture

Fractals = As above, so below

Inelligent Design/Divine Design = chaos theory

mundane = divine

secular = sacred

dialectical = Tao



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Mindfulness as a waking, walking meditation

According to Maxwell Maltz (1960) there are behaviors that contribute to a "success-type personality." He developed an acronym as a mnemonic or easy way of remembering the elements of the behaviors:

S = sense of direction
U = understanding
C = courage
E = esteem
S = self confidence
S = self-acceptance

He provides additional explanation on how each of these elements contributes to accomplishing or having a "successful" life. He states that "(t)he reason .... that a man does not simply 'find' success or 'come to' failure (is that) ....  (h)e carries their seeds around in his personality and character" (p.102)

This viewpoint is of the social construction variety. We create the social world we live in by our actions and attitudes.  Our actions contribute to what happens. Our attitudes contribute to how we feel about that happens. A basic element of his prescription for success is to focus on the process not the product. Being successful is differentiated from wanting to be a success. Maltz suggests that success is hidden in the process of becoming rather than embedded in the state of "being."

"S" or Sense of direction is related to the idea that we are happiest when we are attempting to do something or engaging in an experience. Maltz says that the human animal is a "goal-seeking mechanism." We are happiest when we are busiest working on a project or doing something which "means something." He gives a nod to concept of "flow" without ever mentioning the word when he suggests that "(w)hen you are not goal-striving, not looking forward, you're not really 'living' ."(p. 102) This immersion in goal seeking is what I am suggesting is akin to 'flow' where you are absorbed in what you are doing.

But I sat down today to peck out a hunk of what Maltz has to say about the second element of the success personality. "U" or understanding is listed second. I don't think he necessarily intended to list them in order of importance just providing meanings to correspond to the letters in the work 'success."

"U" is understainding. Maltz says that:(u)nderstanding depends upon good communication. Communication is vital to any guidance system or computer. You cannot react appropriately if the information you act upon is faulty or misunderstood. Many doctors believe that "confusion" is the basic element in neurosis To deal effectively with a problem, you must have some understanding of its true nature. Most of our failures in human relations are due to "misunderstandings." (p.105)

The idea of understanding is further explained to include the idea that (w)e expect people to react and respond and come to the same conclusions as we do from a given set of "facts" or 'circumstances.' " Maltz reminds us that he had mentioned earlier in the book that people don't react to things "as they are" but rather as we see them to be based on our own perspective, perceptions and conclusions. This is very similar to the concepts propounded in the Landmark Forum which some have characterized as a cult or commercial scam. However, counsels "there is what happened and then there is the story we tell about what happened." This is very similar to maxim shared by Maltz but also consistent with existential thought and social constructionism.

Other aspects of understanding include being able to differentiate fact from fiction. An example used is a husband who cracks his knuckles and his wife who concludes that he does it only to annoy her. The experience is explained as the wife is making the assumption that the husband is deliberately trying to annoy her  which are fiction. But her assumption affects her experience of the situation and results in her choosing to be annoyed by the imaginary intent of the husband. We make other assumptions about the intentions of others with similar results. Also, being willing to see the truth is another element of "understanding" is to "be willing to see the truth." This is meant that honesty with ourselves and with others is necessary for true understanding. It sort of suggests that if you have an incorrect (false) diagnosis of the problem it will result in a incorrect (false) prescription for the solution. A suggested attitude in this regard is "it doesn't matter who's right, but what's right."

These first two steps are preliminary but important. While we have been talking about these concepts applied on a personal basis they are also relevant when we look at collective behavior. There are behaviors that groups adopt that reflect these same problems or their corrective principles. Healing ourselves emotionally is the purpose and intent of these ideas. Change the frame and change the future.




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One World, One Aim, One Destiny

"If inner-city blacks are experiencing the greatest problems of joblessness, it is a more extreme form of economic marginality that has affected most Americans since 1980. .... solutions to problems of economic marginality in this country including those that stem from changes in the global economy; can go a long way toward addressing the problems of inner-city joblessness, especially if the application of resources includes wise targeting to the groups most in need of help. Discussions that emphasize common solutions to commonly shared problems promote a sense of unity, regardless of the different degrees of severity to which these problems afflict certain groups. Such messages bring races together, not apart, and are especially important during periods of racial tension. In comparison with the rhetoric highlighting racial divisions, however, messages promoting interracial unity have been infrequent and are generally ignored by the media." William Julius Wilson, (1997). When Work Disappears. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.


Wilson made an observation regarding public policy, public media and public perceptions that is both profound and commonplace. The role of racial rhetoric (grounded in White Supremacist ideology) in the political economy of America, the West is oft cited, well-known and axiomatic except for those who are most impoverished by its its effect. The power of dreams in the minds of those with the least to lose and the most to gain can be counter-productive and their role counter-intuitive. The assertion that racism has been the fulcrum used by the rich (which some might think includes people like Oprah Winfrey and the two Michaels - Jackson and Jordan) and the wealthy (which is clearly mostly male and virtually all White - - - in America) to keep the poor (both Black and White) in their place is both bold and pedestrian. Who can deny it, disprove it or debate it?


Many historians point to one hundred years before the hallowed American revolution for freedom and justice in 1776 to Bacon's Rebellion in colonial Virginia in 1676 as the trigger for the institution of chattel slavery for people of African descent in America. Prior to Bacon's Rebellion both Whites and Blacks were subjected to indentured servitude where they would give their labor for a prescribed number of years before being released to live as free (though often impoverished) men and women. However, the response to Black and White indentured servants joining together in an uprising against landowners triggered the faithful decision to divide and conquer the poor by relegating Blacks to chattel slaves and Whites to wage slaves. The unequal treatment of Blacks and Whites was evident in the 1640 decision resulting from Bacon's Rebellion where three indentured servants ran away. When recaptured the two Whites had their term of service extended a few years. The Black indentured servant, named John Punch, was sentenced to 'serve his master or his assigns for the time of his natural life.'


We see a distinction made in law that came to be a part of the cultural consciousness of America. Though you may be opressed and downtrodden, if you were of European descent you are viewed as having more rights than someone of African descent. Enshrined in law this became enshrined in the general consciousness of both Blacks and Whites. Then the wheels of social replication began to turn with Blacks relegated to lower status jobs, positions and places in society and the economy. This reinforced the role and place of both Blacks and Whites to the point where we have fallen into a trance and unthinkingly mimic our prescribed roles. However, this form of subjection and dominance was based on greed and the need to fuel the economic base with labor. Now with globalization the impact of this attitude has hit both those on the bottom of the political economy as well as those in the middle. With cheap foreign labor satisfying the need for production the White middle class is shrinking.

For American society this has resulted in the declining significance of race; not because Blacks are doing relatively better but because no-elite Whites are doing increasingly worse.







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