It has long been recognized by anthropologists, theologians, depth psychologists, and sociologists that the rites of passage are a vital element of our humanity. Yet, with considerably few exceptions, rites of passage events (socially recognized ceremonies) no longer exist in the Western European culture.

Still, our need to be guided and recognized as the constantly evolving initiands that we are remains in our psyche and seeks to be met, generatively or not.  Youth gang initiations and fraternity hazing are just two of the ways that the call to initiation is met.

TheJeita Grottois a karstic limestone cave outside of Beirut. She has been there, in the mountains of Lebanon since the Paleolithic era.

I first visited Jeita Grotto over sixteen years ago, and most recently, on Christmas day, 2010.

Currently one of the sites being voted for as one of the 7 Wonders of the World, it is one of my favorite places on the planet and the experience of standing in the womb of the earth is extraordinary, visceral and soul-stirring. 

Archetypally inspired writing will often speak of the cave as an expression of the Great Mother.

All the financial issues are cleared up. You get the job you wanted. The relationship issues are quiet and the kids are happy. Now what? Do we finally, at this point, begin to recognize that the outer dramas were only there to keep the inner life at bay?

Inner callings and the re-membering of distant urges and longings need solitude as a foundation. The mystics, the wise ones, the desert fathers all knew that solitude was the basis for hearing the whispers of the divine and being in communication with our own depths.

An archetype is not a thing that we can hold in our hands or point to out there in the world. An archetype is apattern of energythat can be recognized in nature and human psyche.

For example, the Trickster archetype can be expressed in addictions, the puer archetype can be expressed in the artist, and the Great Mother in depression. 

Archetypal energy is like a current in a river. We may not see it or understand its strength unless we enter the river and suddenly become aware of its pull on us.

Oh D'mba! The belly without child is like a cinder in the desert wind,

like a leaf in a bush-fire.

Oh D'mba! Goddess of fertility,

Oh D'mba! you who make the sap rise in the dust.

Here are my breasts, let them be the same as yours.

Here is my belly, that the sap of the Baga may continue to rise.

If you have read my web page you know that I have spent my entire adult life teaching dance, and with significant focus on West African dance. Over a decade ago, this verse of song from the Baga people that celebrates the D'mba symbol caught me and has not let me go.

The D’mba headdress of the Baga people of Guinea West Africa was first recognized and recorded by Europeans in 1886, yet definitive understanding of D'mba remains elusive.[i]There are several reasons for the enigma surrounding D’mba’s meaning and function. First, the Europeans that initially encountered her relied on the Susu people of the region to name and describe her. That is the reason why she is still referred to by the name of Nimba, which is the Susu word for “great spirit,” and why she is considered a “spirit” in the West.

To be possessed by the energy of an archetypal alignment is to stand subservient to its directive. We can see this when the archetype of the parent kicks in to save a child from a dangerous situation. We would stand in front of a train to save them! We can also see the power of the energy when we are in the throes of the addiction archetype - on our knees with desire for one more fix, or falling in love.

On December 20th, 2010 I began the twenty-four hour trip from New York State to Beirut, Lebanon. On the evening of the rare lunar eclipse that coincided with the Spring Equinox, suspended over the Atlantic ocean, I opened the pages of James Hollis',The Archetypal Imagination.

A few summers ago I went through a James Hollis book each week and by September I felt a little weary, heavy.

The Archetypal Imagination left me in a very different place. I was inspired and re-committed to the life of the symbolic.

Welcome to 2011! If you are like most, you made some resolutions for the upcoming new year. And, if you are like many, you will have forgotten about them come February.

Why is it we can be so determined to make those changes for ourselves one day and back to the same behaviors the next?

Patterns are deeply embedded in our psyches. Along the way we have gathered many associations that now defend those patterns. To create the shift we are searching for we need to begin the long and dedicated process of unraveling those associations.