The Thundering Years: Rituals and Sacred Wisdom for the Journey into Adulthood

(Paperback)

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Description

Shows teens how to harness the intense emotions and drives of the late-teen years using wisdom from cultures around the world.

Includes exercises, personal and community rituals, and resources that show how to successfully navigate the Thundering Years without heading toward violence, drug abuse, and other self-destructive behaviors.

Includes inspiring quotations from many spiritual traditions as well as the words and real-life experiences of other young adults.

Presents an honest view of the passions and pain that occur during this major life transition.

According to native traditions, the Thundering Years are the time in life to listen to intense feelings, dreams, desires, and goals--to be outrageous and even difficult. The Thundering Years are the teen years, the time when you are journeying into adulthood. They are exciting years, full of potential and creative energy, and they are painful years, full of turmoil and self-examination.
Author Julie Tallard Johnson has collected wisdom from cultures around the world to help you survive your Thundering Years with your soul, creativity, and even sense of humor intact. She offers numerous techniques and traditions to help harness the powerful energy released during this time. She shows that when you connect with your thunder in a respectful way, you are given the confidence you need to accomplish all your dreams.

Includes:

Mindfulness and energizing meditations
Vision quests
Dream weaving
Drum medicine
Initiations and rites of passage
Rituals for releasing anger and celebrating the seasons
Making your own journals and medicine bags
Finding your creative community

Reviews

"Thundering Years shares native world wisdom to help smooth teen's transitions into adulthood." * Nexus, May/June 2003 *
"This book describes many ways to create peace and happiness, some on your own and some with your friends." * His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama *
"In an attempt to provide you with authentic containers for the tumultuous energy of the Thundering Years, many are rediscovering indigenous ways. The call to awaken our ancestral wisdom is strong. Personal and community rituals are ways of reuniting us when we are in a state of alienation and turmoil with Spirit." * Sobonfu Some, African shaman, from chapter 5 *
". . . so well organized and so succinctly presented that the reader is drawn on to a deeper appreciation of the truth that your life, your future, who you are, is in your own power." * Napra ReView, May/June 2001 *
"Substantive activities and grounded writing make for an appealing invitation to self-discovery." * Mothering, Nov/Dec 2001 *
"This is a very inspirational book that offers alternative spiritual approaches for the teen years that are much lacking in mainstream American culture. It is highly recommended for teens and the adults who car about them." * Theresa Jones, Circle Magazine *
". . . highly recommended. Parents who read this will no doubt wish they'd had this resource twenty years ago!" * Barbara Ardinger, The Blessed Bee, Winter 2001-02 *
"[Johnson] offers numerous techniques to help teens direct their powerful energy, live creatively, tell their stories, and release anger through ritual." * Spirit of Change, Summer 2008 *

Author Bio

Julie Tallard Johnson is a psychotherapist and mentor of teens and young adults. She began her practice of meditation at the age of 16 and has traveled to such places as Australia and Bali to gather wisdom. She has written three other teen books and is the author of the forthcoming I Ching for Teenagers. She lives in Spring Green, Wisconsin, with her partner and their daughter and the red-tailed hawks.