Rite of passage

Cultures all over the world establish various traditions for officially recognizing the development of young people and their acceptance into adulthood or maturity. Many also mark other important transitions with special ceremonies. These rituals, or rites of passage, are very diverse in form and incorporate various levels of involvement from the rest of the culture.

Anthropologists identify three basic stages in a rite of passage. First introduced by Arnold Van Gennep and much elaborated by Victor Turner, they are called separation, liminality, and reaggregation. In the first stage, the initiate is ritually separated from his or her established place in society through a process generally including physical and symbolic isolation, and an ordeal that serves to break down the body. In many cultures, this stage also includes ritual hair cutting. The initiate is propelled into a liminal realm existing "betwixt and between" the normal world. Initiates in this stage are widely associated with nature and the wilderness and with dusk or nighttime. They are remade and readied for their reaggregation or reentry into the everyday world in new (often more prestigious or powerful) roles.

Cultural rites

One interesting comparison between various rites is whether they are unique to a culture at large, a subculture, or a particular religion. Any combination of these three settings can cause some unique compinations, and a person may go through several rites of passage throughout their lifetime.

Religious rites

Every religion in the world has some form of a rite of passage for its participants, with some being more recognized than others. Here are some primary examples.

Christianity

Christianity varies greatly from its more traditional branches of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy to groups such as Charismatics and Pentecostals. Nonetheless, they all have some form of rite of passage for their members.

Baptism, the sprinkling by, or immersion into, water is one such rite. Liturgical groups perform Baptism during infancy, symbolically dedicating the child to a Christian future. Some protestant denominations perform Baptism at the end of a confirmation process which indoctrinates the adherents in the basic teachings of the church. These confirmation processes usually end around the ages of 13-15 and are practiced by such groups as the Disciples of Christ and Methodists. Still other groups perform Baptism as an acceptance into membership or a recognition of conversion.

Confirmation...

Judaism

Bar-mitzvahs and Bat-mitzvahs