Author Description

In our media-driven, competitive world, an adolescent girl can become lost, or she can come to understand and appreciate her unique gifts, and gain self-esteem to make her way in this challenging world. Using the experience and guidance of elder mentors, a girl can step back "momentarily" from outward competition, look inward, develop her gifts, and with help, gather a circle around herself to celebrate her passage into womanhood. This Set of Three booklets presents a timely process (3 months or so) for a girl to commit to working with mentors on a rite of passage. The rite includes several months of preparation around her chosen gifts/talents, and culminates in a ritual celebration given for her peers, and her women family and friends (her circle of support). Part I for Girls, Part II for Mothers and Mentors, and Part III for Grandmothers, offers easy-to-follow suggestions and ideas for each generation as they participate in the initiation process-an enriching process for all involved. The author has drawn on her personal experience of gathering three generations of women to witness and to celebrate her daughter's triumphant rite of passage. Many years later, a young adult, her daughter's thriving, creative life speaks for the wisdom of the rite of passage process. "At the moment of stepping through the Gateway, I felt so loved! I felt that every girl should have the opportunity to experience a Gateway Celebration! At thirteen, I took on the 3-month challenge of this personal initiation. Through it I came to understand myself. I understood what it meant to be connected to a great network of strong women. Now I see that the work I did then has created a life-long root structure for me. I know that, should I need help, all I have to do is reach out to my community." Hilary Chapman, Girl's Gateway Initiate