“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down just to feel its warmth.”
- African Proverb
rites of passage
With nature-based rite of passage experiences, we initiate soulful leaders for the next generation.
Once an integral part of village life, the rite of passage experience honored our children in their times of transition.
It marked and celebrated their journey as individuals and supported their return as initiated members of the community or tribe.
Our heart and soul is supporting kids to transition through adolescence in conscious, healthy, mentored and empowered ways.
OUR OFFERINGS
Coming of Age
For youth ages 12-14.
Puberty has arrived, as has the essential need to leave childhood behind and begin the task of adolescence: preparing to step into adulthood.
This is the classic rite of passage of separation from childhood and return as young adult.
Uniquely curated journeys designed for both boys and girls.
Please check out our statement on gender identity here.
Older teens
For youth ages 15-18.
For our young people who have already left childhood and are in the crucible of adolescence, our trips provide a supportive and also challenging setting for teens to ask their essential questions:
“Who am I?”
“Where and with whom do I belong?”
“What can I offer the world?”
Uniquely curated journeys designed for both boys and girls.
Queer RITES
For youth ages 14-18.
Queer Rites offers queer youth (LGTBQ2IA+) support, challenge, and mentoring so that they are able to answer the questions that matter to their emerging spirits:
“Who am I, beyond my roles, relationships, or vocation?
Where do I stand in the world?
Where and with whom do I belong?
What will I contribute to this world?
Boy’s Journeys
These journeys challenge our boys to develop into solid young men: heroes in their own life journeys.
For thousands of years, cultures around the world have relied on the wisdom of intentional rites of passage to awaken the mature masculine spirit within young boys.
By overcoming various ordeals, initiates bring back the inner resources and external skills that the community depends on for its continued vitality.
In the spirit of these ancient traditions, our rite of passage journeys offer our boys the opportunity to live, learn, and laugh in a supportive community of male mentors and peers. Far away from video games, mass media, and pressures of modern society, life slows down and begins to take on new meaning.
As participants sleep under the star-filled night sky, hike among ancient cedars, and dip in cold mountain streams, the rich inner life of a boy awakens. At journey’s end, each will bring home the exciting and important story of his own adventure, a greater sense of self-awareness, and new gifts to share with his family and his community.
Family Participation
The initiate’s family plays an important role in the Coming of Age Journey. On the first day of the trip, parents and guardians will send their children off and then spend some time exploring the changes that are happening in their child and in their family.
At the conclusion of our journey, parents and guardians take part in a program of reintegration. It is our intention that parents and young people alike will have the opportunity to see one another with new eyes.
Together in this way, we breathe new life into existing relationships, and explore the possibilities of what it means to be a family in the 21st century, with a new family member who is no longer a boy, but a young man.
This journey welcomes all who identify as male, trans boys, and non-binary youth, knowing this journey is an initiation through the male lens.
Please check out our welcome statement on gender identity here.
Not sure which trip is right for your youth? Contact Us and we’ll help figure it out.
girl’s journeys
These journeys of self-discovery build confidence and clarity for emerging young women.
We have a unique opportunity to celebrate and honor the changes our girls are experiencing at this point in life. Like generations of women before her, she will be welcomed into the larger community with a fuller understanding of the creative and visionary power inherent in her gifts as a woman.
With the support of a community of female mentors and peers, our young women begin to move through adolescence with a newfound confidence.
Our journeys encourage our girls to speak their truth and believe in their worth based on talents, skills and interests rather than on appearance, popularity or sexual appeal. Participants are physically, emotionally and spiritually stretched as they set out on a multi-day backpacking trip and 24-hour solo vigil.
The journey gives young women an extraordinary opportunity to challenge themselves as they move beyond self-imposed limitations, take on greater responsibility, and work cooperatively with others.
Set within the truly magical valleys and waterways of the Hamakua Coast on the big island of Hawaii, this program is designed to empower our young women to recognize and walk in the truth of their own spirit.
Family Participation
The initiate’s family plays an important role in The Coming of Age Journey. On the first day of the trip, parents and guardians send their child off, then spend time exploring the changes that are occurring in their daughter and in their family.
At the conclusion of our journey, parents and guardians take part in a program of reintegration. It is our intention that parents and young people alike will have the opportunity to see one another with new eyes.
Together in this way, we breathe new life into existing relationships, and explore the possibilities of what it means to be a family in the 21st century, with a new family member who is no longer a girl, but a young woman.
This journey welcomes all who identify as female, trans girls, and non-binary youth, knowing this journey is an initiation through the female lens.
Please check out our welcome statement on gender identity here.
Not sure which trip is right for your youth? Contact Us and we’ll help figure it out.