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INDIVIDUATION WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF ECOLOGICAL IDENTITY: OUTDOOR EDUCATION AND THE PASSAGE RITE INTO ADULTHOOD

Rupert Marques

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DISSERTATION PRESENTED IN PART FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL AND SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION

THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH MORAY HOUSE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION (2011)

Contents Abstract.4

Part One: Intent and Method Introduction and Methodology.....5 Part Two: Preparation Chapter One: Chapter Two: The Need for an Ecocentric Philosophy of Practice..8 An Eco-centric Developmental Model.14

Chapter Three: Adolescence..17 Chapter Four: Chapter Five: Chapter Six: The Cocoon.......22 Rites of Passage26 Rites of Passage and Outdoor Education.....29

Part Three: Threshold Chapter Seven: A Contemporary Wilderness Rites of Passage Model.....35 Chapter Eight: Chapter Nine: Chapter Ten: Preparation...39 Threshold.44 Incorporation...50

Part Four: Incorporation Chapter Eleven: Discussion...54 Chapter Twelve: Conclusion...60

References63 Appendix 1: Ecocentric Developmental Wheel...79 Appendix 2: Voices from the Threshold..80

The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we might act with restraint, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. Perhaps the wilderness we fear is the pause between our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wilderness lives by this same grace (Terry Tempest Williams)

Here are words written down footprints on the sand, cloud formations. Tomorrow Ill be gone. (Thich Nhat Hanh)

Abstract

There is a pressing need for an ecologically inclusive philosophy of practice for outdoor education. This dissertation explores an ecocentric model of human development as a framework for integrating both cultural and natural developmental tasks, placing individuation within an ecologically inclusive context. Focusing on the adolescent developmental task of identity formation, the paper suggests that a wilderness rites of passage model is well suited for attending to this task, in a manner that emphasises the influence of the natural world on the formation of identity. The conflicting literature on the use of the rites of passage model within outdoor education is examined, revealing the need for clarification and contextualization of the model within contemporary culture. The paper concludes by integrating the previous strands and outlining a contemporary wilderness rites of passage model, emphasising all three phases of a passage rite. The lack of transference of learning from wilderness experiences to the home environment is revealed as a weakness in this model, offering a future direction for practice.

PART ONE Introduction & Research Methodology

No amount of word-making will ever make a single soul to 'know' these mountains. One day's exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books. (John Muir, 1966) I begin this dissertation from two reference points. The first is my belief in the need for an ecologically inclusive philosophy of practice within outdoor education. The second is my experience using a rites of passage model in my work as an outdoor educator over the past decade, which has been the most rewarding approach to practice during this time. I undertook this dissertation as a means of deepening my understanding in both these areas, and also to explore how they could be integrated in a mutually supportive manner. My research question explores how a rites of passage model could be meaningfully utilized within outdoor education, in a manner that actively attends to the cultivation of ecological identity. I use the integrated literature review (Torraco, 2005; Whittemore & Knafl, 2005; Yorks, 2008) as the methodology for my inquiry, as it encourages a broad exploration of literature around the subject area, and also invites an integration or synthesis of the material into a unified understanding or framework. This method of philosophical inquiry involves analysis, clarification and criticism of available data and attempts to make clear the way we think about human experience so that reasonable action (means) might evolve which can lead us to just and good socially established goals (ends) within the human experience (Sheffield, 2004: 763). My first task was to demonstrate the need for an ecological underpinning within outdoor education, highlighting the importance of experiential modes of knowing and relating to the natural world in the development of ecological identity.

Searching for a theoretical framework to support such work led me to explore Plotkins (2008) eco-centric model of human development. In this paper I focus on the stage of adolescence, and the corresponding developmental task of identity formation. I subsequently propose that a wilderness rites of passage model, using a wilderness solo as the liminal phase, could be well suited to this task in an ecologically inclusive manner. Examining the conflicting literature on the use of the rites of passage model within outdoor education reveals conflicting reports on the efficacy and appropriateness of the model, and a need for further investigation and clarification. In particular, an understanding of the more protracted developmental passage into adulthood (adolescence) in contemporary culture indicates clear differences between traditional rites of passage and any contemporary rites of passage model. This is not apparent in the literature. Synthesizing and integrating the above strands of knowledge with personal experience, I outline a contemporary wilderness rites of passage model, incorporating the developmental task of identity formation within an ecologically inclusive framework.

Synthesis integrates existing ideas with new ideas to create a new formulation of the topic or issue. Synthesizing the literature means that the review weaves the streams of research together to focus on core issues rather than merely reporting previous literature. It is a creative activity that produces a new model, conceptual framework, or other unique conception informed by the authors intimate knowledge of the topic. (Torraco, 2005: 362)

As an appendix to this work I have included several quotes from individuals who have participated in a wilderness passage rite that I have guided through the

School of Lost Borders (http://schooloflostborders.org/). I offer them here as they give a sense of the personal and felt experience of this work, complementing the theoretical body of this paper. Their words articulate how this work has touched the lives of real people more poignantly than any description I could offer. This work is really about the people and their stories.

PART TWO CHAPTER ONE The Need for an eco-centric philosophy of Practice What is the use of a house, if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on? (Thoreau, 1894) The world we inhabit at the beginning of the new millennium is one marked by a psychologically distant and physically degenerative relationship between human beings and the wider biosphere. The scope and severity of the challenges, as well as the decreasing window of opportunity to ameliorate irreversible damage to ecosystems, and their services and their inhabitants, is now well documented (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005; United Nations Environmental Program, 2007; World Wildlife Fund, 2010; International Energy Agency, 2010; United Nations Development Program, 2011). We also live in a time when the movement for environmental and social justice is one of the largest global movements the world has ever witnessed (Korten, 2005). Within this movement there exist a great diversity of approaches, addressing numerous dimensions of human activity, and revealing ever more clearly the interrelationship between diverse areas of concern. This movement offers reason for hope, reminding us that whilst our genetic predispositions and cultural conditioning can indeed lead us toward selfishness and violence, they can also bring forth human life directed toward generosity and compassion. (Goodall, 1999) It is in the service of the later possibility, the movement toward ecological sustainability and social justice, that education has a necessary role. What is an appropriate response for Outdoor Education to the great challenge, and the great opportunity of our time? In this paper I shall suggest that at least part of

the answer lies in adopting an ecologically inclusive philosophy of practice. An ecocentric model of human development supports such a philosophical position, through acknowledging both social and ecological developmental tasks. Such offers an alternative to traditional outdoor education, which has focussed predominantly on human-cantered learning goals (Martin, 1993; Lyones, 2002; Nicol, 2002; Lugg, 2004: Higgins, 2006). The need for such a shift has been acknowledged in recent years, and has begun to affect programming in some areas, through an increased emphasis on relationship with the wider environment (Martin, 2004; Wattchow, 2005). Perhaps one of the most significant contributions outdoor education could offer to our times, stems from the fact that our classroom, the very medium within which we learn, is the wider biological world itself. And yet, simply being outdoors is not sufficient for the development of an ethic of care for nature, or for an understanding of natural processes. Rather, these things seem to be learned when they are an explicit aim of experiential activities and when they are mediated in appropriate ways (Nicol, Higgins, Ross & Mannion, 2007:5). However, when outdoor education does consciously focus on environmental education, it is worth reflecting if this is offered in place of, or in contrast to personal development, as though our own personal development and our care for the environment were somehow separate domains. Krasny and DAmato (2011) emphasise the transformative learning that can occur when emancipatory learning (focused on personal growth) and instrumental learning (focused on environmental behaviours) are consciously blended within outdoor programming. Martin (2004: 21) also raises a concern about adopting an approach to outdoor environmental education devoid of adventure, where a love of the bush with body and soul are squeezed out.

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Martin argues that carefully designed adventure education programming, particularly when united with contemplative reflective time, can indeed be effective in developing profound relationships between people and nature. Martins research indicated that developing the knowledge and skills to enable formulating and discussing a relationship with nature as well as supporting individuals in being comfortable and competent in the outdoors were significant factors supporting an increased sense of connectedness to, and caring for, nature (2004: 22). Such work is informed by the conscious adoption of an ecologically inclusive philosophy of practice (Key, 2003), and includes emotional ways of knowing and responding to nature, conductive to enduring pro-environmental behaviour (Maitney, 2002). We have much knowledge about the current rate and scale of ecological destruction, and of the vast social inequities that compound and are compounded by ecological degradation. It does not appear however, that knowledge alone has proven sufficient to change the unsustainable course of our culture (Hines, Hungerford & Tomer, 1987; Hungerford & Volk, 1990). In exploring strategies for environmental behaviour change, Game, Liberatore, Popovich and Zint (2010), suggest that surface strategies which focus on knowledge and creating supportive environments, have short-term results. Deeper strategies they suggest, that utilize these components but also include an exploration of personal meaning, attitudes, identity and values, are equated with longer-term results. A conceptual, science based understanding of human environmental relations is crucial, but to rely on conceptual understanding alone to shift our attitudes, values and behaviour is to misunderstand the nature of the human mind (Shepard 1998:195). As Roszak, one of the forerunners of the ecopsychology movement notes: The environmental movement went about its work of organizing, educating and agitating with little regard for the fragile psychological

