W04 SEP14 VanGennep1908 the Rites of Passage

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RITES OF P A S S A G E

publisher has been a victim of the scholar and friend within

him. I hope that, at least, he will no t be a victim of th e

reader.

CLAMART

December. 1908

xxVi

A.v.G.

ii!.

iiI

I TH E CLASSIFICATION OF RITES

Each larger society contains within it several dis

t i n c t ~ y s e p a r a t ! l : S Q c i l \ r g r " ' ] I ) i n g s ; A s we move from hjgher

tQJ,!'\'·.e,-kvels 9J..civilizatIOn, the differences among t h ~ s e g ~ ( ) u p ~ hei30me a e c e ~ i ~ - a t e d an d theIr autonomy increases.

In contrast, th e only clearly marked social division remam

in g in modern1 -society A s . . _ ~ . h a t __ ~ ~ ( ~ h - _ ~ ~ t i n : g ~ s ~ e s - - h e t - w e e n th e s e c u l a r . a . l l i l 3 I 1 e E e l i g I O u 8 w o r l d ~ ~ b e t w e e n th e profane

an d i h ~ " sacred. Since t h ~ ' - t i ~ e - of th e Renaissance th e rela

tions between these two realms have undergone all kinds of

changes within nations and-states. But it is a significant fact

that, because of fundamental differences between them,

secular an d religious groups as a whole have remained·

separate throughout the countnes of Europe. The nobility,

th e world of finance, th e working classes, retain their identities without regard-in- theory at least -for national boun .

daries.

In additIOn, all these groups break down into still smaller

sOCIeties or subgroups. We find distinctions between th e

highernobility and the hwiled gentry, between high finance

; ~ l ~ ~ ; i I moneylending, as ~ e l l as among th e various pro

fessions and trades. For a man to pass from group to group

- f o r example, fo r a peasant to become an urban w o d ; : e r ~ or

even for a mason's helper to rise to mason-he must fulfil

certain conditions, al l of which have one thing in common:

t ~ _ p ] l ! . e l y _ ~ ( ) ? ! , : o m ~ C _ ? r . _ ' ~ ~ e . ~ ~ " t . l l - " - l . On the otherhand, for a layman to enter th e priesthood or for a priest to

be unfrocked calls for ceremonies, acts of a special kind,

derived from a particular feeling an d a particular frame of

mind. So great is t h e - , n c o r n p a t i b i l i l ; y J ) . " ~ " ' - " ~ l u h e pmfane

j( an d t h e s a c r ~ . d w o r l d s t h a t a l l l ~ l l c . J ) a n n l ! t ..p!ls8Eromone to

, t h ~ _ Q t h e 1 " - , - w i t h . Q ~ ~ .. _ ~ ? _ ~ ~ g . ~ ~ , ~ ! . ~ : t . t _ g ~ " . __~ . ! » : __! ~ t ~ _ : t ' m e d i C I : ~ . ~ ) t _ a g ~ ~ · · " · 1 To van Gennep, as to many writers of his time and ours, th e term" mOdern"

implies essentially th e pattern of industrial society found in western Europe and th e

UUlted States. All further notes by th e translator appear lU brackets; th e author's

original notes are without brackets.

1



RITES OF PASSAGE

As we move downward on the scale of civilizations (taking

\' ; ~ , i the term "civilization" in the broadest sense), we cannot

fail to note an e v ~ r - i n c r e a s i n g ~ o m i n a _ t ~ o n . ~ . f t h e s ~ c . ~ , ~ ~ J ~ . Y th e sacred. We see that in the least advanced cultures th e

holy enters nearly every phase of a man's life .Being born,

giving birth, and hunting, to cite bu t a few examples, areall acts whose major aspects fall within the sacred sphere.

Social groups in such societies likewise have magico-religious

foundations, an d a passage from group to group takes on

that special quality found in our rites of baptism an d

ordinatIOn.

