Many cultures choose to mark certain points in the human life course through ritual. These points are frequently taken to be critical transitions for the individual and the group and include such things as birth, the onset of puberty, marriage, life-threatening illness or injury, and death. People throughout the world have heightened emotions during times of important transitions, which may be both physiological and social. Such watersheds as graduation from school or retirement at the end of a working life are major transitions in modern large-scale societies. In your assignment, be sure to think about both domains (i.e., the more sacred as well as the secular) when selecting rites to examine.
- Identify three rites of passage in your culture or in a group in which you are a member. Try to find at least one such rite that you have experienced.
- Describe how well these rites appear to fit (or not) the stages described in the text.
- For the rite of passage in which you participated, what was this experience like? How did it appear to change you and any other participants?
- What purpose does each of these rites appear to serve for the group?
- Compare these rites of passage in your culture with at least one from a different culture.
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