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complexities of the public whose hearts and minds it sought to win (Roszak, Gomes & Kanner, 1995:2). Shepard (1998) has also argued that a conceptual understanding of ecology is not sufficient, and that a more intimate, sensual and affective relationship needs to be recovered in order to provide a sufficient change of consciousness and behaviour. I suggest that a plurality of epistemological positions, including those that invite psychological, emotional, sensuous and spiritual relationships with the wider natural world, could be supportive in the movement to create an informed and engaged society (Thomashow, 1995; Nicol and Higgins, 1998; Kellert, 1998; Smith and Willimas, 1999; Gardener, 1999; Nicol, 2002; Orr, 2004). This paper does not discount the importance of personal and inter-personal development within outdoor education, but simply suggests these that occur (as our lives occur) within a wider relationship to the living planet; an eco-centric philosophy of practice simply acknowledges this truth. We can no longer afford to posit individual development in isolation from social justice and living within the carrying capacity of the biosphere. A holistic philosophy of practice for education must include both our personal psychology and our planetary ecology, and the understanding of their inseparability. The lack of acknowledgement and cultivation of this relationship will continue to have consequences for both personal and planetary health (Roszak, Gomes & Kanner, 1995). An exploration of this relationship is the ground of ecopsychology. Although defining the boundaries of the field of ecopsychology is problematic because of its trans disciplinary nature, an understanding of ecopsychologys goals is more readily grasped: Ecopsychology focuses on articulating the subjective, lived experience of human-nature inter-relationships and the synergies between the human psyche and environmental problems (Doherty, 2010: 203). It seeks to validate that

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an emotional connection to nature is normal and healthy and, in doing so, to help the environmental movement to be more effective by appealing to these positive ecological bonds rather than promoting conservation based on messages of fear or shame (Doherty, 2009). Ecology and ecological education are enriched through drawing a relationship with psychology, and psychology in turn finds its larger ground and context in ecology. This is beginning to be recognized by members both within psychology and the environmental movement (American Psychological Association, 2009; World Wide Fund for Nature, 2011). A recent report from Friends of the Earth (2010: 5) noted:

If people are exposed to information that doesnt fit with their pre-existing identities and beliefs, it typically bounces right off. Human identity, then, is central to whether messages are heard, to whether people are willing to change behaviours and to whether they will take political action. Environmentalists should consider human identity when designing campaigns They might even consider campaigns that help the public tap into the most fundamental and expansive sense of human identity that of being closely related to, and interdependent on, all forms of life on Earth.

Outdoor environmental education based on ecopsychological principles does not supplant the necessity of ecological literacy (Cole, 2007), but rather complements it by seeking to cultivate an empathetic, visceral, and intimate knowing and relationship with the wider natural world. Below I explore Plotkins (2008) ecocentric wheel of human development, which could inform our practice as educators in

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marrying psychology with ecology, in exploring our own development as individuals within the context of our relationship with the wider natural environment.

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CHAPER TWO An Eco-centric Developmental Model [Regarding]the story of the implacable necessity of a man having honour within his natural spirit. A man cannot live and temper his mettle without such honour. There is deep in his mind a sense of the heroic quest; and our modern way of life, with its emphasis on security, its distrust of the unknown and its elevation of abstract collective values has repressed the heroic impulse to a degree that may produce the most dangerous consequences. (Laurens van der Post, 1989)

In response to the range of destructive ecological and social issues we are currently faced with, Plotkin (2008:2) suggests that, entwined with, and perhaps underlying these devastations are epidemic failures in individual human development. Industrialized culture has to a significant degree, neglected the task of developing a healthy relationship with the natural world. We have distanced ourselves from experiencing the wider ecological world as significant or necessary in our own development. Plotkins premise is that our arrested development is manifest both in a neglect of our individual potential and the denigration of our biological home. To remedy this situation he suggests, requires a whole new way of understanding and situating ourselves:

We must mature into people who are, first and foremost, citizens of Earth and residents of the universe, and our identity and core values must be recast accordingly. Consequently, the question of individual human development becomes critical. How can we grow whole so that an ecocentric identity becomes the rule rather than the exception? How can we foster a global ecological citizenry? (Plotkin, 2008:7)

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Plotkins Eco-Soulcentric model or wheel of human development (appendix: 1) examines and responds to the question: What do the stages of modern human development look like when we grow, in each stage, with nature and soul as our primary guides? (Plotkin, 2008:5) For each developmental stage, the model supports individuation through articulating clear developmental goals, both for engagement with our own unique individuality and potential (soul), as well as for the cultivation of a relationship with, and understanding of the wider ecological world. Plotkin argues that healthy development requires a constant balancing of the influences and demands of both culture-oriented tasks and nature-oriented tasks, and furthermore, that these goals are mutually supportive. For example, in the stage of middle childhood that Plotkin names, The Explorer in the Garden, the nature tasks are concerned with enchantment of the natural world and of the childs own bodily senses within that world, while the cultural tasks revolve around learning the social practices, values, knowledge, history, mythology, and cosmology of ones family and culture. In this manner cultural understanding is situated within its appropriate context; the wider natural world, known through an experiential and affective relationship. In our post-modern industrial culture, the natural task is frequently neglected in favour of the cultural task, which undermines a foundation for later engagement with issues of ecological concern. David Sobel (2004), an advocate of place based education, has noted such problems with premature abstraction in contemporary environmental education for children: placing the significant ecological challenges on the minds of the young without prior meaningful contact with nature. An understanding of particular developmental stages, and the culture-oriented and nature-oriented tasks relevant to these stages allows us to design and facilitate

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programming with specific developmental tasks in mind for populations at differing developmental stages. Whilst is beyond the scope of this paper to address all stages in Plotkins model, I will explore how the model can contribute to our understanding of one particular developmental stage, late adolescence. Such an understanding can inform how outdoor education may support the primary developmental task within this stage: the development of identity (Erickson, as cited in Gross, 1987).

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CHAPTER THREE Adolescence Adolescence itself is not the problem adolescence, at this time, is the locus of both our crisis and our opportunity to the extent that we dont understand what adolescence is for, we dont know what humans are for A deeper understanding of adolescence is where our hope lies. (Bill Plotkin, 2008:11) One of the driving forces in both my personal and professional life has been a conscious inquiry into self-identity. This inquiry has been particularly relevant with respect to the mutuality of the relationship between self-identity and environmental behaviour (Thomashow, 1995; Clayton and Opotow, 2003; Zavestoski, 2003). To become mature men and women we need guidance; we need elders1 and community, and we need to know that we have a place, and are valued for who we are, and what we could offer with our lives (Veneable, 1997). Furthermore, to become men and women with a sense of ecological identity in a society that is primarily organized around social identities, we need the encouragement to develop social interactions with aspects of the natural world (Zavestoski, 2003). It is understandable that as adults we may distance ourselves somewhat from close association with the adolescent age group (Brendtro & Long 1995), and thus from supporting the developmental tasks of this stage. Part of the work of youth in a culture is to challenge the status quo maintained by adults; to rebel against that which is perceived to have become repressive in the culture and to actively question the accepted norms, values and behaviours of the older generation. In this regard Meade has remarked: 1 In this context I am using the term elder to refer to those who have embarked on a conscious path of adulthood and assumed a responsibility for supporting this process in succeeding generations.

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The chaos, violence, reluctance and apathy of modern youth are symptomatic of similar troubles in the heart and soul of culture. Rejecting them for carrying the symptoms means condemning more and more young people to sink with the burdens that belong to the whole village Youth unknowably carry the burdens and unhealed wounds of the past; but, they also carry the enlivening seeds of the future. (1996a: xxiii-xxiv)

There can indeed be a fiery and rebellious energy to youth, yet this is one of the gifts of any new generation, to see with fresh eyes and to attempt to change the structures and values that may no longer serve. If we are fortunate that is, and the youth have not become apathetic; too addicted to comfort or overwhelmed by the demands of society. It is critical that this fiery energy of the youth is met by guidance and nurturance from the elders. Meade (cited by Davis, 2011) comments, If the fires that innately burn inside youths are not intentionally and lovingly added to the hearth of community, they will burn down the structures of culture, just to feel the warmth. A significant role of elders is to impart hard-won wisdom to the youth, to pass on those values and practices that we do feel have genuine significance and would serve our continued development as a people. However, if there is too great a desire to control or direct the youth, this can lead to suppression of the energy that is vital for the reinvigoration and renewal of the culture. This is the dynamic dance of the elders and youth, and it requires a sensitivity and balance from those purporting to educate, falling into neither extreme of control nor neglect:

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Since educational programs struggle with contradictionssuch as the differences between indoctrination and education, freedom and docility educational inquiry will also have to struggle with the tension between providing an identity for a young person and helping the young person construct their own identity. (Bell, 2003:19)

If as adults we relinquish our responsibility to appropriately support young people in engaging meaningfully with the developmental task of identity formation, then they are left to do it themselves without guidance. If the youth do not have sanctioned situations in which to explore the important transitions in their lives, specifically the transition to adulthood, then they create substitutes. These substitutes are often superficial and lack a critical introspective quality, or they can be maladaptive and harmful to self or others (Butler, 1990; Dorr, 1996; Garrison, 1998; Grof, 1996; Hechinger, 1994; Some, 1996). When the youth (or adults) in our culture fail to gain the opportunity to engage deeply and broadly in the developmental task of identity formation, there are other consequences, subtler perhaps, but no less significant. These are to do with the unrealized potential of the individual, and the loss of connection with the wider planetary and evolutionary context within which our lives unfold. It may be that an individual succeeds in acquiring the outer forms of adulthood: a financially successful career, a family and status; but unless we have found integrity with our own deeper purpose and calling in life, we may still find an enduring sense of dissatisfaction, to which the consumer industry is only too willing to accommodate. We need a world where women and men have the opportunity to meaningfully explore their own identity.

