RITES OF PASSAGE

Rites of passage are rituals and ceremonies that celebrate the transition from one stage of life to another. The recognition of many of these, especially birth and death, is universal, in all known cultures, both past and present. Additionally, one or more important points between birth and death, such as the transition from childhood to adulthood, marriage, and retirement, are marked with ceremonies. Sometimes these rites demark a biological change, such as a girl's first menstruation, while many others commemorate purely cultural events, such as religious affirmations and confirmations (for example, baptism and confirmation in Christianity, bar and bat mitzvahs in Judaism), or secular events such as getting a driver's license, graduating from high school, or retirement may also be associated with rituals and ceremonies that are largely expressive.

The concept of rites of passage was first explicated in 1909 by Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957) in his book Les Rites de Passage. While the title of van Gennep's book is usually translated into English as "The Rites of Passage," it might be better translated as "The Rites of Transition" as his study dealt with the ceremonies that accompany the transitions individuals make between various life stages. In addition to the rituals and ceremonies associated with life transitions, van Gennep identified a second category of rites of passage, those that mark particular points in the passage of time, especially as indicated by celestial events. These include, for example, the coming of the new year, the new moon, the summer and winter solstices and the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Van Gennep then distinguished three sequential stages of rites of passage: rites of separation (séparation), rites of transition (marge), and rites of incorporation (aggrégation). Taken together, he called these the schéma of the rites de passage. While the three stages characterize all rites of passage, van Gennep claimed that they are not equally emphasized in all ceremonies or by all cultural groups. For example, the element of separation is accentuated in funerary rituals while transition, which marks the period when an individual is removed from one status but not yet admitted to another, is most prominent in initiation ceremonies. Rites of incorporation are emphasized in marriage.

Van Gennep showed that rites of passage involve symbolism such as simulated birth and death or death and resurrection. Sometimes rites involve a ritual passing through a door or archway, symbolizing an individual's "death" and "rebirth" into a new status. In the incorporation stage of rites of passage, the individual is often given a new name or title, as has traditionally been the case in Western culture when women marry or when one receives an advanced academic degree (such as Mr. to Dr.).

The anthropologist Victor Turner (1967) characterized the transitional phase as particularly sacred or troublesome. This "liminal" (from the Latin limen, meaning "threshold") period is one where the individual is between one status and another. During the liminal phase, initiates often feel a sense of separation from the everyday but also a feeling of togetherness with other initiates. Turner (1969) referred to this sense of togetherness as communitas. He also emphasized the importance of rituals, such as those that demark life transitions. Mary Douglas, another anthropologist, argued that all social transitions are perceived as dangerous. Moreover, because people in the transitional phase between life stages exist in a temporarily undefined status, their place in society is itself undefined.

While van Gennep focused primarily on rituals directed at life transitions for individuals, in their 1942 text, Principles of Anthropology, Eliot D. Chapple and Carleton S. Coon distinguished between individual-oriented rites of passage and group-oriented rituals that they termed "rites of intensification." Chapple and Coon claimed that events such as birth, marriage, and death alter normal social interaction and that rites of passage are mechanisms that serve to restore social equilibrium. Rites of intensification, such as planting and harvest ceremonies, in contrast to rites of passage, are community, rather than individual, events and create and maintain identity and cohesion in social groups.

Rites of Passage in America

The development of rites of passage in America parallels the populating of the continent as well as the social change that has taken place since colonial times. Native Americans had, and continue to maintain in many cases, their own rites of birth, transition to adulthood, marriage, and death, while the first settlers from Europe, and later from other parts of the world, brought their particular rites of passage with them. The forms and functions of rites of passage have changed over time as culture has changed, as well. In the American colonial period, for example, children were often regarded as small adults who should transition to fully adult behavior and responsibilities as rapidly as possible. Adolescence, as the social category acknowledged in the early twenty-first century, was either nonexistent as it seems to be in many other cultures, or very brief. This meant that life transitions not only took place at different times than they do now but that their meaning was often different from today's, as well. Moreover, some of the rites of passage that may have been important in the past are no longer significant while others that integrate with modern society and culture have been introduced in relatively recent times.

Examples of Rites of Passage in America

Since there are many different cultural and ethnic groups in America, the examples of rites of passage that follow are necessarily both selective and brief. They are arranged to approximate chronological order over the lifespan, although some, such as marriage and death, do not necessarily occur when individuals reach specific ages.

