Ritual

The Menstuff® library lists pertinent books on Ritual - Initiation and Ritual - General. See Ritual - Visions Quests separately. See also books on adolescence, mentoring, issues on fathers & daughters, fraternities, and publications New Moon Girl. Updated 1/17/01.

Ritual - Initiation

• Alli, Antero, All Rites Reversed: Ritual technology for self-initiation, Vigilantero, 1986
• Bly, Robert, Iron John: A book about men. When Bill Moyer's PBS special on the author aired in the winter of 1990, it brought forth an unprecedented flood of calls and letters from both men and women attesting to the pain and confusion experienced by many contemporary men. This is the author's long-awaited book on male initiation and the role of the mentor, the result of ten years' work with men to discover the truths about masculinity that get beyond the stereotypes of our popular culture. In the tradition of Blake, Yeats, and D.H. Lawrence, the author has turned to the most ancient stories and legends to remind men and women of welcome images long forgotten, images of a vigorous masculinity both protective and emotionally centered. He takes as the frame of his bok the tale of "Iron John", which the Grimm brothers collected in the early nineteenth century, but which in its themes and motifs goes back thousands of years. In the story, an ancient "hairy man" - Iron John - becomes a mentor to a young boy, and each event or adventure is regarded as a stage in male growth. As the author retells the story, he stops at times to reflect on initiation rituals for men which still go on in some parts of the world or are still remembered in epics such as The Odyssey. As the book progresses, it brings together a rich and coherent picture of what it has meant through time to pass from boyhood into manhood. Throughout that long history of initiation the role of the older men has been central. Yet in our own time, the young men he observes are hungering for the father and the mentor as intensely as they hunger for food. Some say stuck in the "tough guy" mode. Others linger in the naivete that destroys relationships, so doubtful of themselves that they can be life preserving...but not life giving. This book is at the same time a new version and a very ancient vision of adult manhood, one that has depth, vividness, and solidity. It reconfirms the power of anckent stories to guide, to heal, and to convey the deepest truths. Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1990 ISBN 0-201-51720-5 Buy This Book!
• Campanelli, Pauline, Rites of Passage:  The pagan wheel of life, Llewellyn, 1994
• Carnes, Mark, Secret Ritual & Manhood in Victorian America, Yale University, 1989
• Dean, David, Ravennetus, Pandea, 1995
• Eaton, Rand, From Boys to Men of Heart: Hunting as rite of passage. Is hunting good for kids? Why do they do it? Is it sport of is in instinctive? Does hunting encourage violence or does it teach empathy and compassion? Would it be a more peaceful world if more men hunted? These are some of the questions addressed in this book. The author concludes that the social justification for hunting lies in its positive influence on the development of our youth into compassionate, virtuous and responsible adults who respect life and defend nature. OWLink Media, www.owlinkmedia.com, 2009, ISBN 978-1-57994-026-3
• Eliade, Mircea, Rites & Sumbols of Initiation: The mysteries of birth and rebirth, Harper, 1958
• Elkin, A. P., Aboriginal Men of High Degree: Initiation & sorcery in the world's oldest tradition, Inner Traditions, 1994
• Gennep, Arnold Van, Rites of Passage: A classic study of cultural celebrations. Birth, puberty, marriage and death are, in all cultures, marked by ceremonies which may differ in detail but are universal in function. The author was the first anthropologist to note the regularity and significance of the rituals attached to the transitional stages in man's life, and his phrase for these, "the rites of passage," has become a part of the language of anthropology and sociology. This classic work in ethnography was first published in 1909 and only recently became available in English translation. University of Chicago, 1960. ISBN 0-226-84849-3
• Klein, Tripora, Celebrating Life: Rites of passage for all ages, Delphi, 1992
• Leemon, Thomas, Rites of Passage in a Student Culture, Teachers College, 1972
• Mahdi, Louise Caarus, Betwixt & Between: Patterns of masculine and feminine initiation, Open Court, 1987
• Meade, Michael, Men & the Water of Life:  Initiation & the tempering of men. When generativity, creativity, generosity and the capacity to embrace life dry up, the Water of Life has gone underground. At such times, the earth becomes arid, life becomes devoid of meaning, the ground of culture cracks and splits, and gaps develop among peoples and between epeople and nature. Only water can bring the pieces back together, awaken seeds hidden in the ground, and enliven the parched Tree of Life. One of the most important ways to call forth the water of life is through story. For years, the author has been steeped in stories, some from the ground of his own life, others from the ancient rivers of Celtic, European and African myth. Still others emerge from years spent as a teacher, listening to the stories that both men and women carry. From these stories he derives medicine for healing individual wounds and uncovers rituals for the remaking of community. Attuned to our modern needs - the wounds of divorce, addiction and loss, the moral abandonment of children, the gap between the genders - and our mythic inheritance, this book offers narratives that reflect and resonate with the oldest parts of the human psyc Bilhe - the place where things began and the place where things can begin again. Harper, 1993 ISBN 0-06-250542-4 Buy This Book!
• Ottenberg, Simon, Boyhood Rituals in an African Society: An interpretation, University of Washington, 1989
• Raphael, Ray, Men from the Boys: Rites of Passage in Male America, Univeristy of Nebraska, 1988
• Wall, Kathleen, Lights of Passage: Rituals & rites of passage for the problems & pleasures of modern life, Harper, 1994
• Weiner, Bernard, Boy into Man:  A fathers' guide to initiation of teenage sons, Transformation Press, 1992 Make check out to Transformation Press, $15.95 total ($11.95 plus $4 s/h) and mail to: Bernard Weiner, 197 Bonview St., San Francisco, CA 94110.
  

