Rites of Passage You’ve Survived (That No One Recognized)

Luisa Hernandez

Not all initiations come with ceremony. Some come with silence, betrayal, near-death, or deep ancestral pain.
Let’s talk about the invisible initiations — the moments Spirit marked you, even if no one else saw. What rite of passage have you walked that shaped your shamanic path?

System

Hello again. Wrote a long reply this morning that the site refused to post; moderators say they cannot replicate. Something is going on here, though, because i see other posts with user name only. So here goes one last try.

BethL, I do live in Queens. I am as far west in Queens as you can be without being in Manhattan. It is one subway stop and four minutes to Grand Central Terminal for me. I do live in a house here, and I actually used to live in a house in Manhattan! When my husband and i married in the mid-90s, we each sold what we had and bought a tall, skinny townhouse in the West Village. Back then, that was something working professionals could still do. Not possible anymore.

We moved here in 2015 after we tired of taking care of an almost 200-year-old house in a landmarked district in a neighborhood that was party central on the weekends. DH worked here, and his work was a five-minute walk away.

Of course, neither of these houses had your beautiful, spic ‘n span garage! I envy you that. I grew up in the midwest (Michigan), but do not have a strong connection to Iowa. My husband did, though. He got his medical degree from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Did you work locally after you got your nursing degree?

And yes, I know the TKTS booth in Times Square, and there are several ballet schools that run summer intensives in the city. NYC Ballet has a famous one in Lincoln Center, and in our nabe, the Joffrey Ballet School did. I hope you enjoyed your visit that summer!