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Plotkin suggests that we live in a largely adolescent culture and lack engagement with the developmental task of identity formation in sufficient depth or continuity to progress to a mature adulthood. He argues that it is only through such an exploration of a genuine identity, that the individual comes to know what she was born to do, what gift she posses to bring to the world, what sacred quality lives in her heart, and how she may arrive at her own unique way of loving and belonging (Plotkin, 2008:12). Erick Erickson, noted for his articulation of the psycho-social stages of development (Gross, 1987), states that the main adolescent developmental task of finding fidelity (loyalty with, belonging and contribution to ones society) is undergone through the stage he labels identity versus role confusion:

The problem of adolescence is one of role confusiona reluctance to commit which may haunt a person into his mature years. Given the right conditions and Erikson believes these are essentially having enough space and time, a psychological moratorium, when a person can freely experiment and explorewhat may emerge is a firm sense of identity, an emotional and deep awareness of who he or she is. (Stevens, 1983:50)

One of the challenges in our own culture seems to be the pressure young people are under to make commitments as to career path or life direction without time and support for a significant and effective moratorium. This can result in what Erickson termed identity crisis, where one feels the expectation to fill a role before there has been ample time to find out who is underneath that role, and whether such a role may be congruent with ones emerging identity. We thus risk bringing forth a

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generation of adults who lack a conscience and who are not bonded to community (Brendtro and Long, 1996). Plotkin (2008) suggests that whilst there can be opportunities in our culture for geographical separation from the norm, such as a year abroad, attending a distant college or place of work, these experiences can simply be external separations, and the important psychological separation and exploration may well be neglected. We are fortunate in having a protracted transition to adulthood in our culture (adolescence), but we must consider how we will use this time. Meade has remarked, What modern society tries to dismiss as a stage out of which youth will grow automatically is actually a crucible in which the future of the culture gets forged (1996b: 60).

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CHAPTER FOUR The Cocoon

When your eyes are tired, the world is tired also. When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you. Time to go into the dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love. The dark will be your womb tonight. The night will give you a horizon further than you can see. David Whyte (1996)

In the developmental stage of late adolescence, which Plotkin labels The Cocoon, he points to the depth of psychological exploration or descent into the moratorium that is required for beginning to uncover genuine identity. Plotkin uses the cocoon as a symbol for the radical transformation - the dying and birthing that this stage signifies. It is a time when we are betwixt and between (Mahdi, Foster and Little, 1987), having left the security of childhood and yet not attained a mature adult identity. It is worth noting that Plotkin does not classify a developmental stage because of age, but rather on the readiness of the individual to meaningfully explore the tasks of that stage. Plotkins perspective invites the transformation of our cultural vision of a successful adulthood as an individual with high socioeconomic standing, to one whose primary emphasis in life is to discover their own identity, and subsequently find a means of expressing this in a manner that is of mutual service to self and other. If we are fortunate to have sufficient guidance and support, we may indeed devote

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ourselves to a wholehearted endeavour to uncover our identity in our late teens or early twenties. It is more likely however, with the current emphasis on external measures of success within education and our society in general, that we may not genuinely attend to the primary developmental task of adolescence until our thirties or forties, or at mid-life, if we engage with it at all. This is important to note, as it implies that the adolescent task of identity formation may well be applicable for many adults with whom we work as educators. If we are fortunate, and not completely consumed by the pressures, expectations or comforts of our social lives, we may sense a calling (Levoy, 1997), a disquieting, that can be our invitation to enter the moratorium. The call of the moratorium or cocoon invites a descent into uncertainty, into darkness, because we are as yet unaware of what lies ahead, or perhaps even what is being asked of us. The necessity of this descent in human development has been observed in many cultures throughout the world, and has come to be recognized as an essential part of the archetypal Heros Journey (Campbell, 1949). Joseph Campbell, the renowned mythologist, highlights the significance of this journey into the unknown where the attitudes, attachments and life patterns of the current stage are left behind, before new ways of seeing and being in the world can be birthed.

That which has to be faced, and is somehow profoundly familiar to the unconscious though unknown, surprising, and even frightening to the conscious personality makes itself known; and what was formerly meaningful may become strangely emptied of value This first stage of the mythological journey which we have designated the call to adventure signifies that destiny has summoned the hero and transferred his spiritual

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centre of gravity from within the pale of his society to a zone unknown. (Campbell, 1949:58)

Mythology is a subject that receives little acknowledgement in contemporary culture, and yet, without a considered reflection, we may find our lives driven unconsciously by the myths that shape our cultural norms: What is expressed as myth in culture is expressed as an attitude in the individual (Stephenson Bond, 1993:45). A myth is a cultural frame of reference or story that guides our lives, just as an instinctual behaviour represents the adaptation of a species, a myth represents the adaptation of a culture (Stephenson Bond, 1993:32). Upon internalizing cultural myths, narratives or value systems, we claim them as our own, live through them and are willing to defend them. But what if the unexamined cultural narratives that inform our values and behaviours are detrimental to the well being of ourselves, other individuals or the wider environment in which the culture is situated? In this regard, Nicol (2002: 90) has commented that outdoor education shares with mainstream education an underlying philosophy of practice which is more likely to be a reinforcement of the status quo than a visionary pedagogical endeavour. Here we begin to see the wider significance of education that includes a conscious exploration of identity: How is a culture to renew itself except through individuals who restore the cultural imagination? That is, where do the sustaining myths of culture come, but from what were once personal myths in individual lives? Stephenson Bond (1993:29) As educators we are asked to support this conscious exploration, both within our own lives, and with those with whom we engage in the process of education; the leading out of individuals into their own considered lives. As David Orr has

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commented, The goal of education is not mastery of subject matter, but of one's person (1991:2). Furthermore, as environmental educators, we are compelled to hold this exploration within the wider context of the evolution of our planet, and its lifesustaining biodiversity (Swimme and Berry, 1992). Freed from conformity to a cultural narrative of individual socio-economic success as the pinnacle of a responsible adult life, youth could respond to both their inner calling and the outer needs of our time true adult maturity and responsibility, where our deepest gladness and the worlds hunger meet (Beuchner, 1993). Plotkin remarks, True service to community and deep personal fulfilment are the twin and inseparable aspirations of adulthood. Soul-rooted service is the adults way of loving the world (2008: 311). If we want our youth to mature into adults who contribute to our communities, and to feel as though they truly belong, then we must support them in finding the particular life that is genuine for them; this is the invitation of the moratorium or the cocoon. The opportunity inherent in the protracted transition to adulthood in contemporary culture is the possibility of giving conscious attention to the development of identity at an early age, when the whole life of the individual is before them. Education can support the moratorium through providing sanctified situations in which an individual may examine the purpose and trajectory of their life. Outdoor education is in a privileged position to support such work in the wider natural world. I will suggest below that a contemporary wilderness rites of passage model is particularly well suited in this regard. Such a model embraces and unifies Plotkins culture and nature tasks of this developmental stage, through inviting a relationship with the more-than-human world to be a meaningful component in the formation of identity.

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CHAPTER FIVE Rites of passage We need a structured environment in which to confront and express the difficult areas of our psyche and in which to discover and accept our creative, inspirational, compassionate possibilities. We also need a caring community of people who share a common understanding and experience and can offer us safety and support. If we have the courage to face both the dark and light aspects of ourselves, we are no longer unconsciously motivated to turn them against ourselves or project them onto others and onto our environment in harmful ways Unfortunately, our culture has lost a major tool through which this kind of transformation takes place: this tool is the age old form of rites of passage, which has been used cross-culturally throughout history to provide an accepted context for individuals to confront and integrate their inner impulses and emotions. (Groff, 1969:9)

Rites of passage, is the term coined by the anthropologist van Gennep (1960), to describe ceremonial rites of transition accompanying changes in social state or life cycle, for example: birth, social puberty, adulthood, marriage, motherhood, fatherhood, death. The importance of these rites, ceremonies whose essential purpose is to enable the individual to pass from one defined position to another which is equally well defined (van Gennep, 1960:3), is demonstrated by their occurrence in widely differing peoples and times. Although Genneps interest focused on human life-stages and social transitions, an ecopsychological understanding of the wider context of human transformations was apparent in his work:

Mans life resembles nature, from which neither the individual nor the society stands independent. The universe itself is governed by a periodicity which has repercussions on human life, with stages of transitions, movements forward, and periods of relative inactivity. (1960:3)

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Van Gennep noted a diversity of ceremonial passages or rites into adulthood in pre-industrial peoples, varying widely in duration and content. Within this diversity of form however, van Gennep observed a commonality of structure, which he classified into three distinct stages: Pre-liminal (Preparation or Severance): The removal of individuals from their old role and environment, and the psychological and physiological preparation for the new role. Liminal (Threshold or Transition): Serving as a radical altering of a persons mode of being, (Meade, 1996b: 28) so that a new identity may be born, one more befitting the new adult role. Liminality is betwixt and between (Turner, 1987; Mahdi, 1996), a phase where the individual has left the old role but has not yet been birthed into the new. The ceremonial enactment of dissolution, death, gestation and re-birth are prominent features in the liminal stage (Turner, 1987), and marked in culturally specific ways. Post-liminal (Incorporation or Return): Public celebration and recognition of the transformation, signifying both to the individual and the community the new status and the corresponding behaviours and responsibilities expected of the initiate. Victor Turner (1987), known for his work exploring liminality suggests that such rites were of paramount importance in pre-industrial societies, serving both as a means cultural survival as well as individuation for the initiate. In a traditional passage rite into adulthood, the youth for their part seek wholeness, identity and belonging, and are involved in the struggle of moving toward self-knowledge; the search for a deeper understanding of who they are as individuals and what they could offer to the community (Meade, 1996b). The elders and community, for their part, hold the container of the passage rite, supporting all three

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stages: They prepare the initiate, sharing the wisdom of those who have gone before, as well as the customs and practical skills practiced by adults of the community. They provide a liminal experience that challenges the individual to become more conscious of the strengths and qualities of their own life, and to reflect on their place; how they will serve and participate within the community in their forthcoming role. Finally, in reincorporation, the community formally recognizes the status of the newly initiated adult member, welcoming them into the community, affirming their belonging and value to the people in their new role. For the individual, the passage rite into adulthood is really a passage into a mature and conscious sense of belonging. This belonging is certainly to the human community, yet the wider context in which the human community itself belongs has also been acknowledged in passage rites (Prechtel, 1990). This can be felt acutely within the liminal period, particularly when this occurs within the wider natural world, and when preparation and incorporation by the community validate such a comprehensive sense of belonging.

