There is an old legend regarding the Cherokee Indian youth’s Rite of Passage. When a boy is ready to become a man, the father takes his son into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a tree stump the entire night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. After he survives the night, he is considered a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each boy must come into manhood on his own.
The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even humans who might do him harm.
During one boy’s ordeal the wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It was the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. Continue reading
