Rite of Passage Coming of Age Rituals: Boys vs. Girls

• Coming of Age Ritual: Marks transition from childhood to adulthood.– Girls:

• Menarche usually marks the beginning.• Since time of menstruation is different for each girl, the Coming of Age Ritual is usually an

individual event.– Ex: Yanomamö women: onset of menarche, girl is cloistered in a specific area of the home (separation).

She sits here for 3 days, shaves her head, eats little and wears no adornments (transition). At the end, she cleans herself and re-enters society as an adult (incorporation).

– Boys:• Usually initiated as an Age Set (a group of people around the same age), instead of individually

like girls.– Ex: Gururumba men: group of boys are taken from their respective women/children homes

(separation) to the men’s house. Here they must wipe off the polluting sweat obtained from the women’s hut, are psychologically and physically hazed to test their fortitude and learn secret knowledge meant only for men, including flute-playing (transition). Once they have accomplished this, they are then presented to the community as men (incorporation).

• Since boys often go through Coming of Age Rituals together, communitas, or a sense of community and camaraderie, develops.

• Also, individuals of the same Age Set may naturally move through Age Grades (a specific status, like child/teen/adult/elder defined by age) together.

• Ex of a Right of Passage/Coming of Age Ritual in our culture: Wedding/Other?

Alterations of the Human Body• Some rituals require alteration of the

body/certain body part(s) in the liminal state (Transition phase). Can be permanent and indicate completion of the ritual.– Clothing and body paint

• Ex: Wedding Gown, Tuxedo (Wedding), Uniforms/Haircuts (Law Enforcement/Military)

– Tattooing/Piercing• Ex: piercing/cutting the skin, inserting ink/pigment• Ex: Earrings/plugs/weights• Ex: Cicatrization (Scarification)

– In West Africa, used in initiation and as a sign of bravery. Usually done with razor blades. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/benin/benin-scarification-dest.html

• Ex: Stretching of the Neck/Lower Lip/Neck– Paduang tribe from Thailand. Girls begin to wear

coils right before puberty (Coming of Age Ritual). http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/thailand/thailand_brassshackles.html

• Ex: Piercing: nose, eyebrow, lips, tongue, nipples, genitalia

– http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/indonesia/indonesia_teethchiseling.html (teeth chiseling)

Genital Alterations• Sometimes performed as a Right of Passage

– Male Circumcision• Cutting of the Foreskin. In Judaism termed “Berit Mila”. May also include official naming of the

child. For girls, only the naming ceremony and not circumcision is performed.• Subincision: Underside of penis (and sometimes part of the urethra) is cut.

– Female Circumcision• 3 major types:

– Clitoridectomy: Clitoris/part of clitoris and sometimes part/all of labia minora. – Infibulation: Clitoris, labia minora and majora.– Pharaonic Infibulation: entire clitoris, labia minora, majora and remnants sewn together to form small

openings for bodily functions. Wound reopened for sexual intercourse.• Not as widely accepted as Male Circumcision, considered by many outside cultures as a breach

of Universal Human Rights:– (Google news broadcast): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sBhTYEE030

» Themes: Attempting to observe and understand, but not to judge. Question, how to balance Cultural Relativism with Human Rights?

Salvation Rituals, Revitalization Rituals and Pilgrimages

• Salvation Ritual: in which an individual is changed in some way– Ex: Spirit possession (temporary), initiation

of a Shaman (permanent), Altered States of Consciousness Rituals (next chapter).

• Revitalization Rituals: Elimination of foreign/recently introduced customs in order to return to a more traditional way of life.– Ex: The Amish

• Pilgrimages: Journey to a sacred place, or a series of rituals that are associated with a sequence of religious sites.– Ex: Muslim (Kaaba in Mecca, the Hajj).– Ex: Navaho, Aborigine sacred landscape.

Physical features of the environment (boulders/rivers/lakes) part of mythology that is still tangible (i.e. touched/seen).

Tabu and Dietary Restrictions• Not quite Ritual, but are still Religious Obligations• Tabu: objects/people/actions that are off limits. Dishonor, bad luck or something

else negative would result for the one who breaks Tabu. – Ex: Judaism (Uzzah steadies the ark to prevent it from capsizing but is smote dead by

God for touching this most sacred of objects).– Ex: Mana (Polynesia) an impersonal supernatural force found concentrated in people,

objects and the landscape (like “The Force”). Chief has so much Mana that he may pose a threat to others. Tabus are put in place to protect others (i.e. cannot touch the chief/use his items).

– Tabu in our culture?• Kosher (Jewish Food Law)

– Did not originally mean “everything’s cool.”– Refers to foods deemed proper in Jewish Food Law

• Eating no land mammals that have cloven hooves and chew their cud (reason for no pork), meat must be drained of blood.

– Symobl of group identity and a barrier to social interactions between different social units.