Birth Rites Although van Gennep claimed that birth constitutes one of the primary transitions in human life there are relatively few true birth rites, either in America or elsewhere. Several explanations for this are possible. For one, until very recently in human history, infant mortality was so common that expending ritual effort on births, or the newborn, may have been regarded as premature. Or, babies may have not been thought to be fully human until certain rites, such as naming, took place. Rites that take place either before the birthing and soon after are common, however.

Giving small gifts to newborns or new parents dates, at least, to Roman times in Europe. However, the modern form of such gift giving, the "baby shower," appeared in the late nineteenth century in the form of "teas" for new mothers. These took place after the baby was born because pregnant women, and especially those of social standing, did not appear in public. In the early twentieth century, these teas became "showers." The "showering" of gifts on expectant mothers is largely a post-World War II phenomenon. Showers involve gifts for the baby, often accompanied by advice for the parents-to-be, a meal, and, commonly, party games. Showers are generally held for first children only. Similar events for second or later children, if held, are sometimes called "sprinkles." Traditionally, men were excluded from baby showers although that rule has become relaxed since the 1970s.

Rites of Passage for the Young While rites of passage for birthing and for newborns are rare in America, religious rituals for infants and children are important.

Baptism Baptism is the closest thing to a birth rite in Christianity. The modern form of baptism is descended from ancient Judaism wherein non-Jews were baptized as part of a conversion rite. Baptism, derived from the Greek word "baptizein," meaning "to immerse," involved immersion in early Christianity. While immersion continues to be practiced in some Christian denominations, the more common practice of sprinkling water on the fore-heads of infants developed later. For early Christians, baptism, normally held during the Easter vigil, served to initiate neophytes into the Christian community, usually after an extended period of study. Because baptism was a rite of conversion, it was not a rite of birth in early Christianity. However, with the Christianization of Europe, it evolved into a rite to be held within eight days of birth. As such, baptism resolved the child's ambiguous status of being incapable of committing a sin yet tainted by original sin. Because the rite publicly initiated a Christian, baptisms became known unofficially as "christenings." Social gatherings, similar to the receptions held after weddings and funerals, also frequently follow christenings. Many Christian denominations now either disregard baptism entirely or, at minimum, no longer hold it as essential for salvation.

Circumcision Jewish fathers are prescribed to circumcise their sons on the eighth day after their birth. This practice is based on the belief that when God chose Abram (eventually known as Abraham) to be the founder of Judaism, he commanded him to circumcise himself and his sons. The ritual of circumcision is termed a brit or bris milah, meaning "the covenant of circumcision." Normally, fathers do not do the circumcision themselves but, instead, call on a mohel, or ritual circumciser. The two main parts of a bris milah are the circumcision and the naming of the baby. In addition, a religious feast, the seudat mitzvah, follows the ceremony. A similar rite for baby girls, called a bris bat, involves no medical procedure, and is primarily a naming ceremony. In addition to the bris, the Hebrew naming, and the banquet, godparents are usually designated at these events.

Rites of Passage to Adulthood Ceremonial markers of the transition from childhood to adulthood are, worldwide, the most common form of rites of passage. In traditional societies, such ceremonies, often known as initiation rites, may involve tests of physical stamina, ordeals that include pain and/or mutilation, periods of seclusion, and instruction in esoteric or secret information.

In Western culture, including the United States, individuals have an extended transitional period—adolescence that is largely absent in traditional societies. Hence, for the most part, American society lacks definitive markers of the child-adult transition. For most young Americans, there is a series of events that, in effect, string out the child-adult transition. These include such secular events as moving from grade school to high school (perhaps with middle or junior high school in between), getting a driver's license, registering to vote, graduating from high school or college, and achieving the age at which consumption of alcoholic beverages is legal. Since boys and girls alike share these events, their substitution for traditional ceremonies, that were usually religious in nature, reflects the weakening of traditional gender roles. However, some rituals involve entrance into society, most often for young women, that announce adult status and, hence, eligibility for marriage and child rearing. The "sweet sixteen" party and the debutante ball, described below, are two examples of such rituals. Although both have faded somewhat in popularity, they served to announce that initiates had attained adult status and, thus, could now engage in dating and, eventually, marriage. The quinceañera, traditionally celebrated on the fifteenth birthday, is a similar event for girls of Hispanic descent.

