Rites of passage

In my culture, bangles are given as gift when one moves through a rite of passage, a threshold, an initiation. Growing up with a single mother, there wasn’t much for money and so I came of age without ever receiving *my* bangles. As a child, I coveted my mother’s bangles which were given to her by my grandparents, Ashraf and Abbas. I was enchanted by how golden and delicate the bracelets were and I was continually amazed by my mother who never took them off, not even for the shower.

When I moved back to NY to be near my mother and care for her in the end of her life, she unexpectedly passed her bangles on to me. We were at the hospital and she was about to have a cat scan and I remember her taking them off and placing them in my hands. There weren’t words shared, or hugs, or celebration, but in that moment, I understood the significance of the bangles being passed on and in that twinkling instant, all of passages I had endured were connecting in the stars.

rites of passage // essence made in collaboration with tushka on mehregan, the persian festival for autumn \\ infused with 14k persian gold bangles and herbs traditionally used in persian ritual and celebration roz (rose), maryam (tuberose), and hel (cardamom).

This essence is for all of the passages we endure, whether they are witnessed, named, seen or understood. Whether they originated in the moment, or are honored in another time and place. This essence supports healing and reclamation for those who weren’t raised with coming of age ritual and tradition or for those who were forced through passages that didn’t feel right to them. Rites of passage connect the living with the dead (our ancestors), humans with the earth. It gives us an opportunity to pause, and recognize and convene with the sacred.