Description
Book SynopsisIllustrates the power of rites to help us navigate life's troublesome transitions. This book covers the significant life events of birth, initiation, marriage, and death. It explores innovative rites for important events such as beginning school, same-sex commitment ceremonies, abortion, serious illness, divorce, and retirement.
Trade Review"Grimes' combination of scholarly knowledge, anecdotes, literary essays, and observations on modern culture provide a first-class foundation for this thoroughly absorbing foray into a deeply interesting and relevant subject."-NAPRA ReView "Without question, this is one of the finest books I have read in several decades. It is well written, beautifully printed, and deals with passages of life [and] the rituals that people have or have not developed to cope with them."-William Klassen, The Kitchener-Waterloo Record "A thoughtful, insightful examination...a deeply evocative portrait of life-passage rituals and their meaning in a variety of human contexts."-Library Journal
Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction: Rough Passages, Reinvented Rites 1. Celebrating New Life, Ritually Nurturing the Young 2. Coming of Age, Joining Up 3. Divining Mates, Making Kin 4. Living with the Dead, Exiting Gracefully 5. Passages, Troubled and Uncharted Conclusion: Beyond Passage Notes Sources Cited Index