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CHAPTER SIX Rites of Passage and Outdoor Education Outdoor education has emerged in post-industrial Western societies as a semiritualistic compensatory effort for humans to re-engage with their indigenous heritage and inner indigenous nature. (Neil, 2004)

Although the significance and value of passage rites into adulthood is evident in pre-industrial cultures (van Gennep, 1960), the question remains if such a model could be relevant to contemporary culture, and further to outdoor education. There exist major differences between pre-industrial cultures and our own, particularly the more protracted transition to adulthood, the secularization of our culture and the loss of close community in contemporary society. Kimball (1960:xvii-iiii), in the introduction to van Genneps Rites of Passage states:

There is no evidence that a secularized urban world has lessened the need for ritualized expression of an individuals transition The critical problems of becoming male and female, of relations within the family, and of passing into old age are directly related to the devices, which the society offers the individual to help him achieve the new adjustment. Somehow we have forgotten this or perhaps the ritual has become so individualistic that it is now found for many only in the privacy of the psychoanalysts couch. One of the consequences of our individualistic and isolating culture is that an increasing number of individuals are forced to accomplish their transitions alone and with private symbols.

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In examining the literature, a number of authors comment on the virtues of the rites of passage model within outdoor education, attributing to it significant and meaningful transformation for participants (Andrews, 1999; Bodkin and Sartor, 2005; Lertzman, 2002; Maddern, 1990; Neil, 2001; Riley and Hendee, 1999; Thompson, Battersby and Lee, 1998; Venable, 1997). Evidence to support such claims is based on qualitative research, predominantly: questionnaires, structured and unstructured interviews as well as anecdotal feedback. Critique of the model is concerned primarily with the longevity of any transformation (Cushing, 1999) and the lack of attention (Cushing, 1997) and social support (Bell, 2003) for the third stage reincorporation. There has also been concern regarding the use of the rite of passage model in outdoor programming, and whether such a term is justified or appropriate, (Bell, 2003; Cushing, 1997). Cushing (1999) suggests that there are similarities yet also clear differences between traditional rites of passage and particular aspects of outdoor programming, which she states are more akin to ritualistic retreats, resembling certain ritual structures and functions found in traditional rites of passage. As an area for future research on this topic Cushing (1997: 143) remarks:

Further effort at understanding such contemporary rituals would be interesting for its ability to illuminate how we are, consciously or not, inventing cultural means to replace those rituals, which have at one time been crucial to our social and personal development. The very fact that we are undertaking ritualistic retreats of various sorts seems to indicate that the loss of the formal rituals has left a void that many feel a need to fill.

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In a similar vein, Bell suggests that, A deeper understanding needs to exist for outdoor educators seeking to use the rites of passage as a transformational model (Bell, 2003: 4). He continues, If outdoor programs are going to conduct appropriate rites of passage programs, they need to use more than an unexamined mix of ritual practices assumed to transform students (Bell, 2003: 19). Bell highlights the importance of role distinction in traditional rites of passage, in both the liminal phase, where the initiate is destined for a role, not left to figure out his/her own role, (2003:7) and also in the reincorporation phase where significant social pressure essentially enforces the boundaries of the new role (2003:7). He acknowledges that whilst there are structural similarities between certain programming in outdoor education and traditional rites of passage, the lack of adoption and maintenance of a clearly defined new social role in the former, indicates that a rites of passage model is generally ineffective in most contemporary contexts. I will argue that a rites of passage model could be both applicable and effective within contemporary contexts and within outdoor education, particularly in support of the developmental task of identity formation. However, we must understand that what constitutes a rite of passage in contemporary culture is different than that of pre-industrial cultures. In the literature there appears to be a lack of understanding regarding the scope and depth of traditional rites of passage, as well as the difference between traditional and contemporary passage rites. To suggest that because an outdoor program has a semblance to the three stages of severance, threshold and incorporation it could perform the same function of a traditional passage rite, i.e. to mark the transition form boy to man or girl to woman is an oversimplification of the development journey required for mature adulthood, in either preindustrial or contemporary culture. Furthermore, assessing the relevance of a

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rites of passage model for outdoor education or contemporary culture based on replicating traditional structures is to miss-understand the dynamic nature of passage rites. Passage rites themselves change over time, and are adapted to the needs and context of those that engage with them (Oldfield, 1996). Within pre-industrial cultures traditional passage rites did indeed facilitate, mark and celebrate the transition from one defined social state or life cycle stage to another stage, which was also clearly defined (van Gennep, 1960:3). However, contemporary culture has moved away from pre-determined and defined roles, where gender tasks were prescribed and cultural narratives or belief systems were embraced unquestioningly, unchanging over generations. In particular, the transition into adulthood is more protracted in contemporary culture, and there is far more ambiguity as to what the social role of adulthood actually is, and when it is attained (Davis, 2011). Within contemporary society there are a range of experiences or events that may be culturally considered as thresholds or transitional experiences marking adulthood, for example: the legal age to consume alcohol, to drive, to vote or to have sex, graduating high school, graduating college, leaving the family home, obtaining ones first job and gaining financial independence, puberty, menarche, marriage, having a child etc. But do these really signify to the individual and community that a process of mature individuation has occurred, enabling the young man or woman to step forth with confidence as a carrier of culture (Mahdi, 1996: xvi)? It is notable that these common cultural indicators of adulthood all pertain to either the external or biological world, in contrast to Plotkins emphasis on a depth of inner inquiry and transformation, which can subsequently lead to a mature external expression. If contemporary rites of passage are not focused on prescribing or enforcing a new social role or status, then what is their emphasis?

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It is precisely in the change of self-image and the changing of ones image of the world and how one thinks one should relate to the world that a rite of passage takes place. What changes whenever we make an important transition in our lives, is our image of self and of our relationship with the world around us. (Oldfield, 1996:151)

I suggest that in contemporary rites of passage into adulthood, the emphasis is on creating a container for the descent into soul, as a component of the moratorium, whereby the initiate is supported in engaging deeply with questions of identity. In contemporary culture a rite of passage does not turn a child or adolescent into an adult (Plotkin, 2008), but supports and acknowledges the conscious process of maturation and inquiry, that itself reveals and defines adulthood. It is the individual who, after a sustained and demanding personal introspection or ordeal, claims, marks and defines what it is to be a mature man or woman for example, rather than this being defined by an external source. Elders and community do however continue to have an important role in affirming and celebrating any such passage, yet they are simply mirroring what the individual has already recognized. It is important to note that any definition or marking of adulthood is not an end in itself. In my experience, such passage rites mark a process rather than a stasis of adulthood. Plotkin notes:

Rites of passage are only the most visible aspect of a much longer, comprehensive, and integrated developmental unfolding from birth through death. What lies in between the passages, although less dramatic, is

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considerably more important than the passages themselves or the rites that mark them. In recent decades we have rediscovered rites of passage but have overlooked the essential incremental progress that must be gained each day by skilful tending to personal development. (2008: 66)

In contemporary culture, we need to create space for the moratorium; we need to create opportunities that invite the individual to consciously attend to issues of identity, belonging, purpose etc. Even though the transition through adolescence to adulthood is protracted and in many ways blurred in contemporary culture, we can still ask if would serve to offer liminal experiences that support and acknowledge this gradual, yet no less demanding passage into adulthood? Contemporary passage rites are different to that of pre-industrial rites, yet I suggest that the underlying purpose of both is congruent: empowering individuals to intentionally transition through their respective stages by meaningfully embodying the developmental tasks associated with them.

