Trust the Ceremony, F*ck the Ceremony, Trust the Ceremony

I’m really excited about this one. It is being released 8 years after my own very first wilderness rite of passage program. It feels like coming full circle.

Arrive here just as you are.

Arrive here empty,
arrive here full of all the sick and stuck,
with all the love and longing,
all your genius grief and gratitude
thick as your last tantrum…

So begins the opening poem of Trust the Ceremony, F*ck the Ceremony, Trust the Ceremony, an equally mythopoetic and intimate exploration of personal and collective transformation through the framework of wilderness rite-of-passage and the dance of habit and surrender, breakdown and breakthrough, and the trust that subsidizes it all. Van Lenning uses rich metaphors and personal experiences to bring to life raw vulnerabilities that emerge on the transformational journey. Beginning with an invitation to cross the threshold into ceremony (whether that be on the land or the whole of Life) with a simple trust, the poems dive into the uncertainty and often necessary deaths that fuel shapeshifting. With nature as mirror and guide, the poems travel through themes of surrender and the paradox of sacred ritual and messy life. Finally encouraging an embrace of each season of the journey, Trust the Ceremony summons a “Deep Green Trust” that weaves individual renewal with both community and cosmos.

Release date August 15.
Pre-orders available HERE.