  Ritual - General

• Baldwin, Christina, Calling the Circle: The first and future culture, Swan/Raven, 1994
• Bear, Sun, Dancing with the Wheel: The medicine wheel workbook, Prentice Hall, 1991
• Beck, Renee, Art of Ritual: A guide to creating & performing your own ritual for growth & change, Celestial Arts, 1990
• Buckland, Raymond, Practical Candleburning Rituals: Spells & ritual for every purpose, Llewellyn, 1988
• Cahill, Sedonia, Ceremonial Circle: Practice ritual & renewal for personal & community healing, Harper, 1992
• Clark, Rabiaa, Sacred Ceremonies, Zibat, 1986
• Driver, Tom, Magic of Ritual: Our need for liberating rites that transform our lives & our communities, Harper, 1991
• Hammerschlag, Carl, Healing Ceremonies: Creating personal rituals for spiritual, emotional, physical & mental health, Perigee, 1997
• Ealki, Thomas, Creative Ritual, Samuel Weiser, 1986
• Henderson, Joseph, Thresholds of Initiation, Wesleyan University, 1967
• Imber-Black, Evan, Rituals for Our Times: Celebrating healing & changing our lives & our relationships, Harper Perennial, 1993
• Morris, Ramona & Desmond, Men & Snakes: The full story of man's relationship - uneasy, weird, fantastic with the snake. This is not just a book about snakes. There are plenty of those already. It is a book about man's relationships with snakes throughout his history, from prehistoric times to the present day. These relationships have often been strange and sometimes outlandishly weird. By contrast there have been other more down-to-earth approaches, particulaly in recent years, when the snake has become a most intriguing object for zoological study, or simply a commercil commodity. We hope that when you have read this volume, your familiarity with the snake will not have bred contempt for it, but perhaps a more sympathetic attitude towards a much used and must abused but nevertheless absorbing and remarkable creature. We also trust that through studying the odd relationhip that has developed between man and snake, you will learn something of the true nature of the former as well as the latter. McGraw Hill, 1965
• Natale, Frank, Trance Dance: The dance of life, Element, 1995
• Paladin, Lyda, Ceremonies for Change: Creating personal ritual to heal life's hurts, Stillpoint, 1991
• Pinkson, Tom, Flowers of Wiricuta: A gringo's journey to shamanic power, Wakan, 1995
• Plunkett & Wieners, Burning Man. Why this is in the ritual section may only be explained by attending this annual Labor Day fete. This coffee table volume of excellent photography and stories is the next best thing to being there. The event is creative expression like none other and the concept closely resembles the building of sand castles or carving of ice sculptures. In the end, the art, structures, creativity go up in flames. And, within a few weeks afterwards, the only trace of our being in the desert are the minimal use of the playa for roadways. All structures, residue, even sparkles are removed from the desert floor to return the soil to nature. So, it is very much an initiation. A place where you can experience what others need drugs to experience. An admirable achievement that is a welcome collection to the novice and experienced alike. HardWire Books, www.hardwired.com 1997 ISBN 1-888869-13-5 Buy This Book!
• Roberts, Williams O., Crossing the Soul's River: A Rite of passage for men. This compelling book puts the male midlife crisis into its deepest context - the growth of ourselves as spiritual beings. In so doing it moves well beyond treatments which focus solely on the psychological dimensions of this process - though the author details these too with a sharp insightful eye honed by his own personal experience. Most helpful is his detailing of various rites of passage designed to help men navigate through this difficult time. In this the book is of practical as well as intellectual use. The book is deeply insightful and altogether illuminating. The Pilgrim Press, pilgrim@ucc.org, 1998 ISBN 0-8298-1259-8 Buy This Book!
• Seaman, Barrett, Binge: What your college student won't tell you. College life in an age of disconnection and excess. Just how hard are students studying? Has diversity worked on campus? What's the "right" drinking age? How can parents help-or hurt-their child's chances for success? The author embarked on a two-year investigation of colleges and universities across North America to answer these and other questions about the real story of campus life today. In this book, he reveals what every parent, student and educator needs to know about the disturbing trends - from depression and substance abuse to racial tension and isolaton - as well as the reasons for optimism. Offering provocative, well-informed suggestions for improving the undergraduate experience, this book is an extraorginary investigative work that lays bare the realities of higher education. Wiley, www.wiley.com, 2005. ISBN 0-470-04918-9
