Rite of passage

For other uses, see Rite of passage (disambiguation).

A rite of passage is a ritual event that marks a person's progress from one status to another. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as other milestones within puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. Initiation ceremonies such as baptism, confirmation and Bar or Bat Mitzvah are considered important rites of passage for people of their respective religions. Rites of passage show anthropologists what social hierarchies, values and beliefs are important in specific cultures.

History

The concept of rites of passage as a general theory of socialization was first formally enunciated by Arnold van Gennep in his book The Rites of Passage to denote rituals marking the transitional phase between childhood and full inclusion into a tribe or social group. Gennep's work exercised a deep impact on anthropological thought.

Rites of passage have three phases: separation, transition, and reincorporation, as van Gennep described. "I propose to call the rites of separation from a previous world, preliminal rites, those executed during the transitional stage liminal (or threshold) rites, and the ceremonies of incorporation into the new world postliminal rites."

In the first phase, people withdraw from their current status and prepare to move from one place or status to another. "The first phase (of separation) comprises symbolic behaviour signifying the detachment of the individual or group ... from an earlier fixed point in the social structure." There is often a detachment or "cutting away" from the former self in this phase, which is signified in symbolic actions and rituals. For example, the cutting of the hair for a person who has just joined the army. He or she is "cutting away" the former self: the civilian.

The transition (liminal) phase is the period between states, during which one has left one place or state but has not yet entered or joined the next. "The attributes of liminality or of liminal personae ("threshold people") are necessarily ambiguous."

"In the third phase (reaggregation or reincorporation) the passage is consummated [by] the ritual subject." Having completed the rite and assumed their "new" identity, one re-enters society with one's new status. Re-incorporation is characterized by elaborate rituals and ceremonies, like debutant balls and college graduation, and by outward symbols of new ties: thus "in rites of incorporation there is widespread use of the 'sacred bond', the 'sacred cord', the knot, and of analogous forms such as the belt, the ring, the bracelet and the crown."

Types and examples

Rites of passage are diverse, and are often not recognized as such in the culture in which they occur. Many societal rituals may look like rites of passage but miss some of the important structural and functional components. Typically the missing piece is the societal recognition and reincorporation phase. Adventure Education programs, such as Outward Bound, have often been described as potential rites of passage. Pamela Cushing researched the rites of passage impact upon adolescent youth at the Canadian Outward Bound School and found the rite of passage impact was lessened by the missing reincorporation phase (Cushing, 1998). Bell (2003) presented more evidence of this lacking third stage and described the "Contemporary Adventure Model of a Rites of Passage" as a modern and weaker version of the rites of passage typically used by outdoor adventure programs. For non-religious people, Rites of Passage are important as well. They mark important changes in our lives and they help to guide us.

Cultural

Initiation rites are seen as fundamental to human growth and development as well as socialization in many African communities. These rites function by ritually marking the transition of someone to full group membership. It also links individuals to the community and the community to the broader and more potent spiritual world. Initiation rites are a natural and necessary part of a community, just as arms and legs are natural and necessary extension of the human body. These rites are linked to individual and community development. Dr. Manu Ampim identifies five stages; rite to birth, rite to adulthood, rite to marriage, rite to eldership and rite to ancestorship. In Zulu culture entering womanhood is celebrated by the Umhlanga (ceremony).

Coming of age

In various tribal societies, entry into an age grade—generally gender-separated—(unlike an age set) is marked by an initiation rite, which may be the crowning of a long and complex preparation, sometimes in retreat.

• Bar Mitzvah
• Breeching
• Coming of Age in Unitarian Universalism
• Débutante ball
• Dokimasia
• Suffrage
• First driver's license or other official identity card
• First haircut
• Jugendweihe in East Germany
• First legal alcohol
• Quinceañera
• Russ in Norway
• Scarification and various other physical endurances
• Secular coming of age ceremonies for non-religious youngsters who want a rite of passage comparable to the religious rituals like confirmation
• Seclusion of girls at puberty
• Sevapuneru or Turmeric ceremony in South India to mark menstruation
• Sweet Sixteen

Religious

Jesus underwent Jewish circumcision, here depicted in a Catholic cathedral; a liturgical feast commemorates this on New Year's Day

• Annaprashana
• Baptism
• Bar and Bat Mitzvah in Judaism
• Circumcision, mainly in Judaism (Bris)
• Confirmation
• Confirmation in Reform Judaism
• Diving for the Cross, in some Orthodox Christian churches
• First Eucharist and First Confession (especially First Communion in Catholicism)
• Hajj
• Rumspringa
• Saṃskāra a series of sacraments in Hinduism
• Shinbyu in Theravada Buddhism
• Vision quest in some Native American cultures

Military

• Accolade
• Berserker, berserkergang, an initiatory Nordic warrior-rite; the young Scandinavian warrior of old or Viking had to symbolically transform into a bear or wolf before he could become an elite warrior (cf. Cuchulain's transformation)
• Blood wings
• Line-crossing ceremony (Crossing the equator)
• Krypteia, a "robber-baron" or "bandit-warrior" rite of the military youths of ancient Sparta
• Wetting-down. In the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy, is a ceremony in which a Naval officer is ceremonially thrown into the ocean upon receiving a promotion.

Academic

Some academic circles such as dorms, fraternities, teams and other clubs practice

• Hazing
• Ragging
• Fagging
• Szecskáztatás, a mild form of hazing (usually without physical and sexual abuse) practiced in some Hungarian secondary schools. First-year junior students (szecskák [singular form: szecska) are publicly humiliated through embarrassing clothing and senior students branding their faces (with marker pens); it is sometimes also a contest, with the winners usually earning the right to organize the next event.

Vocational/Professional

• White coat ceremony in medicine and pharmacy.
• The Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer, also known as the Iron Ring Ceremony
• Walk on Water: Second-year students must pass the competition to continue in the school of architecture at Florida International University in the United States

Other

• Batizados in Capoeira
• Black Belt Grading in Martial Arts
• Castration in some sects and special castes
• Grandmotherhood
• Loss of Virginity
• Walkabout

See also

• Pilgrimage

References

• Bell, B.J. (2003). "The rites of passage and outdoor education: Critical concerns for effective programming." The Journal of Experiential Education, 26, 1, pp. 41–50.
• Cushing, P.J. (1998). "Competing the cycle of transformation: Lessons from the rites of passage model." Pathways: The Ontario Journal of Experiential Education, 9, 5, 7–12.
• Turner, V. (1967). "Betwixt and between: the liminal period in rites de passage," Forest of symbols: aspects of the Ndembu ritual, Cornell UP, Ithaca, pp. 23–59.

Further reading

• Hatzopoulos, Miltiades B., "Macedonian Cults" (as "Cultes et rites de passage en Macédoine"), Athens & Paris, 1994
• Devine, A.M., "Review: Macedonian Cults", The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 46, No. 2 (1996), pp. 279–281, Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association
• Padilla, Mark William (editor), "Rites of Passage in Ancient Greece: Literature, Religion, Society", Bucknell University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-8387-5418-X

External links

• Rites of Passage in Africa
• A list of rites of passage and similar rituals Various ethnographic examples