"How can we help our young
Who wait to cross the frontier
Between child and adulthood?"
___ Caitlin Matthews, "Conference of the Trees"
The transition from childhood to adulthood is a time of emotional upheaval not well supported in our society. The preparation for adulthood requires sensitive rites of passage that actually mean something. In Celtic society, children were frequently given in fosterage to neighboring families so that this transition could be overseen by adults who were not blood kindred, who had good sense or some special skill into which the child could be inducted. The custom of fosterage also put a buffer zone between child and parent, thus avoiding the worst of the acrimonious generational confrontations that plague families during adolescence. Poorer children would receive the initiation of solitude when spring was well under way, for then the herds and flocks could be taken out of lower pastures and driven up to higher ground. There some distance from their homes, adolescents would tend the animals, living by night in a sheiling, or temporary structure.
When a much-loved child crosses into the harsh frontier of adulthood, there needs to be a sense of achievement and celebration, a paving of the way, a marking of the transition. Rites of passage need to welcome the new adult into the community and value him or her.
"Think back to your own time of adolescent transition. What would have made your transition easier? What ceremony would have given you a sense of achievement and self-worth? If you have children, meditate upon ways to enable their transition."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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