Unlike boys, the transition from childhood to adulthood for girls has more significant physiological markers. While a public announcement of their first menstruation would be embarrassing and humiliating for most American girls, this was not the case in many Native American cultures. Among the Apache, for example, the Sunrise Ceremony is a rite of passage for girls to women and is held during the summer following a girl's first menstruation.

In the United States, the confirmation, practiced by Catholics and some Protestant denominations, and the bar and bit mitzvah for Jews are rites of passage that demarcate childhood and adulthood in a religious sense, although not necessarily with respect to life in general.

Confirmation The evolution of baptism from a rite of initiation into Christendom to a birth rite left behind a ritual vacuum. That is, baptism no longer functioned as a transitional rite between childhood and adulthood. Hence, confirmation, initially a part of the baptism rite, eventually replaced baptism as an adolescent rite of passage into adulthood. Although some sects, such as the Anabaptists, rejected the validity of infant baptism and hence required rebaptism, for Catholics and some Protestant denominations confirmation serves to reaffirm the grace bestowed in infant baptism.

Bar and Bat Mitzvah Jewish boys become full participants in community religious life at age thirteen when they become bar mitzvah. The bar mitzvah ceremony, while common, is not a requirement for becoming bar mitzvah and is a relatively recent innovation. The ceremony commonly consists of the initiate being called on to recite a blessing over the weekly reading from the Torah. The initiate usually makes a speech, beginning with the phrase "Today, I am a man," as well. The bat mitzvah, first celebrated in 1922, is a similar ceremony for Jewish girls and it takes place when they are twelve years of age, although the ceremony can be postponed until they are thirteen, as with boys. In some Jewish sects, the bat mitzvah is similar to the bar mitzvah while, in orthodox orders, females cannot participate in certain religious rituals and, hence, the bat mitzvah is essentially a party.

A rite of passage from childhood to adulthood at age twelve or thirteen may seem early and, indeed, those who become bar and bat mitzvah rarely assume fully adult roles. However, in strictly Orthodox eastern European Jewish communities, boys of thirteen did experience a fundamental life change: they left their families for study at schools known as yeshivas for religious study. Except for holiday visits, many never returned to their families. Among modern Jewish communities, this practice is retained only among strictly Orthodox groups such as the Hasidim.

Bar and bat mitzvahs usually involve elaborate receptions that follow the ceremony itself, much as is the case with weddings. The ceremonies and the receptions are important social events for members of local Jewish communities and also reunite family members who may live far apart.

Graduation Graduation is the culmination of a student's high school or college career. Traditionally, graduations consisted of two parts, the commencement and the baccalaureate. Commencement is the part of the graduation ceremony where graduates receive their degrees and, traditionally, flip the tassels on their hats from one side to the other to show their changed status. The baccalaureate, which dates to a 1432 statute at Oxford University, required the graduate to deliver a sermon in Latin. The tradition has continued in America although the sermons are no longer in Latin, no longer religious in nature in public institutions, and are delivered either by school officials or an invited guest. The class valedictorian, the student who has graduated first academically in his or her class, delivers the valediction at the ceremony. The valediction usually involves a recollection of the classes' past and exhortations for the future.

Like many other rites of passage, graduation involves symbolic clothing. These involve caps, gowns, and, depending on the degree being received, hoods. Because early university education in Europe was in the hands of clerics and was largely religious in nature, students and teachers alike wore robes. Hoods may have served to protect tonsured clerical heads until the introduction of the skullcap. Oxford and Cambridge standardized university dress in the sixteenth century and these traditions were exported with the founding of the first American universities beginning with Harvard College in 1636.

An intercollegiate commission met at Columbia University in 1895 in order to establish a system for academic dress. The commission prescribed the materials and styles for gowns, including the colors that designated different fields of study. Although some minor changes have been made since, the regulations adopted by the American Council on Education in 1932 remain in place for academic costumes. While black is the prescribed color for gowns, in the 1950s, graduates from high schools, colleges, and universities began to wear gowns in their school colors.

Diplomas, class rings, and yearbooks are common markers of graduation. Early diplomas were of sheepskin. Parchment began to replace sheepskin around 1900 although diplomas are still often referred to as "sheepskins." The first class ring was developed in 1835 at the United States Military Academy at West Point but rings for high schools and colleges did not become fashionable until the turn of the twentieth century. The high school and college yearbook developed from school newspapers and literary magazines. Yearbooks, which may date to the 1600s in the United States, were initially scrapbooks that contained various school memorabilia. The Yale Banner, the oldest college yearbook in the United States, dates to 1842 and originally published enrollment statistics and memberships in societies. Waterville Academy in Waterville, New York, began publishing The Evergreen, the first high school yearbook, in 1845.

