Reverend Phil Parkinson

A Rites of Passage ceremony is a way of marking the fundamental  transitions  that we go through as human beings throughout the of the course of our lives.

 

Our modern society has lost many such traditional markers, and retains only christenings, twenty first birthdays, weddings and funerals.  But there are many more, like the onset of puberty, buying a house, getting a new job, moving on from addiction, stepping into and out of middle age, recovering from an illness, retirement, the move into elderhood and the coming of old age.

 

A Rites of Passage Ceremony would, of its' very nature, be filled with its' own mixture of regret for what is passing in your life, celebration of what is present now, and excitment at what might the future might hold.  

 

The big celebratory birthdays, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, are our main markers of such things, but usually, in being occasions for feasting and dancing, miss the real point of what is being celebrated, and the person whose birthday it is can end up feeling vaugely left out.  

 

A Rites of Passage Ceremony can bring a level of profundity to the occasion, and be a platform on which to say what really needs to be said.  It could also provide food for thought and treasured memories of a 'special time' with loved ones for the rest of your lives.