initiation rite

The most prevalent of rites of initiation among societies of the world are those observed at puberty. These have frequently been called puberty rites, but, as van Gennep argued long ago, this name is inappropriate. Puberty among females is often defined as the…

…transformation, such as rites of initiation into common-interest societies, have no direct or primary connection with biological changes, however. These are abundant in the United States and in Europe, usually as secular ceremonies. In lineage-based or tribal societies, rites of this kind mark induction into age-graded societies, principally limited to…

The initiation may begin with the initiate being abruptly separated from his familial group and sent to a secluded camp where he joins other initiates. The purpose of this separation is to deflect the initiate’s deep attachment away from his family and to establish his emotional…

Initiation ceremonies make use of transformations to a somewhat different end. The initiant receives new birth by the dying of his old self after a series of ordeals. Antagonists, frequently in masked animal form, torment him, and his “death” and rebirth are analogous to the…

Rituals of initiation into a secret society or a religious vocation (viz., priesthood, monasticism, traditional or spiritual healing) are often included among rites of passage as characteristic rituals of transition. The great New Year’s rituals known throughout the world also represent the characteristic passage from old to…

In initiation rites for adolescents, dances may stress sexual fertility as well as customary behaviour between the sexes. In the Otufo initiation rites for girls among the Ga of Ghana, dance is part of their preparation for womanhood and enables them to display their talents to…

Initiation in Aboriginal Australia was a symbolic reenactment of death in order to achieve new life as an adult. As a novice left his camp, the women would wail and other noises would be made, symbolizing the voice of a mythic being who was said…

…marking events such as birth, initiation, marriage, and death—in almost all traditional cultures and in some modern nontraditional groups as well. These events are regarded as being of importance not only to the individual and his family but also to the group as a whole, because each event bears in…

…usually conduct the rituals of initiation, a time during which young people are instructed in their future roles as adults and are acquainted with the rules controlling the social stability of the group. Totem and spiritualistic masks are donned by the elders at these ceremonies. Sometimes the masks used are…

Initiation rites among nonliterate societies both expose and establish the world view of the participants. The initiate learns the eternal order of life as proclaimed in the myth. Life is viewed essentially as the work of supernatural beings, and the initiate in this ritual is…

…whole or in part, at initiation rituals.

…designs were carried in one initiation dance, while the frontal bones of human skulls, which had been over-modeled, painted, and embellished with hair and beards, were worn as masks in other dances. Wooden human figures of various sizes, as well as small chalk or soft stone figures (usually human but…

…rites, which include rites of initiation, marriage, and death.

Rites of initiation were transformed into barbarous tests of endurance, the boys undergoing flagellation and competing in enduring it—sometimes to the very death—under the eyes of tourists attracted by the sadistic spectacle. This occurred in times of complete peace when, under the Roman Empire, Sparta was nothing…

…opportunity to decide during their initiation whether they will respect the paternal or maternal totem. Each group of relatives has a holy place to which the totem animal brings the souls of the dead and from which the souls of children are also believed to come. Totem animals are represented…

…passage are natural occasions for initiation, a process of socialization and education that enables the novice to assume the new social role. Initiation also involves the gradual cultivation of knowledge about the nature and use of sacred power. The Sande secret society of the Mande-speaking peoples is an important example,…

…which were used in the initiation ceremonies. Men only were admitted to this religion of soldiers, and no organizational hierarchy seems to have existed.

…there were seven degrees of initiations: Corax (Raven), Nymphus (Bridegroom), Miles (Soldier), Leo (Lion), Perses (Persian), Heliodromus (Courier of the Sun), and Pater (Father). Those in the lowest ranks, certainly the Corax, were the servants of the community during the sacred meal of

In the Mithraic initiation rites, it was not until one attained the status of the initiatory degree known as “Lion” that the neophyte could partake of the oblation of bread, wine, and water, which was the earthly counterpart of the celestial mystical sacramental banquet. The sacred wine gave…

…or the village was initiated, initiation in Greece became a matter of personal choice. The mystery religions reached their peak of popularity in the first three centuries ad. Their origin, however, goes back to the earlier centuries of Greek history.

…period of preparation preceded the initiation in each of the mysteries. In the Isis religion, for example, a period of 11 days of fasting, including abstinence from meat, wine, and sexual activity, was required before the ceremony. The candidates were segregated from the common folk in special apartments in the…

An elaborate system of initiation brought the new member into the community. The community maintained its exclusiveness through the passing on of the secret lore to new members through rites designed to free the devotee from the hold of the material world and thus prepare the way for his…

Various forms of coming-of-age and initiation ceremonies make up a large portion of the ritual repertoire of many Native American traditions. These ceremonies provide structures for instruction in traditional knowledge, but, more important, they reintegrate an individual into kin, community, and cosmos when new status is attained.

Ceremonial initiation into adulthood is widely practiced among South American peoples, for both males and females. Many of the religious themes mentioned earlier are present in these rites, for initiation is seen as a kind of new creation, the dawn of a new epoch.…

The initiation of the shaman, depending on the belief system, may happen on a transcendent level or on a realistic level—or sometimes on both, one after the other. While the candidate lies as if dead, in a trance state, the body is cut into pieces by…

…preformed affinity, there was an initiation ceremony in which he swore allegiance (bayʿat) into the master’s hand; similarities to the initiation in Ismāʿīlism, the 9th-century sect, and in the guilds suggest a possible interaction. The disciple (murīd) had to undergo a stern training; he was often ordered to perform the…