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PART THREE CHAPTER SEVEN A Contemporary Wilderness Rites of Passage Model While everyday rituals of our normal social structure frame ordinary experiences in a manner that affirms the established social order, the rituals of liminality frame extraordinary experiences in a manner that offers alternatives to the social order. (Andrews, 1999: 37)

Traditional rites of passage were as diverse as the various cultures that embraced them, and were also specific to different gender roles (van Gennep, 2010). Whilst there is a certain homogeny to the industrialized life-style, there also exists a diversity of beliefs, values-systems, life-styles etc. In considering a model for outdoor education that could be utilized as a contemporary passage rite, it was important that it could be accessible to a wide range of people, irrespective of gender, religious belief or world-view etc. This is not to detract from contemporary passage rites developed specifically for ethnic or gender groups (Harvey & Rauch, 1997), but rather to present a basic framework that could be widely utilized as well being adaptable to particular needs. To accommodate these requirements, the model would need to be flexible, and yet with enough structure to engage meaningfully with the three phases of passage rites: severance, threshold and incorporation. It was also important that a potential model be tested in the field rather than resting on theory alone. The challenge in reclaiming passage rites in contemporary culture is avoiding cultural appropriation and overly prescriptive or restrictive structures, whilst at the same time not losing the wisdom of those who have gone before (Foster, 2002). Oldfield (1996) remarks that finding the balance between the curatorial and the

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creative, between what we can learn from the past and what we must create or reinvent for ourselves is what keeps a rite vibrant:

Rites of passage are much more like an art than a science. And like many art forms, they have two basic functions. One function of art is curatorial: It preserves the ancient traditions of the past But like art, rites of passage are not solely curatorial. We make a grave mistake if we focus only on what made sense in other cultures. Art and rites of passage both have a second main function, a creative function. They must be recreated constantly to fit the needs of the present time. (Oldfield, 1996:149)

In proposing a model for contemporary passage rites that could be utilized by outdoor education, I draw on the work of Steven Foster and Meredith Little (1988, 1997, 1998a). Foster and Little have spent decades restoring passage rites to contemporary culture, articulating indigenous and contemporary ecopsychological teachings within a framework that is accessible to the contemporary psyche. Their formulation of the four directions developmental wheel (1998a) (similar to Plotkins developmental wheel, but simplified into four life stages: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and elderhood); together with their development of a contemporary model of practice incorporating all three stages of a passage rite, have been adapted by organizations around the globe seeking to re-invigorate rites of passage in modern times. The core of Foster and Littles model is a four-day and night solo threshold or liminal period, bookended by a number of days beforehand in preparation and a number of days afterward for incorporation. For youth, a three day and night solo is

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more commonly the norm. What is significant about the duration of this model (typically 8-10 days) is that it is not outside a timeframe available to outdoor education programming. Such a model, whilst it draws on the wisdom of traditional practices, is not a replication of them, but a reformulation and expansion, developed in order to meet the psychological composition of those living within contemporary culture. The significance of the solo as a liminal experience in the natural world is reflected in its pan-cultural adoption by a diverse range of pre-industrial cultures (Smith, 2005). The solo has also been a guiding experience for many contemporary elders, for example: Goodall (1999), Thoreau (1981), Muir (1992), Leopold (1968), Snyder (1990); whose works have invited the modern psyche to reflect upon our relationship with the wider natural world, as well as with issues of social justice. The value of the solo has been noted within outdoor education, contributing toward the processes of self-discovery and empowerment, environmental connection and spiritual development (Knapp & Smith, 2005; Greenway, 1995; Andrews, 1999; Daniel, 2005; Daniel et al., 2009a, 2009b; Riley & Hendee, 1999; Bodkin & Sartor, 2005). The data supporting such claims is drawn primarily from participant interviews, questionnaires and informal feedback. As with the literature on the efficacy of the rites of passage model within outdoor education, there is a lack of empirical research on how the transference of learning from such experiences is maintained, or developed over the long term. Below I offer an outline of the three stages of a contemporary passage rite, incorporating the solo as the threshold experience. Even though the transition into adulthood is the focus of this paper, and how this model is perhaps most widely used, it could as equally well be adapted to support other developmental stages or life

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transitions. I present the framework here as a basic template the bare bones, that could be adapted and elaborated upon depending on need. However, it would be important not to neglect attention to any of the three stages in making use of the model.

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CHAPTER EIGHT Preparation We have to talk about the fact that our lives need to be purposeful and have meaning because it is that sense of purpose and meaning that will attract us, will pull us, toward the future that we want to see. (Kool, 2010:6) Bobilya, McAvoy & Kalisch (2005) argue that the preparation instructors provide students prior to sending them alone into wilderness is critical in its influence on outcomes for participants. Inadequate attention to the phase of preparation before the threshold, and to the phase of incorporation after the threshold, is a frequent criticism within the literature on utilizing the solo within outdoor education (Smith and Knapp, 2005; Daniel, 2005; Daniel et al. 2009a, 2009b). Smith and Knapp (2005) also note that a lack of understanding regarding the context of the solo results in a diminished experience, lacking in meaning for students. Smith (2005) asks, can the mountains always speak for themselves? Suggesting that although the container of the non-human world is significant, the underlying philosophical framework of the solo is equally significant. Participants need to understand the context within which they approach periods of solitude, the soloist must be prepared to listen to the mountains (Smith, 2005:5). I suggest here that the use of the solo as a liminal experience, in support of a passage rite into conscious adulthood, places it in a meaningful context and can bring vitality and depth to the experience of solo. Ideally individuals wishing to participate in a passage rite should be well informed and prepared before the event. Traditionally this may have begun weeks, months or years before the period of liminality (van Gennep, 1960). As outdoor educators our contact with participants may well be limited both before and after a program. Although this is not ideal, there are a number of elements in preparation for

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the threshold that can be adapted to fit within the more modest time frame we may have available. Initially it would be important to adequately explore with participants what is understood by a rite of passage, with emphasis on the distinguishing features particular to contemporary passage rites. During preparation I consciously emphasize the underlying intention of this work, as I understand it: to support a considered life, that in turn finds embodiment in cultural renewal and ecological consciousness. Spending time to introduce the developmental wheel that one is working from at this time is also useful, as it invites reflection on the particular life stages of participants and the corresponding developmental tasks. Traditionally, initiates would have clarity regarding the passage they were undertaking. In contemporary culture, as I have discussed, the passage into adulthood is far more ambiguous, and thus it is important for the initiate to consciously engage in a process of clarifying intention. Exploring intent is the primary tool for preparation that has been utilized by Foster and Little. Exploring intent is typically done in a talking or sharing circle using the council format (Zimerman and Coyle, 2009). In the intent council we hear of the initiates wider life and why they have come to undertake a passage rite: what they are seeking to gain, understand or mark through such a rite. Guides play an important role in assisting the initiate to clarify intent, through asking questions that are pertinent to the moratorium, serving to support the individual in their process of reflection (Smith, 2005). In this manner, as educators we function as facilitator and provocateur rather than authority (Merizow, 1997:10), questioning and inquiring with the initiate, rather than supplying ready prescriptions for what it means to be a man or woman for example (Oldfield, 1996).

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Through this process we are seeking to bring to consciousness, that which may have already been percolating within the initiates life. Essentially we are stirring the pot or tilling the soil, so that the upcoming threshold period is as fertile as possible for whatever seeds may be germinating within the individual. We are inquiring and probing with the initiate into who they are at their core, what they are called toward, and their sense of the unique gift that their life is to this world. Such inquiry takes the form of an emergent, dynamic conversation. Questions that can contribute to such a dialogue may include for example: What brings you alive? Who are you? What does it mean to be a man or a woman? What challenges do you face now in your life, and what do they call forth from you? What old ways of living and behaving no longer serve you, what do you need to relinquish? What do you need to mark or claim in your life? Who are your people and who or what do you serve? What do you belong to? What do you yearn to commit to, so when your time to comes to die you will not regret your life? Again, the role of the elder or guide is not prescriptive but facilitative, probing into and highlighting that which is already there within the individual, yet perhaps needing conscious recognition and validation. It can take a degree of courage and vulnerability on the part of the initiate to reveal and acknowledge ones inner life, ones aspirations or callings, as well as ones doubt or uncertainty. Supporting this process requires both skill and sensitivity on the part of the guide, as well as the creation of a container that is safe and conductive for such shared inquiry. There is value in exploring such work in council, with each participant sharing and being witnessed by the whole group. As we witness others stories, we come to recognize that although our personal challenges remain unique, there are collective, even archetypal challenges we face in simply being human, and through

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living within the cultural milieu. Witnessing these collective challenges can serve to normalize, rather than pathologize our personal variations of these collective human challenges. Unlike traditional western psychology the emphasis in this work is not on what is broken. An ecocentric model of human development can however assist us in clarifying what qualities may be missing from our embodiment of wholeness. Missing psychological qualities might be, for example, innocence, wonder, body awareness, nature reverence, creativity, and the development of virtue and values (Plotkin, 2008:21). For an individual to be called to engage in a passage rite, the process of inquiry as to identity, meaning and purpose is likely to be quite alive. Our questioning as guides serves to deepen and validate this process, which for far too many individuals is neglected within our homes, our culture and our educational system. Through such this process we recognise the demanding challenge of finding and embodying genuine identity, and the important questioning and inquiry that underlies this. Such inquiry is a prerequisite to change and innovation in a persons life (Levoy, 1997), and in this context provides the initiate with greater clarity as to what the passage rite is birthing or marking in their life, and how the threshold time may serve in this. A further element of preparation includes introducing the three taboos commonly associated with contemporary wilderness passage rites. These include prohibitions on shelter, food (except for medical reasons) and companionship. The taboo on shelter can be interpreted to mean any shelter that would enclose one from the natural world, i.e. a tent (A sleeping bag and a tarp for inclement weather can be used to prevent hypothermia). Fasting in particular, for people from the industrialized world can be a challenge, both psychologically and physically. We are simply not

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used to going without food, at any time of the day we desire. The reason for prohibitions or taboos in both traditional and contemporary passage rites is to heighten the sense of ordeal. Ordeal in this context is a challenging event quite outside of ones regular experience, and thus more likely to be carved deeply into the psyche (Campbell, 1949). Campbell offers that implicit in such an experience is the opportunity for the initiates to test themselves, to find their inner strength and resolve serving to empower the individual in living a more courageous life. In respect to the unique physical and psychological challenges presented by solo fasting in wilderness with minimal equipment, guides should be well versed in preparing initiates to safely undergo such a threshold experience (Foster and Little, 1998b; Knapp, 2005). This necessitates prior personal experience of the rite, including the solo, and the physical effects of fasting.

