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FOREWORD

by Angeles Arrien, Ph.D., cultural anthropologist, author of The Four-Fold Way and Signs of Life

To many people, the ideals of the Industrial Revolution—the never-ending desire for more progress, more development, and greater wealth—no longer seem relevant to our modern lives, yet we have trouble letting them go. If we are to survive in the world of the twenty-first century, however, we must reconsider our priorities.

The great historian Arnold Toynbee, through his analysis of the rise and fall of twenty civilizations, offers a larger perspective on the current shifts in values and lifestyles. Summarizing the principles of civilization's growth, Toynbee formulated the Law of Progressive Simplification, which reminds us that the measure of a civilization's growth and sustainable vitality lies in its ability to transfer increasing amounts of energy and attention away from the material side of life toward the educational, psychological, cultural, aesthetic, and spiritual sides.

Luisah Teish's lifelong commitment has been to foster growth and sustainable vitality within the human spirit. Jump Up is not only an invitation to practice and celebrate Toynbee's Law of Progressive Simplification, it offers us as well a wealth of worldwide seasonal holidays, rituals, ceremonies, stories, and ancient practices that amplify and honor the transformational opportunities available to us each season.

Educator Parker Palmer reminds us what a powerful symbol each season is for the movement of life: It suggests that life is neither a battlefield nor a game of chance, but something infinitely richer, more promising, more real. The notion that our lives are like the eternal cycle of the seasons does not deny the struggle or the joy, the loss or the gain, the darkness or the light, but encourages us to embrace it all—and to find in all of it opportunities for growth.

Throughout recorded history all cultures have devised rituals as a means of handling life's changes. Every society uses ritual to acknowledge the major life transitions of birth, initiation, marriage, and death. The word ritual, in fact, derives from an Indo-European root meaning “to fit together.” It is related to such words as art, skill, order, weaving, and arithmetic, all of which involve fitting things together to create order. Luisah Teish provides us with a seasonal handbook that helps us create a way through sacred intention and conscious actions to fit things together. Essentially, Jump Up is a book that supports making people healthier and happier, and Luisah's great gift is to remind us that life is a mystery to be celebrated and that magic is always afoot.