Iris Kelly’s Rite of Passage Experience and Training
18 enactments to date, May 2023

There are many stories that could be told about the Rite of Passage working in my life. I suppose the beginning was in meeting Kia Woods in 1982. We shared a roof, side by side in duplex homes in Santa Fe. As life unfolded, we also shared our dreams of honoring young women when they started their moon cycle. In fact, we created a little party for her niece, with gifts and song. Before I could blink, Kia, in her usual fashion of direct appropriateness, was finishing her Masters Degree in Expressive Arts. Her main mentor was Anna Halprin. Her thesis was the Chrysalis Severance Rite, of which the HeartQuest Rite of Passage is a revised version.

Kias daughter was of age and needed her Rite of Passage. Kia had taught public school for 16 years, and created a school in New York City called School for Young

Artists, that is still in operation. Kia really has a gift for creating incredible programs.

Kia shared intimately with me during the creation the Chrysalis Severance Rite. She became totally engulfed in the creation. She would stay up late after her work day, dream through the night, and record and continue creating in the morning. Throughout the creation period, her dreams would reveal layers and spirals that fit together more perfectly than her brilliant mind ever could have! But she did not stop there. Kia has taught me the meaning of perseverance, illustrating creative process with intelligent activity.

Through doing my own inner adolescent Rite of Passage, I have discovered that it is my "hearts desire" to facilitate rites anyone who is ready. The work challenges me to the core and draws the very best out of me. And now standing in my 60’s after doing my own Rites of Passage every decade of my life,(6 personal Rites of Passage) I am also offering the program to adults wishing to do their own Rites of Passage. Please also see the attached overview of life experience.

Following is a brief outline of my Rite of Passage experience to date:

1986 Rite of Passage at Rose Mountain, New Mexico with 10 teenage girls. We had 10 days with this group camping. The parents were there the first weekend, left and came back the second weekend. Tai Chi, dream circles, daily rhythms of art process and ritual tool creations, and so much more we shared with the teens.

1987 My inner-adolescent Rite of Passage, and training. Monthly full weekends for a year, in and around Santa Fe. Very intensive training, 3 days 8am to 10:30pm. Art process, ritual performance, movement vocabulary, etc. Culminating in 10 days at Tree House Camp, New Mexico, doing our Rite of Passage and facilitating each other. Including an initiation and 3 day vision quest, mask making, meeting "inner-mate", and full bridging with inner 13 year old, etc.,

1988: Rite of Passage at Rose Mountain, New Mexico with a mixed group of boys and girls, including John (father of my sons) as a parent and his 14 year old son Madrone. I fully assisted the facilitation of this Rite of Passage of 10 days.

1989. Rite of Passage for adults at Cripple Creek, Colorado inner adolescent work for a group of adults. "Ego-breaking" for me, the first of many enactments without my beloved Kia, as I grew into being the facilitator.
1990: Rite of Passage for teens, Divide, Colorado with a mixed group of 8 boys and girls. John assisted. Full 2 months of five preparation classes with the teens. Preparation included rock climbing. The enactment was a long weekend.

1991: Kelly's Vision Quest in Nova Scotia, Canada. Crow Dance training program for adults with Kia. Including more art and nature process, as well as 3 day nature/vision quest, with fasting, co- assisted Kia, and facilitated the sweat lodge.

1991 Heart Beat Rites of Passage for the 7 year old and their parents. Manitou Springs Colorado. This the beginning creation of the Passage program which in 2020 is for the 10-12 year old. It gets the parents going on their own autobiography so they can better parent the child that stands before them, especially as the teen years are right around the corner.
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1992: Rite of Passage for teens, Guffey, Colorado with a group of five girls. John assisted. A full 2 month preparation, with 5 art process classes, an overnight, and a rocking experience for the teens. Again the enactment in Guffey was a 4 day weekend with vision quest and full group activities.

1993: Family Vision Quest with Jeannine and Rico Parvati-Baker. Our family attended a week long family oriented vision quest in Utah wilderness with our Elder Jeanine Parvati Baker (Hygeia, a woman’s herbal) healing, nurturing and bonding for our family. Learned how to do the group dream work., and so much more from the land of Utah.

