“Rite of Passage” developed out of my own inward experience of death and resurrection, which is the only way to real change. This transformation is wrought upon us and not within our power to command. We can’t think our way to it but must come undone, brought to our knees by our failings. We must fail as we have been. The dark depths, the city of the dreadful night, the dark night of the soul. I have known these places personally but to know them collectively is a new feeling. And to live them out—to become them and not just think about them, but descend into them as a unity-- is a much harder task. But this we must do: dive into the deep water together. It is high tide and the water is dark- too dark to see in. Will we survive? Will we float to the top? It is not for us to know. “Rite of Passage”, or deep diving, is the same as differentiation, a theory posed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, founder of analytic psychology. Differentiation is the path of self (or ego) from unconscious to conscious awareness. The collective shadow is revealed, visible for all to see. We are wrestling with a sea monster, whose forces are appearing as fate on the world stage. Such is climate change or the current pandemic, creating havoc for us all. And we want to blame anyone but ourselves for these things. We are the raw material of our own destruction. We are our only hope- our own redemption.