Rites of Passage

What is a rite of passage? As we move from one status to another in the life cycle, our changes in status and role expectations are commonly recognized with a rite of passage. Rite = a recognized ceremony or ritual to acknowledge a social or religious practice The four stages of the life cycle recognized commonly are: birth/naming, puberty, marriage, and death.

What do they do for us? Rites of passage help maintain social stability and order, as these recognized and well practiced rituals help members of the group adjust to significant changes in the lives of individuals in the society. A person’s new status (human, adult, husband/wife, parent, spirit, etc.) requires them to take on new roles in the group. ROLE: a particular set of behaviours and expectations that we must follow in a given status in society…what roles do you have now? What behaviours are expected of you to fulfill that role?

Childbirth and Naming The purpose of these rites is to confer human status on the new members of a group and confirm parenthood for his/her caretakers. Where are babies born? How are they born? Who helps? How long are they breastfed? When are they named? The Samoans of Polynesia bath their newborn babies in the sea. The Mbuti of Central Africa tie vines around the wrists and ankles of the baby.

Puberty These rituals bestow an adult status on an individual. In many cultures, these are considered the most important…why? Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. It can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role. A person taking the initiation ceremony in traditional rites, such as those depicted in these pictures, is called an initiate.

What happens? The initiation ceremonies tend to involve an “ordeal” – this is a test of the individual that they must pass or endure in order to reach their new status. Common ordeals include scarification, circumcision, genital mutilation, tattooing, test of endurance, tests of courage, overcoming pain, etc. Examples from class: The Fulani and the tree branch whips/facial tattoos The Mescalaro Apache and the girls test of endurance Satere-Mawe tribe in the Amazon and the bullet ants The Sanburu tribe and adult circumcision

So. What happens in each of these rites of passage? Who is the initiate? What is the ordeal? NOW…time to think…WHAT connection do you think the ordeal as to skills/characteristics this individual will need as an adult member of this group? (Think, what will they need to fulfill their various roles??

Marriage These rites legitimize new sexual, economic, and childbearing obligations to individuals. Types of Marriage: Monogamy – a person may have only one wife or husband at a time Polygamy – a general term referring to a marriage in which one person can be married to two of more individuals Polyandry – when a woman is married to more than one man at a time. Polygyny is when a man is married to more than one woman.

Tibetan Polyandry The most recognized society that practices polyandry is a certain population in Tibet. This population comprises mainly farmers that also raise livestock. Typically, farmland and livestock can only be gained through inheritance, and those males with land and resources are considered the most desirable as mates. Historically, there existed a very strict class system in Tibet and only those of higher class were entitled to farmland and therefore deemed fit to support a wife. In such mountainous terrain, dividing farmland could be difficult as only certain areas are fertile, so rather than brothers dividing up farmland within an inherited estate, it was common for brothers to share the estate. Furthermore, brothers typically would share a wife, known as fraternal polyandry, and marriages between one woman and two or more brothers would be arranged in early childhood by their parents. Once the marriages occurred, usually the oldest brother was considered the head of the household. Paternity of any resulting children typically was not known.

Polygamy With the Mormons in the United States, polygamy is a common and accepted practice, despite the fact that it is technically against the law. So, the first wife is legally married to the man, while the other wives are “symbolic marriages.” In many cultures, it is considered the norm. See the articles on the wiki!

Funerals/Death These rites proclaim the loss of the “human” status that was given at the birth/naming ceremony. They restructure the social order. Funeral rituals provide a mechanism for dealing with and disposing the body after death, as well as providing a setting and ceremony for survivors to begin to adjust to the person’s absence.

The last rite of passage Back as far as the Neanderthals 50,000 years ago, individuals were not only buried for hygienic reasons, but with tools, food, and even weapons, implying that they would need these things in a sort of afterlife. The ritual burial of the dead, which is thus attested from the very dawn of human culture and which has been practiced in most parts of the world, stems from an instinctive inability or refusal on the part of man to accept death as the definitive end of human life.

Death ritual subsumes elements of separation, transition and incorporation. Symbolic of separation in death is the deposit of the corpse in the grave, coffin or cemetery, and any other funeral traditions. How is the body treated? Is it embalmed? Is it buried? Cremated?

Mourning is transition. Those mourning are segregated, physically and socially, from the living. They are cut off from the dead and from their friends and neighbors. Normal social life is suspended for them for a prescribed period of mourning, their activities hemmed in by taboos. Reversal of normal patterns occurs during the luminal period. In Europe, this included stopping all clocks in the home, the turning of mirrors toward the wall, the emptying of water vessels, and the opening of doors and windows A Jewish mourner during Shiva is forbidden, for seven days beginning with the day of the funeral, to leave home, to greet another person, to wear leather footgear or any new garment, to bathe, use makeup, shave or cut hair, or have sexual relations.

Incorporation occurs when the mourners have fulfilled their ritual duties and have been cleansed. Together with others in the group they may partake of a communal meal. They may then reenter the normal, social world. Funerary traditions (the wearing of black) are stopped and regular life resumes.

Funeral rites around the the world vary greatly – but all share the common element of a farewell saying, and specific rules about what to do with the remains. Check out the wiki for a few examples!

These are not the ONLY ones… The Navajo in the US celebrate a baby’s first smile. All over Northern America, the high school graduation ceremony is an important milestone. The Arapesh in New Guinea celebrate a girl’s first period through fasting, then a family feast, and scarification of the girl’s body

Then End