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CHAPTER NINE Threshold I have a feeling that my boat has struck, down there in the depths, against a great thing. And nothing happens! Nothing Silence Waves Nothing happens? Or has everything happened, and are we standing now, quietly, in the new life? (Juan Ramon Jimenez, 1999) The use of the word threshold hints at the process that an individual undergoes during this time. During the threshold the wheat is threshed from the chaff: that which nourishes ones life becomes more apparent, and that which no longer serves ones identity, can begin to be relinquished. The liminal experience supports a discerning reflection of ones life through creating a reprieve from habitual psychological pathways. In severing from the engagements, distractions and entertainments of human culture with which we clothe and identify ourselves, we gain perspective on that which we were previously ensconced within (Andrews, 1999). We begin to see what lies underneath our busyness and our compulsions. However, the threshold invites not only personal introspection, but also reflection on the wider context of ones life the cultural narrative in which we live:

In such situations as the liminal periods of major rites de passage the passengers and crew are free, under ritual exigency, to contemplate for a while the mysteries that confront all men, the difficulties that peculiarly beset their own society, their personal problems, and the ways in which their own

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wisest predecessors have sought to order, explain, explain away, cloak or mask these mysteries and difficulties. (Turner, 1974: 241-2)

Liminal experiences in the wider natural world also provide the opportunity to experience the larger ecological context within which the cultural narrative is held. The land itself serves as our cocoon, the container within which we explore and uncover identity, both personal and collective. In speaking of the development of an ecologically informed identity, Wattchow (2005:14) emphasizes the fundamental importance of experiencing [italics added] and the crucial contribution of place in identity formation and sustenance. Wattchow further comments that outdoor education, which itself places such faith in meaning derived through direct experience, has a pedagogical advantage in teaching and learning this complex amalgam of nature, culture, identity and body this thing we call relationship (2005:13-4). Through such an experiential exploration of relationship, we may discover that our own identity is in some way influenced by that which is not human: that the wider natural world plays a part in shaping who we are. This is the blossoming of ecological identity: a sense of belonging born through giving conscious attention to how ones experience is mediated and informed by ecological environments (Perluss, 2004). Such an exploration is not a conceptual abstraction of some generalised nature, but rather is born of personal intimacy with the particular. The initiate is invited to become attuned to the nuances of the natural world, and to experience how these inform her identity. The unique and intricate form of a decaying leaf, the twisting body of a burnt pine, the naked expanse of desert floor or heather clad hill laid out before us permeate our senses, influence our thoughts, and are part of the experience

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we call me.

Nature is a great teacher, she is a mirror. She reflects back to us our internal condition. If we are angry and look out on nature, we see symbols and images of anger. If we are unhappy we see symbols and images of our unhappiness this is perhaps one of the most important ways in which nature teaches us she reflects back to us what we happen to be feeling and thinking in any given moment. Thats an old, old teaching and an old understanding. In the mirror of nature people can find images and symbols of their own power, their own gifts, their own abilities, or, what the native people called their own medicine. And the beauty of it is there is no judgment, there is only being seen People come back [from the liminal experience] recognizing their own wounds and their own hurts as well as their gifts. And they come back with the ability to accept these because they feel they have been so accepted by the land. (Foster and Little, 2012)

We are invited to enter into communion with the sensuous world, to become receptive as to how it may inform us of who we are. We may ask a particular rock, What do I stand for? or speak to the old Oak about our wounds and yearnings and listen for what is evoked within us. We may reflect on the manner in which the Juniper endures the adversities of heat and cold. Whilst some may conceive of such engagements as anthropocentric self-cherishing, I would argue that this view is in itself anthropocentric: namely regarding humans as the sole locus of intelligence:

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By acknowledging such links between the inner, psychological world and the perceptual terrain that surrounds us, we begin to turn inside-out, loosening the psyche from its confinement within a strictly human sphere, freeing sentience to return to the sensible world that contains us. Intelligence is no longer ours alone but is a property of the earth; we are in it, of it, immersed in its depths. (Abram 1996: 262)

Attending closely to the wider natural world can also reveal the universal processes that inform all life. The nature of mutual reciprocity or interdependence, and the impermanence of all phenomena are two such insights, that when deepened, can have profound effect on our lives. Furthermore, through such acts of communion, we may come to find that experience itself arises as an emergent property of relationship. What could such an experiential understanding of this have on our lives? Gary Snyder (1995:189) in seeking to explore the question, How does knowledge of place help us know the Self? writes:

The answer, simply put, is that we are all composite [italics added] beings, not only physically but intellectually, whose sole individual identifying feature is a particular form or structure changing constantly in time. There is no self to be found in that, and yet oddly enough, there is...

We do have a particular identity, yet this identity is only created and re-created through particular relationships at particular times. If our relationships are solely within the encompassing and enclosing world of human construction, then our values and identity will be defined through this medium. If we make space to allow the

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wider sensuous ecological world to influence our identity, then our felt sense of who we are and what we belong to will be recast accordingly, subsequently finding expression through our lives. Here we begin to see how such work unifies Plotkins cultural and natural tasks by providing the opportunity for a depth of inquiry into personal identity, yet with within the embrace of the wider natural world. When one experiences the natural world as refuge, as the fertile collaborator for insightful inquiry into ones identity and orientation in life, could this not then induce a sense of care toward the more-than-human world? Chawla (1998:381), in a review of the research exploring experiences that have influenced environmental sensitivity found that Contact with natural areas has emerged a one of the most significant influences in all of the studies reviewed However, such relationships with the natural world are deeply personal and hard to quantify. Furthermore, the link between environmental values and environmental practice is not a linear causal relationship, but far more complex (Kempton & Holland, 2003). To suggest that certain pro-environmental behaviours are reducible to a particular experience or relationship with the natural world, is to my mind overly reductionist. However, I will suggest that it is through the influence of such relationships, that an ethic of care for the wider natural world receives sustenance (Mayer & Frantz, 2004). How could we ever care for that with which we have no sensitive relationship? I have often wondered, after seeing the brightness in the eyes of participants returning from solo and finding myself touched by the empowering stories from the threshold time, what long-term effect this experience may have on the lives of participants? How does such an experience influence their capacity to care for the wider biological world, their inclination to build community and to deepen their

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appreciation for their own life? Although I yearn for a reassuring clarity in this regard, I may never comprehensively understand what the contribution of such an experience may be to an individuals life, nor to my own for that matter. I do know that when I sit in council and hear the stories from the threshold time, spoken in the context of the initiates wider life, there arises within me a deep appreciation for this human journey as manifested through an individual life. I am renewed in my faith in the human community, and what might be possible for us, if as a collective we were to live conscious, committed lives.

when it comes time to assess or to prove what students have learned outdoors, effort always comes down to functional, testable, knowledge the names, the facts, the figures. The rest of the outdoor experience, the part that lingers in the heart, that goes home in story form, the part that touches the world; these are almost always eclipsed by the need to appropriate, commodify and quantify what is learned. We seem to know very little about the affective bonds to place (Raffan, 1993:41)

However, we must still attend to the question of incorporation, and how a significant liminal experience can be supported, so that the fruits of this experience can be meaningfully integrated and continue to grow within the individuals wider life.

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CHAPTER TEN Incorporation Elders have a foot on the side of the youth able to recall the desperate feelings of not belonging that can cause violence and alienation. The other foot must rest on the ground where completion was found [elders] must be able to recall times of wholeness and acceptance finding a sense of being at home in the world. If elders and mentors cannot hold the doors of acceptance open, how can youth trust any authority or deeply value their lives and the lives of others? Why should young people suffer the ordeals of self-knowledge if theres no one waiting to welcome them home? (Meade, 1996)

Outdoor educations use of a rites of passage model has received justified criticism regarding the lack of attention to the phase of reincorporation. Cushing has stated that most outdoor programs utilizing the rites of passage model do not develop the appropriate reincorporation activities and this limits the longevity of the transformation (1997:7). Cushing continues, The effect of this neglect of longevity should be of prime concern since our trade is often accused of not being able to show any lasting results beyond a short-term boost in the students wellbeing (Cushing, 1997:9). Research has however suggested that some outdoor education programs can indeed have particularly strong and lasting effects, which often increase over time (Hattie et al., 1997). Bell suggests that expectations and social pressure may be the most important part of the traditional rites of passage model. In remarking on the lack of social reinforcement after the liminal experience in contemporary use of the model within outdoor education, Bell (2003:3) comments, Students often return to an environment lacking the formal social mechanisms for maintaining change. Cushing (1999), in a

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similar vein states that both the new knowledge of the returning initiates and the social pressure of the community, act together to support and sustain a transformation to a new role, and if the later is lacking then the reincorporation will be less effective. Some of this criticism I feel, stems from viewing a contemporary passage rite through the same lens as a traditional passage rite, i.e. with an emphasis on the transition to a new social role or status. Yet, even if we are more concerned with a rite of passage as a process of inner transformation, emphasizing psychological maturity and development, the degree of support, or lack of it in the individuals wider environment, will still influence their capacity to embody any inner transformation. We must inquire as to the means through which we can support the transference or incorporation of learning into the initiates wider life. Cushing (1997, 1999) offers a number of directions for practice that serve to bridge the initiates liminal phase with their home environment. Here I will focus on the element of story council, which has been the main component for supporting incorporation in Foster and Littles work. This corresponds to Cushings (1997) opportunity to express, and again could be facilitated within the time constraints of outdoor programming. In story council we hear the individuals experience or story of the threshold time, in the context of their underlying intent in undergoing a passage rite at this juncture in their lives. The initiate is invited to share their encounter with themself, and their relationship with the more-than-human world, what was evoked in them, what challenges they faced and how they faced them, and how their experience informed their understanding about who they are and their place in the world. In particular they are invited to share what they feel this experience signifies for their life back home. This process is again very effective in a council format, allowing each person to be witnessed and affirmed by the whole group, as well as receiving the

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benefit from hearing others stories. We use the story council as a means of supporting the individual in reviewing, validating and understanding their experience in the context of their wider life.

