A rite of passage is a ritual performed by people, either individually or as a social group. It marks the end of one phase of life, and the arrival of another.[1]
All people in every society and culture experience rites of passage. They happen differently, for various reasons, and at special times, depending on what society or culture the person comes from. Rites of passage celebrate and protect the person or people who are changing. They signify the transformation from one social status (e.g. coming of age), place (e.g. crossing a national border), condition (e.g. recovering from sickness), time (e.g. celebrating the new year), to the next.[2]
The French social scientist Arnold van Gennep (23 April 1873 – 7 May 1957) most famously defined the concept of rites of passage in his book Les rites de passage (The Rites of Passage), first published in 1909.[3] Van Gennep studied ethnographic reports from various parts of the world that described rites of passage. He concluded that they are universally structured even if the rites of passage themselves differ significantly in character between societies and cultures.
Rites of passage are ordered into three phases.[3]
By learning about the rites of passage of different societies and cultures perform rites of passage, we can understand others and ourselves. With awareness of cultural diversity, we can form an open-minded, tolerant and accepting view of people who are not from the same society or culture as our own.