Customer Reviews

From Boys to Men: Spiritual Rites of Passage in an Indulgent Age

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A necessity for people who work with at-risk kids! Bret Stephenson has found a way to make the wisdom of ancients accessible and practical for this era. He reminds us that other cultures don't seem to have some of the same problems with their adolescent boys that we in America do and asks some tough questions (and proposes some answers) about why that is. He then shows that through meaningful ritual, important rites of passage, and judicious application of responsibility and respect, today's boys can earn their manhood instead of guessing whether they are men and sailing through the doldrums of adolescent hell. His writing is accessible, peppered with real-life examples of his own experiences with at-risk boys. Excellent!

All tribal societies intuitively knew without initiation for puberty age boys there could be no long term survival. Our society tragically does not know this - much to our on-going social and climatic disasters.
Although the author writes from his experience of working with deeply troubled boys what he does must become
a widely accepted part of our social fabric if we are to have any authentic hope of social survival. As a man
I am sorry to admit profound male maturity is almost non-existent. This book is at least a necessary step in that direction.

An excellent resource for a guy who is trying to figure out how to give his son a great shot at healthy masculinity in a confused culture.

Bret Stephenson does an excellent job in explaining how rituals and rites from ancient cultures have a positive impact on the adolescence stage, and suggests to the reader their practice in current and modern culture. Initiation for boys gives them the transformation to male-purpose, which is absent and missing in our culture. By implementing the ideas taken from ancient cultures, Stephenson presents a great option to modern fathers to `initiate' their sons to a healthy and sacred masculinity and to raise them to be healthy and successful men. This book is a great guide that can have a strong affect for boys in our culture.
A must book for fathers with sons. Add it to your parenting library.

Jeffrey L. Fine, PhD, Psychologist: Author of: -
"The Art of Conscious Parenting"