Graduations at all levels are commonly celebrated with graduation parties. These celebrate the changed status of the graduates. While most high school graduates in the early 2000s went on to higher education of some kind, those who did not were expected to become employed and assume fully adult roles in society. The same was true of college graduates.

Other "Coming of Age" Rites

The Debutante Ball The debutante ball is a traditional means of introducing young women, aged sixteen to eighteen, to society. The ball is a format for their "debut" into the adult world. The American debut tradition is rooted in English custom and is based on the idea that mates for daughters of aristocratic families were to be of similar social standing. While there is no formal aristocracy in America, debutante balls are most often for the daughters of well-to-do families.

Balls begin with the formal introduction of young women and their partners to guests in the form of a promenade across the ballroom. Masters of ceremonies, who introduce the debutantes, often comment on their gowns and some of their activities. Normally a cohort of young women debut at the same time. The introductions are followed by several formal dances. A formal meal and more dancing follow.

The tradition of the debutante ball began in American in 1748 in Philadelphia but the best-known event for debutantes is the Mayflower Ball, held in New York City. The New York branch of the Society of Mayflower Descendents was organized in 1894. They held their first annual meeting at the Waldorf Hotel in 1895 and, thereafter, held dinner banquets each November in celebration of the signing of the Mayflower Compact. The first Society of Mayflower Descendants in the State of New York Annual Debutante Ball was held on 29 October 1959 in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza Hotel and was received by then Governor and Mrs. W. Rice Brewster. The balls, traditionally held in October or November, involve a gourmet meal, orchestral music, and presentation of the Plymouth Awards to recognize individuals for their efforts in philanthropy and education. The ball is regarded as one of the highlights of the New York social season.

Getting a Driver's License and Turning Twenty-One The automobile is just over a century old but has established itself as one of America's most useful, and cherished, commodities. In response to accidents by unskilled motorists, states demanded licenses and drivers' tests in the decade after 1908. In the early 2000s, most states licensed drivers at age sixteen. For young people, this is a momentous event. The ability to drive affords new opportunities in terms of getting a job and driving to work, driving to sporting events or other recreational destinations, dating, or simply cruising. Moreover, cars are major status markers for adolescents. In terms of van Gennep's stages of rites of passage, getting and driving with a drivers permit can be regarded as a rite of separation while the drivers test is the rite of transition. Acquiring a license is a rite of incorporation.

Attaining legal drinking age, now twenty-one in all states, is a second secular rite of passage to adulthood. While many, and perhaps most, young people in the United States consume alcoholic beverages before turning twenty-one, the ability to do so legally and openly is important as it also permits access to establishments, such as bars and nightclubs, that were previously off limits. While there are no standardized or socially sanctioned rituals for either getting a drivers license or turning twenty-one, these are typically events to be celebrated, the former by driving and the latter by drinking, usually with peers. Both males and females share these particular coming-of-age events, reflecting the breakdown of traditional adult gender roles in modern America.

Marriage Marriage is, by far, the most ceremonial of American rites of passage. In terms of rites of passage, it probably also has the most explicitly formulated stages in terms of van Gennep's typology with the engagement, the marriage ceremony, and the honeymoon.

The marriage ceremony itself is often both preceded and followed by expressive events directed at both the prospective bride and the groom. "Bridal showers" are parties wherein friends and relatives "shower" the bride-to-be with gifts. Bridal showers are probably a legacy of the practice of the dowry, the goods that a bride brings with her upon marriage. Dowries often included both items of value, such as jewelry and money, as well as household items, and helped in establishing a new household. Traditionally, the maid or matron of honor or the bridesmaids host the bridal shower but if they cannot, other family members or friends may do so. Early bridal showers involved only very close friends or family member and were restricted to female participation. "Couples" showers wherein both the bride and groom attend, along with their female and male friends and relatives, are becoming popular.

Males who are about to be married are commonly the honored guests at bachelor parties, also known as "stag" parties. Soldiers in ancient Sparta reputedly held the first bachelor parties on the night before the groom's wedding. At the feast, the groom said goodbye to his previous life of freedom and pledged loyalty to his colleagues. Modern bachelor parties are held either at a bar or night club or at the residence of one of the groom's friends. Such parties may involve a great deal of drinking, sometimes accompanied by pornographic films and/or the participation of female strippers or prostitutes. In the early twenty-first century, golf outings or weekend trips to destinations such as Las Vegas have become more common forms of bachelor parties. Bachelorette parties for prospective brides, although of more recent origin, are common and similar to those for males.

