Rite of Competence
A conscious parenting webinar series
Build developmental capability to design and
lead a mid-childhood passage ceremony for your 7-9 yr old.
Rite of Competence
A conscious parenting webinar series
Build developmental capability to design
and lead a mid-childhood passage ceremony for your 7-9 yr old.
Cedar's Rite of Competence, Chatham, New York
Introduction to the
Rite of Competence
March 4
3pm EST / 7pm GMT / 8pm GMT+1
Free
Cedar's Rite of Competence, Chatham, New York
Introduction to the Rite of Competence is a free call to share inspirational stories about creating healthy family life through intentional human development, community building, and nature connection.
Human beings have created deliberate cultures of connection for the purpose of thriving in all kinds of natural environments. This wisdom has not been lost, but in many cases, it has been forgotten.
Join us for a sharing of inspirational stories about the Rite of Competence as an instrument to retrieve and apply this wisdom in everyday communities.
Register here and gain access to inspiration that you can apply immediately to a thriving connected family and community rich life.
Register for Intro to Rite of Competence
March 4
3pm EST / 7pm GMT / 8pm GMT+1
Liliana’s Rite of Competence, San Luis Obispo, California.
Rite of Competence:
A Conscious Parenting Course to Design and Lead a Mid-Childhood Passage Ceremony.
All 5 Sessions at:
3pm EST / 7pm GMT / 8pm GMT+1
Dates:
Mar 14th,
Apr 4, Apr 25, May 16,
June 13
The Rite of Competence is a developmental learning experience for parents of children in the range of 7-9 years old. Originally created and continuously evolved by Mark Morey, it takes place over 5 sessions approximately 2 weeks apart on zoom.
This experience aims to build the capacity for "Whole Familying", that's based on being human, to have connection where there has been dissolution, wholeness where there is fragmentation in community, and with the natural world. The Rite of Competence serves as an instrument of discernment about how to develop conscious parenting values, long-term supportive community, and ongoing developmental aims.
By the end of this experience, you will have designed and potentially led a mid-childhood ceremony for your child. Your child does not participate in these calls directly but will be the beneficiary of the capability you develop.
Over the last 15 years parents have participated in this offering from all over the United States, Canada, and Europe.
Insights are developed through, structured reflection, storytelling, timeless principles, and self-guided inquiry to design a unique and powerful ceremony both modern in feel and ancient in blueprint.
This early to late childhood transition marks a powerful shift in a child’s relationships with her parents and siblings, as well as with other adults in her extended family. Everyone goes through this change together, including parents who begin to see, “This isn’t my baby anymore!” and how a broader nest of relationships is now fostering development and resilience.
Benefits to Children
- Acknowledge and honor your child's essence contribution to the family system
- Equip them with a new perspective on what they have accomplished and what they are going through.
- Bolster their foundation of belonging and self-respect.
- Foster in them a sense of their own development, like a “map” of their life.
Benefits to Parents & Families
- Develop capability and design princples that support your child’s developmental growth.
- Engage new levels of will to observe and change your family dynamic.
- Learn to meet your children “where they are” and to image the direction of their essence expression.
- “Upgrade” the quality and diversity of your closest family friends through explicit invitations to potentially become like extended family who share your parenting goals, interests, and worldview.
- Develop greater resiliency, in each family member and in your family as a whole.
- Increase your sense of security by “awakening” your family relationships to make them more rewarding and supportive on all sides.
- Prepare for the more intense transition of adolescence, by traversing those realms in advance when not so much is at stake.
Samuel’s Rite of Competence, Putney Vermont
Veery's Rite of Competence, Ogunquit, Maine
Here are a few family stories:
Maise
The morning was rainy, but as the guests began to arrive, the sun came out. Maise was very excited. She was donning a skirt she had made for the occasion...
Liliana
Greetings everyone,
Last year my family attended Art of Mentoring and it was a very transformative experience. One of the most touching moments was the ceremony that was held to send off the teens on their 3 day trip to the ocean and back. There was something extremely...
More
Jasper
I wanted to share the story of Jasper’s ceremony last weekend with those of you who couldn’t make it. It was a really fun day. Jasper greeted everyone by putting animal cards on their back for a guessing game. We gathered for a thanksgiving circle. Then the crew of “auntees and uncles” all worked together to make a fire for Jasper. We sang him off with a song...
Why Rites of Passage?
Rites of passage serve as markers of significant moments in our lives. They define the thresholds between one chapter and the next and help us to see and realize our own progress as we move through life. Many people recognize adolescence as just such a moment that deserves to be honored in some special way, be it through a cultural ceremony like a bar mitzvah, through a personal experience such as a special road trip with mom or dad, or by the giving of a special gift “of their very own.” Rites are rituals, enacting the internal subtitles of development, in outward meaningful forms and processes.
Samuel’s Rite of Competence, Putney, Vermont
What is a Rite of Competence?
At some point, a seven – nine year old begins making the transition from early childhood to late childhood. This is the first—and arguably the most crucial—threshold of his or her life: between Early Childhood’s comfort with the closeness of Mama, and Late Childhood’s independence and stepping “into the world” with one’s own identity. This late childhood path leads to the threshold of adolescence, a crucial time for forging a strong self-image, as well as for laying the foundation of relationships that will guide a teenager into healthy young adulthood.
The Rite of Competence generates a kind of mental map not only for you but for your child as well. This helps him to name and make sense of the changes that he is experiencing as he begins to wend his way into the world outside of his immediate family.
It Takes a Village
You might have been raised with values of independence and self-reliance as the hallmarks of a 'successful childhood', or perhaps felt the expectations for such outcomes. While these qualities might foster survival, in the long run isolation and separation can become secondary outcomes, undermining long term health and happiness.
