Topic > Transition Rituals are our right of passage through life

Transition Rituals exist in every culture passed down from generation to generation; it seems that over time man has felt the need to use rites to associate inductions with new phases of life. A rite of passage is “a ritual that marks an important stage in an individual's life cycle, such as birth, marriage, and death.” (1) Daniel G. Scott of the University of Victoria, British Columbia, stated: "the rite of passage, known as initiation or coming of age, was the central cultural form for the education and nurturing of human beings from childhood to adult life using a process that clarified and affirmed new roles and status in the adult community."(2)French anthropologist Arnold van Gennep created the phrase "Rite of Passage" to explain ceremonies such as births, baptisms, weddings , death and funerals after observing social groups. “Detailed descriptions and monographs concerning magical-religious acts have accumulated in sufficient numbers in recent years that it is now possible to attempt a classification of these acts, or rites, which is consistent with the progress of science. Many types of rites are already well known, and it seemed to me that a large number of other rites could also be classified into a special category… These rites can be found in many ceremonies. So far, however, neither their close relationship nor its cause has been perceived, and the reason for the similarities between them has not been understood."(13) "The conversation has been such among people in this day and age that the meanings, strengths and possible implications of rituals have diminished in our modern culture. Already in 1958, Eliade had stated in his book: It has often been said that one of the characteristics... in the middle of the paper... and before incorporation into society” (6) takes place. In the rites of passage from childhood to adulthood, this phase contains the time of education and growth. At this point initiation rituals take place if this is a culture of ceremonial change. Young women, after being separated at the start of their first menstrual cycle, will be taught during this time, away from the rest of the community, how to be a woman. She will be explained the responsibilities she will have and will have to carry out during her adult life and will receive instructions from the older women in the group who have already gone through this transition in their lives. The young men will be shown the way of the elders and will also be taught how they should act and live like men. Physical rituals and ceremonies take place during the initiate's seclusion. Piercing one's skin with