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BEGINNING

Healing Support

This is an 10 week course that leads you on a therapeutic (healing) journey to process your past and imagine your future. A passage marks a transition from one stage of life or healing to another, from darkness into dawn, and our pandemic can be seen as a form of darkness with simultaneous crisis that affect our physical and mental health. Moving through the stages of preparation, separation, transformation, and integration, you discover a new sense of hope and resilience. Coupling individual and group work to provide safe passage, this is a class that helps you renew your sense of safety and resiliency, allowing you to step more fully into your future as you separate from and integrate your past.

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This offering comes with a six month monthly drop-in and one complimentary session with Heather.

A Creative Approach

Circle Passages is a rite of passage designed to help you find yourself and your way as you embark on a healing journey in your life. The rite of passage is an ancient approach that research shows helps you: improve your mood, health, and satisfaction with life. Undergoing a rite of passage helps you think more critically and imaginatively, decreasing your attachment and humbling you. A rite of passage makes you value and love yourself, life, and others more, cultivating a sense of connection and belonging to the natural world. 
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Why a KIT?


A kit is a slightly shorter and more independent path, offering an ongoing monthly drop-in versus bi-weekly and one session versus 2 with Heather.

Who is this path for?

This path is for anyone who is ready to take the next step on the path of their own healing transformation. Are you called to move deeper into a more intimate connection with yourself, others, and the world? Do you want to have a meaningful and transformational experience that can help you know and love yourself more fully? Following in the footsteps of rites of passage throughout time, this course is designed to lead you to a new name, identity, life, and purpose as well as to better health.

What people are saying . . . 

Rites of passage lead to a life of greater authenticity, integrity, and intimacy. They offer a path of healing and transformation that is characterized by a greater love for life embodied in the image of the sunrise that marks the end of the passage on the third day with hope. Yet what you get from your passage will be unique to you. In a fundamental way, you get a new relationship with yourself and start to your life.
Our family healing rite of passage has been profound for me, facing the pain I caused, regaining harmony, feeling the love we all have for each other and our life, remembering and laughing together, all this has been a joyful transformation.
.I learned things about myself and from that made forward movement in healing which is great, huge and appreciated! 
ROP Participant
Dr. Taylor was able to walk us through a group dynamic with remarkable ease. I was concerned that it would be emotional and resurrect our historical conflict. We were able to move through obstacles and reunite as a family. It was a truly transformative process. 
My rite of passage opened me to a new perspective and a new love of life. 
ROP Participant
The family right of passage led by Dr. Heather Taylor-Zimmerman brought our family not simply closure on the past but a future. We were able to process old wounds and see each other in a new way. We have transformed our relationships to emerge with a deeper understanding, compassion and love for each other.
ROP Participant
The experience was transformative. My parents had not talked for decades and we had years of emotional trauma. I was hoping to simply be able to communicate with each other. What occurred far exceeded my expectations. We are not only able to communicate but my parents have become good friends. We were able to reclaim our family. 
ROP Participant

Dying to be healed and reborn.

On rites of passage death is a meaningful metaphor that calls us to be healed and whole, reborn in a new image. There is something magic about confronting death that brings you closer to life. Confronting death and fear, makes us more alive and more in love with life. 

Why walk this path?

What people have experienced
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Buck

Licensed Counselor, MA
ROP certified leader

Buck is drawn to the circle of rites of passage as a way to open hearts and minds. Extending his work with youth as a counselor, he believes in the gifts of the land that offer hope and renewal.

Jordan

Youth Counselor
ROP certified leader

Jordan is passionate about helping people find their way to a deeper and more authentic life. A youth counselor for years, Jordan loves helping people discover their passion and purpose.

Heather 

Eco-Art Psychology, PhD
ROP certified leader

Heather has a deep calling and commitment to helping people live authentic lives of deep meaning: to be themselves. She feels a special call to help youth find themselves and their way.

Certified: 4H, WSU, & School of Lost Borders

Buck, Jordan, and Heather offer unique gifts that reflect their diverse backgrounds, but they have all undergone the same training and certification to lead rites of passage, providing common ground--the circle. Their orientation reflects the archetypal nature of rites of passage that has remained consistent throughout human history. Reflecting the collective wisdom of traditions from Jungian to indigenous, they help you create your own tradition and your own rite of passage to encircle you.

Nature is the real instructor.

Whether you are in a cabin or tent in a forest or a cabin on the beach, it is the land that you are instructed by, connecting your nature to nature. You are exploring the deep knowledge and wisdom of the land of your being to help you transform, healing to become whole. When you are in nature you are natural: yourself. You realize that you are not who you should be but who you were born to be and are. Nature helps you let go of limiting beliefs, patterns, and expectations to claim the power, passion, and purpose of who you really are. In this process of self-realization you are the instructor. As the saying goes: it's between you and You (your ensouled nature). So, find a natural place that calls to you.

