Puberty is defined as the age or period at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction, in other eras of history, a rite or celebration of this landmark event was a part of the culture. This is true of tribal societies that exist today, but for most of us, puberty as a specific event is part of a much more complicated piece of our lives called adolescence.

In the early twentieth century, G. Stanley Hall, noted American psychologist, first defined adolescence as a distinct stage in human development. This great step in the tracking of our evolution affected the rites of passage for puberty in a permanent way. Instead of a rite that focuses on the crossing of a threshold, moving from childhood to adulthood, we have a random series of experiences spanning a period as long as fifteen years. There are many reasons for this, but three factors contribute in a way that has accelerated in post World War II America.

First is an increased vigilance in protecting our young. One aspect of this is a genuine desire to protect our children from hardship, combined with a yearning for upward mobility. My parents did everything in their power to prevent me from "going without," as they did growing up during the Depression. Balancing this is a desire to shield ourselves from old age. The changes in the nuclear family have deep roots in this post-war period, and although women were bribed back into the home with the latest in 50's technology manifested in appliances designed to make their lives easier, men were more likely to return from war with expanded skills, access to education, and no small amount of wanderlust. Families packed up and left the old home town, leaving Grandma and Grandpa behind. Over time, our veneration of our elders was replaced with the adoration of youth. By protecting our children, we keep them "young," thus preserving the fiction of our own youth.

Second, for most of us, a gap of varying degrees separates our spiritual lives and our physical lives. This gap is supported by a technological world where more and more energy is consumed in using one's "head." The result is less energy for one's heart and one's instincts. I had exceptional parents, in that when I got my first period, I had been prepared for it by both my parents. The careful, rather neutral talks with my mom, starting at about age ten, were about the changes my body would undergo. I had more "upfront" talks with my dad about what these changes would elicit from young men, and the changes they were experiencing at the same time. But at no time was it suggested that I stop and contemplate what this meant in a spiritual context, although I was now able to bring forth life - connecting hand to hand with numberless women before me, with sacred choices and responsibilities.

Third, a result of overprotection and the spiritual/physical gap is a real denial of sexuality. After a modern upbringing which I hoped to improve on with my own children, I found it a real struggle to say to my twelve year old daughter, "Look, these changes will come to you. You must consider the responsibility they bring, and you have no control over when the changes come. I will support you in your efforts to ease into your woman's shape, but I can no longer control what happens to you. This is the beginning of claiming your own power." We are both scared and excited about the whole thing... and for many it is easier to assume that a "child" of nine or ten would be burdened by such a talk. Yet they refuse to connect this lack of loving education with the alarming number of pre-teen pregnancies. In addition, the demand for higher and higher education, and the desire for a career, combined with modern birth control methods, makes it easy for many of us to deny the connections between sex and reproduction.

Puberty rites signaled a tribe's acknowledgement that one its young women or young men had reached the age of responsibility, fertility, and community productivity, and these rites made an indelible impression on the participant. Puberty rites, which took a variety of forms and have been well documented and analyzed, were an attempt to mold and educate the youngster, and prepare them for their new role in life.

By dragos.sam SFARSIT