Are You Feeling It?

The story is told of a certain tribal community which staged a series of endurance tests for initiating their young men into adulthood…

The final event in the initiation is a closely guarded secret. On the longest night of the year, the candidate is taken to a tree in a dense forest, where the moon can not be seen. Stripped of any belongings and weapons, he is instructed to remain standing up against that tree until dawn, without moving from the spot. Left alone, we can imagine the terror that the young initiate must endure — the fear of wild animals, and in the dark of night, the primal fear of the unknown. We can imagine also the happiness he must feel at the first light of dawn, having completed the initiation rites.

Only then does the young man see something that makes him even happier! From behind the tree there steps his own father who, unknown to his son, has been watching him through…