Joining Voluntary Organizations Most Americans are members of one or more voluntary organizations such as clubs, churches, sports teams, college fraternities and sororities, and even secret societies. Many of these, particularly those that involve secret information and signals of recognition, such as handshakes, involve rites of passage for initiates. The Freemasons provide an illustrative example. While the exact origin of Freemasonry is not known, it most probably grew out of medieval stonemason guilds. When apprentice masons became master stonemasons, they were provided with secret passwords that permitted them to work anywhere in Europe. By the 1600s, membership in guilds was opened and individuals joined the secret societies as a display of status. The governing body of Freemasonry, the Grand Lodge of England, was established in 1717 and Masonic lodges opened in the United States by the 1780s. In America, such luminaries as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Paul Revere were Freemasons.

Initiation into the Freemasons and similar societies requires a secretive rite of passage laden with symbols. Initiates are blindfolded and a noose is placed around their necks with the rope hanging down their backs. A dagger is held to the left side of their chest. One pants leg is rolled up and initiates wear one shoe and one slipper. In this condition, they are led around the lodge. As the initiates make their oaths of allegiance, the noose and the dagger are removed. They are then told that had they attempted to escape they would have either been stabbed by the dagger or choked by the noose. Like other rites of passage, this liminal stage exhibits disorientation and possible danger. The rite of passage is complete when the newly initiated freemason is awarded a lambskin apron and white gloves by the master of the lodge. The initiation is followed by a communal meal.

Freemasonry in the early 2000s was devoted to social improvement via self-development and philanthropy, as was the case with many of the other social organizations, such as the Shriners and Odd Fellows. For example, Masons founded orphanages, homes for widows, and homes for the elderly in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, prior to government provision of such social safety nets. These societies also provide camaraderie, social support, and recreational programs and resources for members.

Hazing On 4 February 1978, Charles Stenzel, a Klan Alpine Fraternity pledge at Alfred University, died after drinking a pint of bourbon and a mixture of wine and beer and being forced into the trunk of a car with two other pledges. For some years, students at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois, held a "powder puff" football game each spring between seniors and juniors as a rite of passage for the juniors to their senior year. On 4 May 2003, the event got out of hand with junior girls being beaten, covered with paint, and having mud and feces thrown in their faces. Five of the girls had to be hospitalized as a result of the hazing.

According to a study conducted by Nadine Hoover and Norman Pollard of Alfred University hazing, like the examples above, is extremely common in American high schools. They found that 48 percent of students who belong to groups report that they were subjected to hazing and that 43 percent indicated that their hazing involved humiliating acts. Moreover, 56 percent of those who were subjected to humiliating activities during hazing were expected to engage in illegal or potentially illegal behavior, typically involving substance abuse, sexual activities, or vandalism. Hoover and Pollard reported that 81 percent of college athletes who experienced humiliating acts during hazing were expected to engage in potentially illegal activities. While both male and female high school students are at risk of being hazed, males appear to be most at risk, especially in terms of dangerous activities. Forty-two states in the United States had anti-hazing laws by 2004.

Retirement Americans often face retirement with varying degrees of anticipation and dread. The anticipation is for a future free of work while the dread is based on the massive lifestyle change that will follow, the possible loss of friends and colleagues from work, and the questions about what one is to do with all of the newly found time and freedom. This was not always so, however. Retirement is largely a development of the twentieth century. In agrarian American, people continued to work so long as they were physically able to do so. With migration to cities and the rise of factory labor, however, youth became an asset and age a liability so changeover in the workforce became a necessity. In 1935, the Social Security Administration was created to provide older workers with income should they retire, allowing younger workers to take their place. While social security initially provided meager income, Congress increased benefits by 77 percent in 1950 and again by 20 percent in 1972 along with yearly cost of living increases. Employer retirement programs covered approximately half of all workers by the 1960s and the average retirement age fell from 70 in 1930 to 62 in the early 2000s. Poverty rates among the elderly of nearly 35 percent in 1960 declined to under 10 percent by 2004.

Dora Costa illustrates that income has become a less significant constraint on retirement than once was the case because of retirement plans. Moreover, she points out that leisure had become cheaper than it had ever been. Television was the major source of leisure for Americans and public leisure facilities that were once available only to the wealthy, such as golf courses and parks, were now assessable to the public. The automobile and relatively inexpensive air travel made that leisure travel affordable.

