Passages Of The Soul

In Passages of the Soul, James Roose-Evans calls for a return of ritual to present day Western culture. The purpose of this re-ritualization, as the author sees it, is to enable the healing of human psyches splintered by the rationalist processes of modern life. Roose-Evans builds from the most coherent available theoretical foundations for ritual design, the structuralist model of Victor Turner, inspired by the earlier work of Arnold Van Gennep. Eschewing the muddled approach of later ritual theorists, he constructs each chapter around idea rites of passage, opening doors into transitional spaces where important psychological work can be accomplished. The book is written for those who have traditionally been involved in counseling work - therapists and theologians - and it is strong within these bounds, but limited in its scope as a result. Roose-Evans focuses primarily on the religious sorts of ritual experience, and leans heavily on his specifically Christian experiences in that regard, sprinkling in relatively few references to other religious traditions.