One of the beautiful aspects of a flexible, growing, changing religion is its ability to meet the world where it is. Modern Pagan religions are, on the whole, adaptable: new ceremonies, liturgies, and customs arise as adherents encounter new patterns in contemporary life. One of the areas of Pagan religious practice in which this is most noticeable is Rites of Passage.
A Rite of Passage marks a life transition of some kind. Common Rites of Passage in mainstream culture include baby-blessing ceremonies, weddings, and funerals. However, there is a lot more to life than birth, marriage, and death. Our lives include so many gateways now: beginning school, onset of puberty, graduation from high school/entrance to college, weddings AND divorces, career changes, parenthood, relocations, changes in gender expression, home purchases, retirement, elderhood and more. All of these transitions in the course of a life can benefit from being celebrated, witnessed, and supported through ceremony.
Some themes that regularly occur in Rites of Passage within the broader Pagan diaspora are a recognition of what brought the subject to this transition point, a purification, an action of passage, a recognition of the new state of being, and blessings to move forward with. Continue reading…
