Post by bluefedish on Jan 15, 2008 20:29:06 GMT -5
A rite of passage in some cultures that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status. Rites of passage are often ceremonies surrounding events such as childbirth, menarche or other milestones within puberty, coming of age, weddings, menopause, and death.
History of Term
Theories were developed in the 1960s by Mary Douglas and Victor Turner. Joseph Campbell's 1949 text, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and his theory of the journey of the hero were also influenced by van Gennep.
According to van Gennep, rites of passage have 4 phases: separation, liminality, incorporation, and sexuality. In the 1st phase, people withdraw from the group and begin moving from on place or status to another. In the 3rd phase, they reenter society, having completed the rite. The liminal phase is the period between states, during which people have left one place or state but haven't yet entered or joined the next. It is a state of limbo.
Types and Examples
Rites of passage are diverse, and are often not recognized as such in the culture in which they occur.
Many society rituals may look like rites of passage but miss some of the important structural and functional components. Typically the missis piece is the scietal 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. Given these challenges, many examples of rites of passages are possible in contemporary society.
Some examples are:
Coming of Age Rites: Bar Mitzvah, Graduation, Prom, Scarification & various other physical endurances, etc.
Religious Initiation Rites: Baptism, Confirmation, Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah in Judaism, Rumspringa among the Amish, Vision quest in some Native American cultures, etc.
Other Initiation Rites: Secular coming of age ceremonies for non-religious youngsters who want a rite of passage comparable to the religious rituals like Confirmation, Conscription "making boys into men" (i.e. warriors) through military service is rather a life phase than a mere rite, Masonic rituals, etc.
Armed Forces Rites: U.S. Marine Crucible, U.S. Navy: Battle Stations, U.S. Army Victory Forge, etc.
Academic Groups such as dorms, fraternities, teams & clubs practice, entrance into Medicine & Pharmacy (University): hazing, ragging, White Coat Ceremony, etc.
Inuit Examples
At many Inuit and other Native American groups, the vision quest is a turning point in life taken before puberty to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction. When an older child is ready, he or she will go on a personal, spiritual quest alone in the wilderness. This usually lasts for a number of days while the child is tuned into the spirit world. Usually, a Guardian animal will come in a vision or dream, and the child's life direction will appear at some point. Once the child as grown into his or her self, they will return to the tribe and pursue that direction in life. If a child has not visionquested by puberty, the child is thought to be lazy. After a vision quest, the child may apprentice an adult in the tribe of the shown direction (Medicine Man, boatmaker, etc.).
The vision quest may be a part of shamanism, more exactly, the learning and intitiation process of the apprentice for achieving the ability for shamanizing, mostly under the guidance of an older shaman.
The vision quest may be said to make the initiated establish contact with a spirit or force. Psychologically, it may have effected hallucinations.
The technique may be similar to sensory deprivation methods. It may include long walking on uninhabited, monotonous areas (tundra, inland, mountain); fasting; sleep deprivation; being closed in a small room (e.g. igloo).
Selected Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_quest
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_of_passage
History of Term
Theories were developed in the 1960s by Mary Douglas and Victor Turner. Joseph Campbell's 1949 text, "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" and his theory of the journey of the hero were also influenced by van Gennep.
According to van Gennep, rites of passage have 4 phases: separation, liminality, incorporation, and sexuality. In the 1st phase, people withdraw from the group and begin moving from on place or status to another. In the 3rd phase, they reenter society, having completed the rite. The liminal phase is the period between states, during which people have left one place or state but haven't yet entered or joined the next. It is a state of limbo.
Types and Examples
Rites of passage are diverse, and are often not recognized as such in the culture in which they occur.
Many society rituals may look like rites of passage but miss some of the important structural and functional components. Typically the missis piece is the scietal 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. Given these challenges, many examples of rites of passages are possible in contemporary society.
Some examples are:
Coming of Age Rites: Bar Mitzvah, Graduation, Prom, Scarification & various other physical endurances, etc.
Religious Initiation Rites: Baptism, Confirmation, Bar Mitzvah & Bat Mitzvah in Judaism, Rumspringa among the Amish, Vision quest in some Native American cultures, etc.
Other Initiation Rites: Secular coming of age ceremonies for non-religious youngsters who want a rite of passage comparable to the religious rituals like Confirmation, Conscription "making boys into men" (i.e. warriors) through military service is rather a life phase than a mere rite, Masonic rituals, etc.
Armed Forces Rites: U.S. Marine Crucible, U.S. Navy: Battle Stations, U.S. Army Victory Forge, etc.
Academic Groups such as dorms, fraternities, teams & clubs practice, entrance into Medicine & Pharmacy (University): hazing, ragging, White Coat Ceremony, etc.
Inuit Examples
At many Inuit and other Native American groups, the vision quest is a turning point in life taken before puberty to find oneself and the intended spiritual and life direction. When an older child is ready, he or she will go on a personal, spiritual quest alone in the wilderness. This usually lasts for a number of days while the child is tuned into the spirit world. Usually, a Guardian animal will come in a vision or dream, and the child's life direction will appear at some point. Once the child as grown into his or her self, they will return to the tribe and pursue that direction in life. If a child has not visionquested by puberty, the child is thought to be lazy. After a vision quest, the child may apprentice an adult in the tribe of the shown direction (Medicine Man, boatmaker, etc.).
The vision quest may be a part of shamanism, more exactly, the learning and intitiation process of the apprentice for achieving the ability for shamanizing, mostly under the guidance of an older shaman.
The vision quest may be said to make the initiated establish contact with a spirit or force. Psychologically, it may have effected hallucinations.
The technique may be similar to sensory deprivation methods. It may include long walking on uninhabited, monotonous areas (tundra, inland, mountain); fasting; sleep deprivation; being closed in a small room (e.g. igloo).
Selected Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_quest
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rite_of_passage
