PASSAGE RITE

also called rite of passage, French rite de passage any of numerous ceremonial events, existing in all historically known societies, that mark the passage of an individual from one social or religious status to another. Many of the most important and common rites are connected with the biological stages of lifebirth, maturity, reproduction, and death; other rites celebrate changes that are wholly cultural, such as initiation into special societies or groups. The worldwide distribution of passage rites first attracted the attention of the French anthropologist and folklorist Arnold van Gennep, who coined the term rite de passage in 1909. Van Gennep emphasized the structural analogies among such various rites by demonstrating that all are characterized by three phases: separation, transition, and reincorporation. Though van Gennep cautioned that these three categories are not developed to the same extent by all peoples or in every set of ceremonies, he declared them to constitute a universal pattern. The first phase, separation, entails symbolic behaviour that severs the individual from a previously fixed point in the social structure. The old status is erased in preparation for a new one. During the middle phase the ritual subject, or passenger, stripped of all manifestations of rank or role, enters into a suspended, or liminal, state between past and future identities eluding the usual cultural categories of classification. This phase is frequently likened to death, or to being in the darkness of the womb awaiting a rebirth. In the final phase the ritual subject emerges from the threshold and is reincorporated in society in his new social or religious role. Rites of passage are characteristically rich in symbolism. The transformative process is expressed in several motifs which have a wide geographical and cultural distribution. In the widespread ritual reenactment of death and rebirth, initiates are ceremonially killed to remove them from their former life, treated as infants in the transitional period, and made to mature into their new status. Successful passage of ordeals form a regular feature of the transitional requirements, and doorways are often used to signify entry into the new domain. The new status is usually indicated by some alteration of the body (e.g., circumcision, removal of teeth, tattooing and scarification, dressing of the hair, etc.) or by the addition of special clothing and ornaments. Most scholarly interpretations of passage rites have considered their sociological function. Social systems require a certain amount of equilibrium in order to function smoothly. Changes in either individuals or groups threaten to disrupt this equilibrium. The primary sociological function of rites of passage, then, is to foster the achievement of a new state of equilibrium after such changes, to restore social order and thereby maintain the society as a system of congruent parts. A rite of passage, being a dramatization of the individual's entry into the new order, characteristically provides instruction and gives assurance of the mastery of a new role to the affected individual. It also serves as an opportunity for the community to demonstrate support of its constituents. The equally important psychological function of passage rites has received less scholarly attention. According to some interpretations, these rites serve to bridge critical stages in the life process and to help the individual confront certain uncontrollable aspects of the world he inhabits. By providing a predictable, communal context for individual experience, rites of passage act psychotherapeutically to alleviate the inevitable anxiety that accompanies change.