• Some, Malidoma Patrice, Of Water & the Spirit: Ritual, magic & initiation in the life of an African shaman. The author, whose name means "be friends with the stranger/enemy," was born under the shadow of French colonial rule in Upper Volta, West Africa. When he was four, he was taken by a Jesuit priest and imprisoned in a seminary built for training a new generation of "black" Catholic priests. In spite of his isolation from his tribe and his village, he stubbornly refused to forget where he had come from and who he was. Fifteen years later, he fled the seminary and walked 125 miles through the dense jungle back to his own people, the Dagara. Once he was home, however, many there regarded him as a "white black", to be looked on with suspicion because he had been contaminated by the "sickness" of the colonial world. He was a man of two worlds, at home in neither. His only hope of reconnection with his people was to undergo the harrowing Dagara monthlong initiation in the wilderness, which he describes in fascinating detail. He emerged from this supernatural ritual a newly integrated individual, rejoined to his ancestral past and his cultural present. For more than a century, anthropologists and ethnologists have attempted to penetrate the worldview of indigenous peoples. Now a true son of Africa has come forth, with the permission of his tribal elders, to tell us with stunning candor about their way of life. Today he flys the jetways writing on his laptop computer, seeking to share the ancient wisdom of the Dagara with the rest of the world and bring an understanding of another way of life to his village. His book is a courageous testament to the hope that humanity can learn to live in a global village and see the "stranger" as a friend. Tarcher/Putnam, 1994 ISBN 0-87477-762-3 Buy This Book!
• Some, Malidoma Patrice, The Healing Wisdom of Africa:  Finding life purpose through nature, ritual and community. A fascinating, detailed journey through the traditional healing practices of West Africa, by a beloved shaman and scholar. Through this book, readers can come to understand that the life of indigenous and traditional people is a paradigm for an intimate relationship with the natural world that both surrounds us and is within us. This acclaimed book is the most distinctive and complete study of the role ritual plays in the lives of African people - and the role it can play for seekers in the west. Tarcher/Putnam, www.penguinputnam.com 1999 Paperback. ISBN  0-87477-991-X Buy This Book!
• Some, Malidoma Patrice, Ritual: Power, Healing and Community, Malidoma Patrice Some. In this remarkable book, we explore the essential role ritual plays in maintaining community and examine the structure common to all ritual. By telling stories of the rituals of his native West African Dagara culture, and his own experiences in the tribal community, he makes a convincing case that the lack of ritual in the Western world is a fundamental reason that the fabric of society is unraveling. "The question is," said Michael Meade, "can the modern world find ways to perceive the subtle knowledge and imagery of the tribal understanding open a place for tribal visions of spiritual life and community rituals to enter? Malidoma Some is uniquely qualified to find the thresholds between the worlds and hold the gates open." Arkana www.penguin.com 1997 Buy This Book!
• Some, Malidoma Patrice, Ritual Power, Healing & Community, Swan Raven, 1993
• Starck, Marcia, Women's Medicine Ways: Cross-cultural rites of passage, Crossing Press, 1993
• Stone, Margaret, Supernatural Hawaii: Actual mysteries, blessings, curses, rituals, legends, Aloha Graphics, 1979
• Turner, Victor, Ritual Process: Structure & anti-structure, Cornell University, 1969
• Tyson, Donald, New Magus: Ritual magic as a personal process, Llewellyn, 1988
• Vissell, Barry, Shared Heart: Relationship initiations & celebrations, Ramira, 1989
• Wall, Kathleen, Lights of Passage: Rituals & rites of passage for the problems & pleasures of modern life, Harper, 1994
• Wilson, Sule Greg, Drummer's Path: Moving the spirit with ritual & traditional drumming, Destiny, 1992