In order to provide the details of life experiences in the form of a story, individuals are forced to reflect on those experiences, to select the salient aspects, and to order them into a coherent whole. It is this process of reflection and making sense out of experience that makes telling stories a meaning making activity. (Elliot, 2005:24)

We do live our lives through story or narrative. The stories we tell ourselves about who we are and what our purpose is direct our lives. A person is always a teller of stories, he lives surrounded by his stories and those of other people. He sees everything that happens to him in terms of these stories, and he tries to live his life as if he were recounting it (Sartre, as cited by Cushing, 1997: 9). Our challenge is to make these stories conscious, rather than living out of them unconsciously. Inviting participants to tell the story of their threshold time in council acknowledges that their own stories and experiences have value and deserve to be heard. This process is enhanced through the practice of mirroring by the guides. Skilful mirroring involves reflecting an individuals story back to them, highlighting the wisdom, courage, dedication, learning etc. that is woven into an individuals story, whether this is implicit or explicit. The guides reflection serves to affirm and empower the individual and their experience, situating it within the context of their wider life. The practice of mirroring an individuals story is an art, requiring a heartfelt listening; a genuine interest and care for the individual who is sharing their

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story. It also requires an attentive perception to the details of the story, and how these may influence and integrate within the individuals wider life, as was spoken of during preparation in the intent council. It is extremely difficult to express in writing the depth of empathy, appreciation and inspiration that arises in story council, through witnessing the vulnerability, courage and uniqueness of the individual. In my experience, this is perhaps one of the most touching aspects of the whole ceremony, revealing and embracing both the potentials and the challenges of the human condition. Through story council we are seeking to convey that the individual belongs here, has a place within the human community and the wider earth community, and furthermore that the gifts they bring, at whatever age or developmental stage, are valued, are in fact needed. If this can be communicated in a genuine manner such that the individual recognizes this as truth, then I would say we have done a good measure of our work as educators. As Kurt Hahn (2011) has remarked: There are three ways of trying to win the young... You can preach at themthat is a hook without a worm. You can say, You must volunteerthat is of the devil. And you can tell them, You are neededthat appeal hardly ever fails.

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PART FOUR CHAPTER ELEVEN Discussion This rite of passage however, was not what made you into an adult. This first initiation only made you ripe enough to continue on in a lifelong pursuit of turning yourself into an adult (Pretchel, 1990) In the model I have presented, the solo has a prominent feature as the liminal experience. Although the literature suggests positive generalizations about the solo experience for adolescents (Andrews, 1999; Knapp & Smith, 2005; Greenway, 1995; Daniel, 2005; Daniel et al., 2009a, 2009b), concern has been voiced regarding the observed gap between stated objectives for solo and the immense variety of student responses (Maxted, 2005:124). Solo can be a challenging time; loneliness, boredom, fear and anxiety are not uncommon at times, and students are challenged to draw on personal resources to meet the contents of their own mind. This can be particularly challenging when the experience is not freely chosen,2 or for adolescents who have underdeveloped skills to adequately facilitate their own self-examination, selfdiscovery, and reconstruction (Maxted, 2005:129). Maxted (2005:126) argues that 2 This presents particular challenges for wilderness therapy programming which utilize adaptations of a rites of passage model. The incorporation of a voluntary liminal period (solo), within a program that participants have not freely chosen to participate in, has been effective in maintaining a degree of autonomy and commitment to the process. (C. Kaiser, personal communication, July 2011; Pacific Quest (http://www.pacificquest.org/)).

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there is a need for carefully crafted experiences, with participants well supported with pre-solo training and post-experience de-briefing at an individual level. I suggest that the structure of a contemporary rites of passage model can support such carefully crafted experiences; highlighting the importance of preparing the individual to meet both the challenges and opportunities of the liminal phase, as well as attending to how the solo experience may be meaningfully incorporated into the individuals wider life. In this model, the role of the facilitator or guide, supporting the individual in the process of making meaning out of their experience is crucial (Knapp, 2005; Bobilya, McAvoy & Kalisch, 2005). I believe that to skilfully facilitate such work requires an experiential grounding in a model of human development, and preferably one that is ecologically inclusive. Even though outdoor education has in some areas acknowledged that a relationship with the natural world needs to be an integral part of programming (Martin, 2004; Wattchow, 2005), I believe that many outdoor educators lack familiarity, and thus commitment, to an ecologically inclusive philosophy of practice. Our personal narrative, and how we perceive the wider narrative and needs of our times will affect what we find worthy of consideration within outdoor education programming. This work invites us to develop an on-going communion with the more-thanhuman world, as well as an examination of the ways in which we make meaning of our own life. We are required to explore what constitutes conscious adulthood including the narratives we live by, and how these are embodied in our lives. If participants need a degree of introspective maturity and a clear intention to engage in this work, then so do we as guides or educators. The model I have presented here also requires a personal familiarity with the solo as a liminal experience within the context

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of a contemporary passage rite, not a common experience in the training of outdoor educators. The adoption of such a model within outdoor education would require that the institutions and organizations responsible for training outdoor educators have a comprehensive understanding of the educational potentials of solo, as without personal experience educators are less likely to advocate its use (Potter & OConnell, 2005). I also recognize, that engaging in such a rite of passage and fasting alone for a number of days in the wilderness, is not what most young people in our culture are called to, much as I may wish otherwise. Perhaps to some degree this is because of a lack of exposure and understanding. But I also acknowledge that within an increasingly secular, urban and comfort driven culture, undergoing such an ordeal may appear uninviting. It demands much from the participant, inwardly as much as outwardly, it is not an adventure in a bun (Loynes, 1998). And yet, there will always be some who are called, just as there will always be those who are called to support such work. This paper has emphasized the importance of developing meaningful, affective relationships with the wider natural world; the experience of wilderness as refuge, contributing to our own well-being and self-understanding. However, promoting experience within wilderness as a meaningful or necessary educational endeavour is not without critique. Outdoor education has been challenged because of its bias toward pristine wilderness, and the implicit devaluing of urban environments for experiential learning (Ungar, 2003). Ungar has argued that the urban environment is the primary learning environment for youth, and accuses outdoor programming of promoting the idea that nature as teacher, or source of spiritual communion is found in places other than

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which most people live. Haluza- Delay, investigating how we make meaning of wilderness experience, also reports that outdoor programming can act to reinforce the perceived dichotomy between humans and the natural world. If nature is felt to be out there, and humans and our urban environments are experienced as separate from it, then nature may have little meaning in our everyday life (2001:6). Haluza- Delay suggests that such a mind-set may be the fundamental environmental problem. Outdoor education does have a unique and important responsibility in offering experiences in wild environments, where humans do not entirely dominate. I feel we would be missing something as a people if we had no contact with such environments. We need to experience that our own life, and indeed our culture is a subset of the wider biological world, and not the other way around (Orr, 1991). It is also evident that unless we make the connections between wilderness and the human environment, we may indeed reinforce the dissociation between humans and the biosphere, resulting in the challenges we face today. An underlying ecocentric philosophy of practice, and the three phases of the rites of passage model could be a useful framework for outdoor education in this regard. The model acknowledges the importance of consciously cultivating a relationship with the more-than-human world, yet contextualizes this relationship as a formative element in the on-going development of identity, and personal narrative. Through consciously experiencing the influence of the wider natural world on our own evolving identity, an ethic of care toward the more-than-human world could be strengthened. Any such experience however, must be meaningfully transferred and nourished in the home environment. Giving attention to the phases of preparation and incorporation can support the transference of learning through emphasising the context to this work, namely, supporting the individual to live a considered and

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courageous life that is of benefit to self, others and our wider environment. Such elements entail more than simply frontloading or de-briefing an experience, but act to place the whole experience in the appropriate context, i.e. the individuals wider life and engagement with the world. Although the phases of preparation and incorporation can be explored in the field, there is indication that transference of learning could be more sustained when these elements are engaged within the home environment. Ungar (2003) suggests that providing programming that integrates a relationship with place in both wild and urban settings, demonstrates an appreciation for the complexity and challenges of living within the urban environment. Lougheed (2012) has reported on the benefits to young participants when a wilderness experience is complemented by providing subsequent urban components, including mentoring over a number of months. Transformative learning theory acknowledges the emancipatory learning gained through wilderness experiences, yet also suggests that outdoor education might further contribute to the instrumental goals of environmental education while retaining its emancipatory outcomes, through connecting on-course to post-course learning, action, and community (Krasny, & DAmato, 2011: 13). Chawla & Cushing (2007) likewise argue that combining experiences in nature with opportunities to become engaged in environmental action is necessary for sustaining environmental behaviour. Such practices have begun to be adopted by some organizations supporting contemporary wilderness rites of passage. Wilderness Reflections (http://www.wildernessreflections.com/) for example, holds seasonal gatherings in their local area, open to all participants who have undergone a wilderness passage rite, as a further means of supporting the incorporation phase. This however, is the exception to the norm.