We offer an alternative idea: that success looks more like respectful, whole and connected children. This is not about obedience, but about interdependence, reciprocity and serving the systems we belong to. It is about how our children conduct themselves in the community of others by helping and giving back. And, crucially, it is about how our children learn to create community—webs of resilient relationships—wherever they go.
Resilience is the ability to cope with stress. And it is interdependence—the many threads of respect, support and love—that generates resiliency for individuals, families and communities. Family resiliency can be nurtured and grown. It starts with the sense of self and is nourished by a conscious extended family, which is an essential element of the Rite of Competence. The extended family we talk about here is your community of friends and relatives that interact with and mentor your child—it’s the village that helps to raise our children. It is through the mirror of extended family that a child can learn to see herself in a new way. And it is through extended family that we build resilient relationships. This is the village of the modern era.
What capacities you will engage in:
- What are the elements of a powerful Rite of Competence ritual?
- What is the nature of the internal transition your child is going through and what needs acknowledgment?
- What might this transition mean for your family?
- How to design, plan and conduct a Rite of Competence for your child.
- Creating an invitation list and how to choose people for key roles.
- Making the experience meaningful and rewarding for every participant.
- How to prepare your child.
- How to prepare yourself and your family.
- How to develop richer extended family relationships.
- What to expect next and how to continue to hold the thread of conscious, regenerative parenting.
REGISTRATION FOR FAMILIES:
Elements of the program include:
4 group conference calls with Mark Morey, 1.5 hours each, Thursday evenings,
All 5 Sessions at:
3pm EST / 7pm GMT
8pm GMT+1
Dates:
Mar 14th,
Apr 4, Apr 25, May 16
1 follow-up group conference call June 13
Developmental Invitations and questions to work on between sessions
Zoom recordings will be sent after each call for review.
The application deadline is
March 11th
REGISTRATION FOR FAMILIES:
Elements of the program include:
4 group conference calls with Mark Morey, 1.5 hours each
All 5 Sessions at:
3pm EST / 7pm GMT
8pm GMT+1
Dates:
Mar 14th,
Apr 4, Apr 25, May 16
1 follow-up group conference call June 13th
Developmental Invitations and questions to work on between sessions
Zoom recordings will be sent after each call for review.
The application deadline is
March 11th
What if I want to become a facilitator of the Rite of Competence?
In the past, Mark only offered Rite of Competence training directly to families. Each year he is asked if he might extend this training to empower community leaders to guide their families through the process. This year (2024), will include a facilitator track.
How it Works
Participants in the Facilitator Training will complete the entire Childhood Rite of Competence™ program, working with their own child or with a child from their community. In conjunction with this standard training, the advanced course will meet after each class to discuss and study the mentoring process. Upon completion of this program, participants will be eligible to enter into an agreement for offering Childhood Rite of Competence™.
Enrollment in the Childhood Rite of Competence Facilitator Training™ is by application. To apply, send an email telling us a little bit about yourself, and also stating your background and interest in this endeavor. Thanks!
What if I want to become a facilitator of the Rite of Competence?
In the past, Mark only offered Rite of Competence training directly to families. Each year he is asked if he might extend this training to empower community leaders to guide their families through the process. This year (2024), will include a facilitator track.
How it Works
Participants in the Facilitator Training will complete the entire Childhood Rite of Competence™ program, working with their own child or with a child from their community. In conjunction with this standard training, the advanced course will meet after each class to discuss and study the mentoring process. Upon completion of this program, participants will be eligible to enter into an agreement for offering Childhood Rite of Competence™.
Enrollment in the Childhood Rite of Competence Facilitator Training™ is by application. To apply, send an email telling us a little bit about yourself, and also stating your background and interest in this endeavor. Thanks!
Elements of the program include:
All 5 monthly Childhood Rite of Competence™ family mentoring conference calls.
All 5 Sessions at:
3pm EST / 7pm GMT / 8pm GMT+1
Dates:
Mar 14th,
Apr 4, Apr 25, May 16
1 follow-up group conference call June 13th.
Additional 1 hour training sessions after each call.
1 follow-up group conference call with Mark in June.
Customized coaching for your Childhood Rite of Competence.
Video
resources.
Cost: $795
More Info
For general questions about either program, about the Rite of Competence, or for help deciding what’s right for you or your child, use the form above.
Elements of the program include:
All 5 monthly Childhood Rite of Competence™ family mentoring conference calls.
All 5 Sessions at:
3pm EST / 7pm GMT / 8pm GMT+1
Dates:
Mar 14th,
Apr 4, Apr 25, May 16
1 follow-up group conference call June 13th.
Additional 1 hour training sessions after each call.
1 follow-up group conference call with Mark in June.
Customized coaching for your Childhood Rite of Competence.
Video
resources.
Cost: $795
More Info
For general questions about either program, about the Rite of Competence, or for help deciding what’s right for you or your child, use the form above.
Mark Morey
Mark Morey is a creative artist, visionary educator, and cultural engineer who designs regenerative holistic communities with timeless living systems principles. He has founded multiple organizations in the last 30 years in the domain of spiritualizing human development nested within healthy community and the living world.
Mark has facilitated spiritual passages for teens and adults since 1994, including over 100 week-long Art of Mentoring passages for adults, 20 years of co-ed wilderness challenge summer camps for pre-teens and teens, and 18 years of boys initiation rites. Mark is inspired by his ancestor's lifeways and indigenous cultures around the world. His passion for lifelong consciousness development has led to his wide recognition as a leader in earth-centered learning, organizational leadership development, and community building.
His work has taken him inside Google, NIKE and Harvard, where he is dedicated to helping business leaders achieve healthy, functioning, and self-sustaining organizational cultures by harnessing the authentic and powerful principles of nature.
