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COMING OF AGE |
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For boys, this ritual is usually done after
12 solar cycles or 13 years of age. (Some wait for boys to get their
first pubic hair.) For girls, within the first lunar cycle the onset
of menses. Because this is a celebration of sexual maturity, fertility
gifts are generally given at this ritual (painted eggs, pine cones,
etc.) Watches & birthstone rings & cameos are also appropriate.
This ritual also acknowledges the changing relationship between parent
and child. The father/mother/child relationship is growing to an adult
relationship that is more friendship than the younger child parent relationship.
The young woman or man who has gone through this ritual is generally
treated as an adult by member of the coven. Generally, there is also
some type of ordeal that the child must do prior to the ritual. Generally,
this ritual is done by the mother (for a girl) or the father (for a
boy) and three or four same-sex friends of the family. Girls generally
pass through a "birth tunnel." The women spread their legs
and the girl crawls through. She is lightly spanked as she passes through
and the women moan as if in childbirth. A boy, however, receives body
painting of symbols that have been chosen by his father. After the ritual,
there's a feast, wine and other drink, gifts, stories of gods and goddesses,
heroes and heroines, etc. |