A Circle Holds You

The Circle Provides safe Passage

While you are in the open expanse of nature, you are held in circle. Whether you are in circle on the land at BEloved nature sanctuary or in the deep wilderness of the rites of passage, you are held within a circle of support within and without. This is the power of the circle to hold, protect and support you as you grow and transform. The circle provides safe passage, keeping you safe as you go out on your own into the world. Like a cocoon, a circle provides the space for you to take wing and fly. 

A Circle Opens You

Your are Your Guide

The rites of passage are designed by the individual and they are initiated to reflect the unique VISION and experience of YOUR process. While a fundamental archetypal (universal) structure is provided, individuals are encouraged to create their own circle of support and self-generated ritual, including options in terms of where and how the rite of passage takes place. While in the past the rite of passage was determined by culture and gender, we believe that people’s processes are best reflected in initiating ceremonies of their own design.
 

This is your ceremony.

Your rite of passage reflects you--your values and identity. So, you get to design a ritual and ceremony to guide and honor your transformation. Building upon an archetypal structure that underlies rites of passage you get to pick how you experience your own. Is it in a forest or on the plains? Are you in a dwelling (cave, tent, cabin . . .) or out in the open? Unlike in the past when the way was determined by your culture and gender, you can design a rite of passage that reflects you through reflection exercises, journaling, guidelines, and self-generated ritual. We are here to help. 

Circling Up

Rites of passage have been held for thousands of years but have been lost in the modern world. So, we gather in circle to help hold you and celebrate your transition from one state to another and from disease to greater health. We are offering ongoing courses remotely during the pandemic to help you find yourself and your way. Come gather. 
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Creating structure: You are held in CIRCLE

This is called Circle Passages because it is held in a circle. As you undergo your rite of passage there are 3 circles that provide safe passage.

A circle of ONE

You are alone on the land

On the land and throughout this process you are fundamentally alone, reflecting on yourself and your life. 

A power PARTNER

You check in with a partner

In this process you are held by a power partner who you check in with throughout the weeks and on the land. 

A group CIRCLE

You are held within a circle

From beginning to end, you are held within the circle of the group to mirror and provide a container for your passage.

This does NOT have to be hard.

While rites of passage are traditionally rigorous, this does not have to be hard. What is more important is that your experience is meaningful and suited to you. This can mean staying in a cabin or a tent, out in the open or in a cave. Go within to follow your intuition and heart about where your rite of passage should take place and how long it should be. Each of these details is yours to decide. This is a reflection of you. 

10 weeks guide you to a new sense of yourself

We begin and end with an opening and closing of the circle, as we come together. Week 1 & 2. Beginning with the stages of introduction and separation, you step away from your old life and self toward a new call and identity. Week 3 & 4. Learning about self-generated ritual and thresholds, you design your rite of passage, as we circle up together to create intentions. Week 5 & 6. Entering into your transformation, you experience time on the land before coming back into a circle of story and power. Week 7 & 8. Returning to integrate your experience within the circle of family and community, you embrace your new power, name, and identity, as you ground your experience in your daily life.

Stepping into Community

Week 1 Creating an initial circle

Like any pilgrimage or rite of passage, this journey begins with some preparation. So, we send out information on the path and process for you to read to orient you and open with a circle.

A Circle to Hold You

Week 10 Expanding your circle

As you come back into your life, we will not close our circle but open it into the world, allowing you to walk out into your life more fully while keeping a connection to support you as you go.

 Week 2 Introduction

Introduction of the Circle

In our circle we introduce each other and new skills. We open fundamental questions: Who are you and why have you come? 

Week 3 Separation

Circle for Preparation

Holding circle and beginning to separate from your old life.
What do you want to leave behind? 

Week 4 Preparation

Circle for Design

Designing your rite of passage for YOU.
What do you want to bring with you and experience?

Week 5 Intention

Circle for Intention

Circling up for intention: gather in ceremony.
Who are you and what calls you?

Week 6 Transformation

Circle for Transformation

Entering onto the land to transform and create a power circle.
What is your calling, purpose, and identity? 

Week 7 Ritualization

Circle for Power

Returning into a circle of story, ceremony, and power.
How are you witnessed and mirrored in your power?

Week 8 Initiation

Circle in Community

Re-entering family, tribe, and community as your new identity.
Who are you now in relationship with the world?

Week 9 Integration

Rippling Out

Rippling out in your new life, purpose, and vision.
What do you want to do looking forward?

