Teen’s Rites of Passage
Humans have marked puberty rites of passage into adolescence for time immemorial. Becoming a teen is a big deal! This is a formative time, ripe with opportunities for giving teens healthy practices to carry them through one of the most intense developmental seasons in life. In many cultures, rites of passage might be also paired with an initiatory wilderness fast/vision quest.
We recommend kids first do a rite of passage into the transitionary years of middle school and early adolescence, and then subsequently take on a longer initiation quest sometime during high school.
Illuman of Washington, along with our partners at Journeymen, are making space for both the rites and the subsequent initiatory quest.
Our Partner: Journeymen
Since 2016, Journeymen has partnered with 5 different schools in the Puget Sound area to provide weekly in-school mentorship to 150+ boys and welcomed over 100 youth through their Rites of Passage experiences. Journeymen was founded in 2016 by Nicky Wilkes and Alex Craighead. Their work with youth has been remarkable. Such deep gratitude for how they are moving through the world…and for them partnering with us.
Journeymen shares a great deal with Illuman, except it focuses primarily on youth, offering rites of passage, council, wilderness wanderings, and other similar practices to help youth develop into healthy human beings. Our partnership with Journeymen is making Illuman Rising a reality!
For children of other genders
While Growing Teens is only offered for teen boys, there are other organizations offering similar Rites of Passage experiences for girls and non-binary youth, as well as anyone for whom these categories do not fit.
Check out the Youth Programs offered by Rites of Passage Journeys for more information on these options.
Ekone Ranch also offers a variety of youth camps that might be of interest to your teen.