1993: Rite of Passage for adults, Florence, Colorado with a group of 9 men doing their inner- adolescent rite of passage. This group had been meeting every week for 3 years. Awesome 2 month preparation experience with a group of already bonded adults, with biweekly art process classes! The enactment changed my life and all of ours. The men are so powerful when called up.

1994: Wild Woman's Vision Ouest, Utah. Assisted Jeannine Parvati-Baker with 12 woman for 6 days in the wilderness.

1998 Heart Beat Rite of Passage for the 7 year old and their parents, Boulder Colorado.

1998: Heart Quest Rites of Passage for teens in New Mexico. I co facilitated with Kia Woods, and I was a parent for my older son, with 10 other families in this very intensive and updated process. 9 months preparation, 5 day enactment. Brilliant.

2006: My Rite of Passage with Surfing the Creative. 5 rhythms with Melissa Michaels. Year long preparation at The Star House, with enactment at Hummingbird Ranch New Mexico.

2008 Boulder Colorado: Rites of Passage for my 14 year old son, at the Andres’ land outside of Boulder. 4 teen intitates and their families. All the teens received their “vision” to begin. When they graduated high school they just naturally proceeded to get the education and experience they needed to embody their vision.

2013: Boulder Colorado, Adult Rites of Passage. Four initiates went through a year preparation, we had our enactment at McCauley Farms. It was the year of the flood. Changed all of us.

2014: Rite of Passage co-created with Feet On The Earth for a 3 girls and their parents. Enactment at The Andres’ land up Left Hand Canyon.

2016: Heart Quest Rites of Passage co-created with Feet on the Earth and Lorene Wopatich. Combining the Nature Connection work into the preparation. 3 boys and their families.

2022-23: Heart Quest Passage Process for adults. 6 month preparation with 3 day enactment outside of Alans park at The Wild Basin wilderness.

I have seen that we get a vision of our life purpose at puberty, if we have the support and opportunity to stop and take it in. And if we don’t at puberty, we can always “harvest” it later in life.

GENERAL LIFE EXPERIENCE

Mother, sister, daughter, heart quester, visual-social-ritual artist and facilitator, early childhood and early grades teacher, nature-parent-child advocate, journeyer, writer, accomplished hard worker, sacred witness, dancer, lifetime student, woman, and friend.

Iris has been practicing creative processes since 1986, when she originally studied during her training with Rites of Passage International and beloved mentor Kia Woods in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was also at that time that she contacted an ancient Rosecrusian mystery portal called The Holy Nights and started working with it through art process.

Iris facilitated over 16 Rites of Passage with 14 year-olds and their families as well as adults doing their Inner-adolescent work. She completed her own Rite of Passage for each decade of her life. Iris orchestrated volunteers and as many as 40 attendees on the land for Rites of Passage events. Each had a 2-month to one-year preparation using art process and making ritual tools. The enactments entailed full outdoor kitchen, ceremonial circles, leave- no-trace camping, and community celebrations and sometimes sibling camps. As well she facilitated everyone through the 4 day and night enactments.

Iris studied movement at Naropa Institute and received her Waldorf training at Haleakala Waldorf School on Maui, while mentoring with journeyman and master teacher Keith McCrary. She taught in Waldorf School for over 20 years to children from 4 to 14 years old. She still holds a Director license to operate a large early childhood classroom. Iris deepened her understanding with continuous personal work as well as at Gradalis Seminars where she studied Therapeutic Education. Iris practices five rhythms. She home-birthed two beautiful boys and raised them with her then-husband of 33 years with whom she is still dear friends. Iris still works with numerous families throughout Boulder county.

Iris supports and celebrates each person’s individual artistic style to catalyze self-discovery and growth through the creative process. She has created many programs and currently is working with a program called “Create Your own Inner Net” utilizing the 13 Holy Nights that works through the ensuing year through art process and synchronicity. See https:// www.holynights.org as further background.