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The challenges of transference reveal, I believe, one of the significant weaknesses of contemporary wilderness rites of passage, and of outdoor education in general: the lack of continuity, or any sense of on-going relationship with participants. The vast majority of my own work as an outdoor educator has been with people I have no acquaintance with, either before or after a program. This situation is I feel, a reflection on the transiency and loss of meaningful community in contemporary culture, which has repercussions in many areas of life. How can we come to develop meaningful relationships with those with whom we work, when we have no personal history, or future with them as individuals? There is clear indication for further inquiry and practice regarding the integration of outdoor experiences within the wider life and environment of the individual. For young people, the adoption of outdoor education in both urban and wilderness settings, as an integrated curricular component of schooling, could provide the continuity and integration of experiences needed for a meaningful and sustained transfer of learning. Such an offering could also provide an effective experiential foundation for the important concept-based environmental education that is learnt indoors. Eagle Rock School (http://www.eaglerockschool.org/) and the Sierra Institute (http://www.humboldt.edu/sierra/) are examples of high school and college level institutions successfully engaging with such a model. To my mind, perhaps the most significant contribution of a continuity of practice with individuals would be the opportunity to engage in meaningful mentoring relationships over time. This demonstrates an enduring commitment to the genuine educare of the individual. It may be that with an expanded definition of education, and the arising of genuine community, that we once again embrace rites of passage as an integral part of culture. This would require reclaiming the education of our young as a responsibility of the

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people, rather than the relinquishment of this task to the institution of education.

CHAPTER TWELVE Conclusion You walking, your footprints are The road, and nothing else; There is no road, walker, You make the road by walking (Antonio Mechado, 1999) In this dissertation I have suggested that there is a need for an ecologically inclusive philosophy of practice for outdoor education, highlighting the interdependence of ecological and human well-being. In support of this philosophy, I have proposed that an understanding of an ecocentric model of human development could be instructive. Such a framework could inform programming goals for specific developmental stages, serving to validate and unify both cultural and natural developmental tasks. In this regard, outdoor education has a unique and important role, through supporting affective and experiential modes of knowing and relating to the wider natural world. Focusing on the stage of adolescence, and the importance of supporting the moratorium in the development of identity, I put forward a rites of passage model as being appropriate for this task. I further suggested that utilizing a wilderness solo, as the liminal experience, could be conducive to consciously acknowledging the influence of the more-than-human world in the formation of identity. The literature on the rites of passage model within outdoor education suggests a need for clarity in a number of areas: contextualizing the model; understanding the differences between traditional and contemporary passage rites; and the need for greater emphasis on the phases of preparation and incorporation.

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Synthesising and integrating the above material, I offered an outline of a contemporary wilderness rites of passage model, supporting individuation within the context of ecological identity. Some of the challenges of adopting such a model within outdoor education were considered. In particular, the integration of wilderness experiences into the wider life and environment of the individual will require significant attention if the transfer of learning is to be optimally supported. It has been suggested that our culture itself is undergoing an adolescent rite of passage at this time (Judith, 2006), attempting to transition from a phase of selfcentred and reactive childhood, into a mature and life-giving adulthood. This process requires the descent: the sustained and penetrating look into our personal and collective lives, the shadows and gifts both. If we dont take the opportunity to do the work that is required of us to develop into mature conscious adults, we will continue to exert the power and force of adulthood on this world, but from within the psyche of the child. The result is the world we currently inhabit. The path to a global citizenship of mature, compassionate and engaged adults will not be a short one, and yet I do believe it is possible. The first step depends upon the last, the vision we have of the world we want to live in. Yet the last step also depends upon the first, the actions and endeavours of our daily lives that bring forth a future. Between these two, education finds its home. In this regard, Meade (1996b: 27) has remarked: There may be no time more suited to the study of rites of passage than the threshold between the end of modernity and the uncertain future of humanity.

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Slowly The wind and the rain Will sweep our footsteps clean The small bruised plants We could not help but step on Will heal and resume their growth Our purpose circles dismantled, Our voices fade into the stones To the eye we have left no trace, And that is good But this place will remember us Holding our cries and our prayers deep in her bones The Land remembers us And we remember Her. - Walker

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APPENDIX 1 Ecocentric Developmental Wheel

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APPENDIX 2 Voices from the threshold

The most helpful guide for me on my vision fast was a Grandmother tree whom I would go to and talk to each day about what would be the best way to serve my intention to serve as a healer for my community. This tree helped me confront the shame I feel at times to speak about my connection with the natural world in a spiritual way. Each day she gave me a task or challenge to accomplish. And lastly most impressive to me was the stories of others peoples journeys. I was very moved by the depth of peoples healing and the ways we were all spoken to so clearly by the Earth. My own story felt like a painful womens story about losing connection to ones worth and truth and then claiming it back. Finding permission to engage with oneself and the natural world in a vulnerable and intimate manner. Having the courage and curiosity to slow down and listen deeply to ones own heart. To engage without having to produce a product, to have made ones time valuable. There was a series of women's stories told in our circle. Each one giving permission to the next, each diving deeper and deeper into the the collective wound of being used and illigitimazed as a valuable soul. There was great healing in the telling of the story. In many ways it felt like a spell had be broken and that each woman would be engaging with themselves and the world in a whole new way. I keep thinking about what one of the guides kept saying about it all being an illusion unless you can take it back and serve your community. I have really taken that to heart. This work has motivated me to offer more ceremony to myself and community so that the Vision Fast was not just some random event in my life. I believe that what I was seeking was a way to integrate this connection into all of my life. Those days out there have given me the courage to pursue that integration. - Josie

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There is a place inside each of us that has never been wounded, where there is a sureness, a seamlessness, a confidence and tranquility The vision fast ceremony offered the context for me to visit and linger in that place and discover there a new habitat for my life and a new way to inhabit my life ---more sure, more trusting, more willing to embrace and enliven the dreams and longings that invite me from outside myself, meeting that which is emerging from within ---and bring back to the world a fuller expression of my gifts and being. I did come to understand in a much more direct and profound way the lack of separation between human and nature. Human nature, earth nature, tree nature, critter nature are all fundamentally nature ---I am able to love humanity better now even in the face of what I have considered our folly and violation. That opening will allow me to bring more compassion, love and respect to really whatever work I do with humans, but in particular whatever work I do bringing human natures into the wider world of the many other natures for reunion, renewal, re-membering. This came alive for me: The wild places, the land and all that lives (animate and inanimate) on and within has spirit and soul. Human nature isnt the only nature that embodies and experiences and emotes the mystical, the mythical, the ethereal, the spiritual. I know I have known this forever, but I get it now, I relate to it now more profoundly, more viscerally The time we spent in the forest with the group before and after the threshold time was moving and profound. As each faster grappled with their intention and came to an articulation of that, it became very clear that each individual was doing some piece of work for each of the rest of us and most likely work for the world. The same was true after the threshold as each person told their story and those stories were mirrored by the guides. What went on during the four threshold days was bigger that any one individual and represented gifts for the whole. - Margaret

My sense of belonging has definitely been influenced because of the process. I know now, for the first time ever, about what my right-sized place in the world consists of So, an extremely important part of the process, for me, is this ability to define for myself, for the first time, my right place in the world. - Mary-Anne

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A reconnection with nature. I think this is the greatest gift. It also gave me a moment of pause from the world where I could begin to inhabit my true body - not just my busy always on the move body. A greater sense that I am a part of the world I live in - not just a visitor passing through. An appreciation for time (there is so much of it when you are not monitored by clocks and schedules and to do lists), and a relationship with my shadow side. It also gave me a sense of community I was lacking. The initiation itself was powerful Most definitely it has made me feel a responsibility to protect mother earth and to do what I can to be gentle with the nature in my immediate world. I also have taken to riding my bike more and using the car less. I have an appreciation for plants and trees now that they have something to teach me. I still talk to them. I learned that my story is not so unique. Many people in our circle had deep pains and they were mostly tied to being cut off from community or from self. I was very moved by witnessing my communities stories; this was as powerful as being out on the land. We cannot heal alone. The other thing is that although I came to a deep place out there - the healing is still just beginning. I still am facing a lot of the same fears and anxieties about myself and my place in the world - yet I think I am doing it in a more authentic and change informing way now that I have been through the rites of passage. - James

Somehow, going out is about community. I dont quite understand, yet I know this is true. I dont know if this fits here, but I say prayers now. When we went out, I said prayers every day for guides and for fellow fasters. I have not had a habit of prayer, certainly not a daily one. It just sort of happened. I am not really able to put my belief into words, not even to my self, but there is faith now. We say prayers for guides and for fellow fasters, nothing complicated, just asking that they be well and that they may follow their paths. We pray as a way to continue to care for them and to give to them. As a way to love. I think that is community too. Is life different since going out? Does this work really have any lasting impact? It is hard to express and measure a 'before and after' type of difference. But I would think for most people there would be one. At last circle, guides talked about incorporation, which to me means making what happened on fast become an on-going part of one's life. Taking care of what was learned and felt. And guides talked about how difficult that could be. The changes that happen are part of a journey, not some magic fix that makes you suddenly better. The experience is a gift, but one that requires being taken care of if you want to keep it. Life is different, but it is still often hard And I am still working to take care of the gifts given by the time fasting and the times before and after with fellow fasters. We will do the work but we will also trust. We ask for the strength to trust. We would claim our place in the circle of life. We would live on the Earth til she takes us back again. - Walker