Stages of your PASSAGE

There are 4 basic stages that you journey through to return back "home" to yourself.
Separation and Preparation
A time to separate from what you want to leave behind and move into your future, preparing for your passage.  

During separation you prepare for your journey by imagining what you want to leave behind, going through a life review to see where you have been and determine where you are going. It is a time to get real and let go.
Transformation
On your rite of passage you pass through a threshold of transformation and initiation to claim your power.
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In the stage of transformation you overcome limiting patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting as you set off on a ritual journey of self-empowerment, healing, and discovery. Transformation is the stage of deep change. 
Integration
As you come back from your rite of passage, you return to your life, integrating your new vision, power, and identity.

Integration is a time to gather and harvest the experiences, teachings, and gifts of your rite of passage and weave them into yourself and life. It is a stage of coming home in which you integrate the new elements of healing and growth.
Continuation
Travelling into your life, you embrace the calling of your rite of passage and bring it more fully into the world.

Continuation is the path that goes ever on, as you move more fully into your vision and power, claiming your identity to give the gift of your calling and healing to the world. This is a life-long journey that continues on.

Coursework and play . . .

Each week your content drops down for you below.

Passages heal you by making you whole.

This is a journey from your past to your present to envision your future, moving from separation and preparation to transformation and integration. This journey heals you in body and soul by making you whole. While it may not cure you, this is a healing journey that brings you peace and love, deepening your connection to life and your life. 

Nature is alive 

When we are in nature we come to life, realizing that not only nature but our nature is alive. We realize that we love life and are ready to live. Whether revealed through symbolic or synchronous experiences on the land or within your inner landscape as an inner vision or calling, your nature and nature work and play together to guide and transform you.

Envision your future

At its heart this is a vision quest on which each step allows you to see further into your future, gaining insight on where you are going. Vocation means soul's call and rites of passage are designed as archetypal steps to lead you to a new identity, name, calling, and role in community. They help you step into your power and purpose in a new way. 

Return to your archetypal roots 

As a practice held throughout time but lost in our time, rites of passage return us to our human roots and to our authentic self. This is a call back into our body and the body of the land, but it is also a call back to ourselves, our families, and lives. Rites of passage bring us home.

A power instrument

Reflecting traditions throughout the ages, you get to create a rattle or a drum to help hold your vision. Constructed throughout your journey, you draw or decorate your instrument with symbolic images from your initiatory journey, embodied in an instrument that empowers your life.

Create a necklace

Make a symbolic image

Decorate a carved wooden pendant with a power image and cover it with glass. Then string your necklace with leather. Supply packets are available for groups.

Create a drum

Make a power instrument

Create a drum as a power circle to hold you on your quest and remind you of your passage. Recommendations for drum supplies are available on request.

Create a rattle

Tell your story your way

Decorate a rattle to take with you to mark your passage, tell your story, and symbolize your new name and identity. Rattle packets are available for groups.

You create a power circle

Your power circle is a circle that supports you on the land and in your life. To reinforce this circle, we offer drum or rattle making. Following ancient traditions, we embody our visions and calling in instruments as people have for thousands of years. Like all of the aspects of your rite of passage, the creation of an instrument is done your way, if you want.

You are telling your story

Retelling your story in your own way has the power to transform you and your life, taking control of the narrative of your past and future. So, we begin by keeping a nature journal--a journal of our nature and nature. This journal helps us move through the stages as we self-reflect and grow.

Open to the wisdom of lineage and land.

What calls to you to heal? It could be the call of your ancestors and family lineage as much as your d. It could be your soul, a song of the bird, or the beauty of the sunrise. On this path you will leave patterns in your past to move more fully into your future. Separation, transformation, and integration lead you to transform yourself but also those around you. 

Being in nature helps you self-reflect

When you are in nature you get in touch with your nature, becoming natural. In the mirror of nature you discover your power and receive the gift of your name and calling. Whether in the song of a bird, a vision in the sunrise, or a synchronous discovery, nature teaches you.

You are gifted in circle.

On your rite of passage you are given the gift of understanding who you are and what you are called to do and be. Though each passage is unique, the purpose of the passage throughout time has been to transition and transform people from one state of development and consciousness to another, so they can offer their gift to the world and their community.

The gift of time

On the land you have time to really be with yourself and discover who you are. In a time of unprecedented technology, this is a chance to be alone with yourself and get to know who you are. In the midst of constant contact, this is a chance to rest a recover, reflecting on where you have been and where you are going. Drop deep and remember yourself.

Receive the gift of your name and identity.

When you are on the land you often receive a vision and this leads to the revelation of a new name. From the Israelites in the wilderness to the native peoples of all lands, people have undergone this ritual of receiving a vision of their purpose and a name that reflects it. Whether you keep this name and purpose to yourself, it will become a core part of you.