Initiation rituals were used to create a stark emotional change in the adolescent on the verge of becoming an adult. It is a mild schizophrenic break up. In Shaman imagery it is the animals ripping the body into various pieces. The old world of the mother is ripped apart and the child must be born again by the men of the society. To make this psychological break, men scarified, subincissioned, tattooed, or circumcised the youth while dressed as animals or monsters. Better cultures sent the youths into narrow dark slimy tunnels that emptied into large caverns representing the womb of manhood the new adult had to exist from reborn. Here the youth were taught the trades, mysteries, fun, who they were, and their responsibilities to the society. Native Americans left you in a pit in the forest for a month for you to find yourself with very little food or water to inspire visions and a grounded look out about what is really important in life. My friend in Senegal who is forty now remembers still being scared when they sent him and seventy youths into the jungle to live of the land and go through the elder's rituals. But in our society we have soap in the shower in high school, bullies, a passage from the Torah and bankrupting your relatives, graduation, and confirmational taps on the cheek.

None of this makes an psychological shift that overwhelms the youth. These passages must overcome you. So all of that Fuck you stuff from the last page was a mild Bishop slap to get you rolling, and no you do not have to kiss my ring or any one else's ass any more.

Ancient wisdom from Hermes spoken though Aldous Huxley "There are things known, and there are things unknown, the things in between are the doors.." now fucking walk thorough!