The act of retirement itself typically involves a celebration. These can take on a variety of forms but usually involve a dinner, speeches, and gifts. Retirement speeches often are in the form of "roasts" wherein retirees undergo mild ridicule for their exploits during their working years. The gold watch is a traditional retirement gift but has come to be regarded as somewhat of a joke.

Death Funerals are big business in America but they were not always so. In pre-Civil War times, death was a family affair. The great majority of deaths occurred at home and preparation of the deceased for burial took place there, as well. Female relatives usually prepared corpses by washing and dressing in a sack or winding cloth. The deceased was then placed in a pine coffin. After a one or two day vigil over the body by family and friends, the deceased was transported to the burial site. For urban dwellers, burials took place in cemeteries but rural residents were often buried on their own land.

Prior to the Civil War, embalming was practiced only for preserving corpses for dissection in medical schools. With the massive war casualties, and the need for transporting the dead home for burial, embalming became a necessity. The National Funeral Director's Association was founded in 1882 and members immediately began campaigns to convince the public of the need for embalming and professional funeral services. Funeral "homes" were established in order to move the business of dealing with the dead from their real homes. While pre Civil War mourners occasionally viewed the deceased either at home or during the funeral procession, viewing became an integral part of the death rite in funeral homes.

While a great deal of research has been directed at attitudes toward death and dying, funerals in America have undergone remarkably little academic study. There seem to be some commonalities, however. Ronald Grimes lists several of what he calls "gestures" rather than rites, per se, that surround death in America. These include:

1. Anticipating death through stories, contemplation, and rationalization.
2. Observing taboos such as wearing special clothing, often of symbolic colors and not saying anything bad about the deceased.
3. Mourning, which may involve weeping, wailing, appearing to be sad, refusing to eat, or avoiding laughter.
4. Marking an end to mourning by holding a ceremony after a specified period of time or remarrying.
5. Protecting survivors from the dead through rituals and behaviors that send the soul or spirit toward its destination or dealing with remains in symbolic ways.
6. Announcing deaths via notices and obituaries.
7. Congregating and comforting the bereaved through visitation, religious ceremonies, or parties.
8. Either dramatizing death's finality by displaying the corpse and then disposing of it by burial or cremation or denying its finality by embalming or otherwise preserving the body and referring to the deceased with circumlocutions such as "being at rest."
9. Commemorating the dead by making donations in their memory, naming children after them, retaining keepsakes, maintaining grave sites or memorials, and visiting graves.

American ethnic groups, as well as individual families, emphasize these "gestures" to varying and different degrees. Culture and individual attitudes prescribe and proscribe which of these are emphasized. In many ethnic groups, funerals and interments are followed by feasting, music, drinking, and revelry while, in others, mourners simply go home.

Other Rites of Passage

Numerous other rites of passage and/or intensification exist in contemporary America. Some of these are celebrated on national holidays, such as Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day, and Veteran's Day. W. Lloyd Warner described Memorial Day rituals as follows:

The Memorial Day rite is a cult of the dead, but not just of the dead as such, since by symbolically elaborating sacrifice of human life for the country through, or identifying it with, the Christian church's sacred sacrifice of their god, the deaths of such men also become powerful sacred symbols which organize, direct, and constantly revive the collective ideals of the community and the nation. (p. 236)

Others rites are religious, such as Easter and Christmas for Christians or Chanukah and Yom Kippur for Jews. Pilgrimages to quasi-sacred sites, such as Disney World for families with young children or Graceland for devotees of Elvis Presley, may constitute rites of passage for some. Joining and leaving the military often involves rites of passage, sometimes including hazing.

Chapple and Coon suggested that some events, such as the coronation of a king, involve both rites of passage and rites of intensification. While America has no king, presidential elections seem to function as rites of passage and intensification. The campaign period, including the primaries, is characteristically a time for candidates to separate themselves from the rest of the citizenry and from each other. The inauguration, a betwixt and between period when the candidate has been elected but is not yet president, is a time of transition. Actually taking office, appointing a cabinet and other officials, and beginning the task of governing is a period of incorporation. While presidential elections are the most dramatic of political rites of passage and intensification, the election of other officials, from governors and mayors to school board members, exhibit similar traits.

See also: Birthdays, Automobiles and Leisure, Honeymooning, Weddings

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Garry Chick