Metamorphosis: Examining Rites of Passage

The Quinceañera, Holy Communion, and Probate all have something in common: they are rites of passage, which is the topic of today’s blog post.  Rites of passage are rituals that enable individuals to move from one socially defined state into another, and they exist in many facets of culture, from religion to education.  Rites of passage can be used to demarcate individuals becoming an adult (e.g. the Quinceañera), a full-fledged member of a religion (the Holy Communion), or a sorority sister (e.g. Probate), which demonstrates the diversity in rites of passage that exist both within and among cultures.  These rituals have three common steps despite their diversity, which will be further addressed in this post.

Figure 1: The Catechism Lesson by Jules-Alexis Meunier

The first step of every rite of passage is the separation stage.  At this part of the process participants either voluntarily or involuntarily remove themselves from the larger social group or society.  This demarcates to others that these individuals are beginning their rite of passage, which may or may not have specific stipulations or strict rules attached to them and their social journey.  For example, individuals who begin Catechism (Figure 1), one of the first steps toward the Holy Communion, are not allowed to take the Communion, which involves eating the wafer/flesh of Christ and the wine/blood of Christ, and must begin taking classes toward becoming full-fledged members of their Christian sects.  Depending on the rules of the sect or particular Congregation other members may not fully talk with these individuals or they will begin to alter their communication to transition to the eventual final step.

Figure 2: Zeta Phi Beta Pledges (Teen Vogue)

After the participants have separated themselves they are considered to be in a liminal state, which is an in-between state where they no longer occupy their previous status but have not yet entered into their new status.  These liminal states can be very isolating and confusing to both the participants and nonparticipants as the new identity is being defined.  As such these participants often times will rely on each other and form a strong bond with their cohort mates, which is identified as communitas.  Communitas is felt by individuals who rush sororities (and fraternities) as they cannot speak about their rushing process but are also sometimes limited in their interactions with full sorority (and fraternity) members (Figure 2).

The final stage is the incorporation stage. This is where the participants have finally completed all of the requirements of their rite of passage and can be and are reintegrated into the larger group or society.  They are now considered full fledge members of the group and inhabit their new-found status in the group or society.  In the case of the Quinceañera young girls reenter society as women, which takes place on their 15^th birthday after they have undergone religious and cultural rituals (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Quinceañera presentation of a young woman (Google Images)

Now that you have learned about rites of passage you may recognize some of these steps as having occurred in your own life, be they in informal or formal capacities.  While rites of passage are primarily associated with religion they exist in all different aspects of life.  After reading this post feel free to share your own experiences with rites of passage to test your knowledge and understanding of this concept.  :)

References

Gezon, L., & Kottak, C. (2014).  Cultural Anthropology McGraw-Hill