In many tribal cultures, it was said that if the boys were not initiated into manhood, if they were not shaped by the skills and love of elders, then they would destroy the culture. If the fires that innately burn inside youths are not intentionally and lovingly added to the hearth of community, they will burn down the structures of culture, just to feel the warmth.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of guiding youth through mentorship to preserve culture and community.
Michael Meade's quote highlights the crucial role that elders play in mentoring young people. Without this guidance, the innate energies and passions of youth may manifest destructively, threatening the very cultures that nurture them. It suggests that when communities fail to nurture and shape their young, those young individuals may inadvertently harm the culture that once sought to support them, merely in search of connection and warmth.
In practice
In a community meeting discussing youth programs, this quote could inspire discussions on mentorship.
There's an African proverb: 'When death finds you, may it find you alive.' Alive means living your own damned life, not the life that your parents wanted, or the life some cultural group or political party wanted, but the life that your own soul wants to live.
When you step further into the story you came to live, not only does the mythic territory open, but the deep self moves and the world of imagination and meaning comes towards you.
Until, modern times when it became mostly a civic task, education was considered a sacred work. It was sacred because it involved the indwelling spirit in the student and because it required an awakened spirit in the teachers. Spirit to spirit, genius to genius, soul to soul go the true lessons that help young people become themselves. Ultimately, each person holds the key to the story trying to be lived from within, but first someone else must help unlock the mystery of one’s life.
But I feel music has a very important role in ritual activity, and that being able to join in musical activity, along with dancing, could have been necessary at a very early stage of human culture.
We have such a young culture that there is an opportunity to contribute wonderful new myths to it, which will be accepted.
From a hundred cultures, [there is] one culture which does what no culture has ever done before-gives a place to every human gift.
The soul of India lives in its villages.
I've lived all over the world, but Harlem is very special to me, and when I decided to open a restaurant near my home, I didn't want it to be business as usual.
Koreans love to dance; they love to sing. If you actually know Koreans, you see how absurd the stereotype of the 'Asian robot' is. They love to laugh - they're very affectionate. Maybe because of their history of oppression, when they feel you are part of their tribe, they are intensely loyal. I love that about Koreans!
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.