At th e simplest level of development, too, there are social

groups that r e a c h - _ ~ . ? " r o ~ _ ~ __ l?oundanes. For example, a totem

clan is recognized as a single intertribal unit among al l th e

tribes of Australia, an d it s members look upon one another

as brothers for th e same reason as do Roman Catholic

priests, no matter what country they live in. Bonds of caste,on the other hand, present a more complicated problem, for

here differences based on occupational specialization are

added to those founded on kinship. While modern societies

reduce to theoretical minimum th;"aistinction between

male alld Xe_maIe, it plays a role of considerable importance

among semicivilized peoples, who rigidly segregate th e sexes

in the economic, th e political, and, above all, th e magico-

religIOUS sphere. The family, whether conceived on a broader

or narrower basis than in our own culture, is likewise shal'ply

defined among semicivilized peoples. Furthermore, while a

tribe mayor ma y no t form part of a larger political unit, itis in all cases endowed with an individuality comparable in

rigidity to the narrow parochialism of th e ancient Greek

city-states. To al l th e above-mentioned group distinctions,

th e semicivilized ad d still another-one for which our society

...._has no real counterpart-a division into generation or age

groups.Ir The life of an individual in any society is a series of pasL·1 [Writing in Europe in 1908, van Gennep did not know the awareness of age dis

tmctIOns characterIstic of modern American society.]

2

CLASSIFICATION OF RITES

sages from one age to another ,and frQIP ,pue .occupation to

another1Whereverthere are fine distinctIOns among age or

occupatktnal groups, progression from one group to the next

is accompanied by speCIal acts, like those which make up

apprenticeship in our trades. Among .semicivilized peoples

such acts are enveloped in ceremonies, since to th e semi.

civilized mind no ac t is entIrely free of the sacred. In such

societies every change in a person's life involves actions and

reactions between sacred and profane-actions and reac .

tions to be regulated and guarded so that society as a whole

will suffer no discomfort or injury. Transitions from group

to group and from one social situation to the next are looked

on a{tmplicit in th e very fact of existence, so that a man's

, life comes to be made up of a succession of stages with

similar ends an d beginnings: birth, social puberty,' mar

riage, f a t h e r h o o d ~ advancement to a higher class, occupa

tional specialization, and death. For everyone of thesee ~ e n t s there are ceremonies whose " ~ ~ s e n t i a l purpose is to

enable the individual to pass from one defined posItion to

another which IS equally well defined. Since th e goal is th e

same, it follows of necessity that the ways of attaining it

should be at least analogous, if no t identical in detail (since

in an y case th e individual involved has been modified by

passing through several stages an d traversing several boun-

daries). .

Thus we encounter a wide degree of general SImilarity

among ceremonies of birth, childhood, social puberty, be-

trothal" marriage, pregnancy, fatherhood, initiation into

religious societies, and funerals. In this respect, man's life

resembles nature, from which neither the individual nor th e

society stands independent. Th e universe itself is governed

by a periodicity which has repercussions on human life,

wit4 stages an d transitions, movements f O r W ~ r d , and periods

o f elative inactivity. We should therefore include among

ceremonies of human passage those rites occasioned by

1 [Van Gennep distinguishes between social and pbysiologlcal pub erty (see

chap. vi}.)

3



RITES OF PASSAGE

celestial c h a n g e s ~ such as th e changeover from month to

month (ceremonies of th e full moon), from season to season

(festivals related to solstices an d equinoxes), and from year

to year (New Year's Day). All these rites should, it seems

to me, be grouped together, though all th e details of th e

proposed scheme cannot be worked ou t as yet. Th e study

of ritual has made great progress in recent years. hu t we are

still far from knowing either the. function or th e manner of

operation of every single rite, an d we lack th e knowledge

necessary to construct a definitive classification of rites.

The first step toward th e development of such a classifica

tion was a separation of rites Into t 3 Y ~ J ' ~ . ! ! l ! l ~ , _ " s y ~ p _ ~ , t ~ e J ! 9 1 an d contagious.

\- S¥IllR"!hetic rites-those based on belief in the reciprocal

action of like on like, of opposite on opposite, of th e con

tainer and th e contained, of the part an d th e whole, of

image an d real object or real being, or word and deed-were

first considered as such by Tylor.' Later many of theirvarieties were studied in Great Britain by Lang,3 Clodd,4-

Hartland,5 and several others: in France this work was done

1 I have purposely retaIned the te rm" svmpathetie," although Frazer, Hubert,

Haddon, an d others have acecpted a division of sYmpathetic magic mt o contagious

magIc an d homeopathic magIc. Thev are therefore obliged to create a special place

for dynamIstIc magIC, and to homeopathic t.ttey will have to add alleopathie or

enantheropathie, etc. (See my report on Frazer's Lectures on the Earty History afthe

Kingship, in Revue de l'hi!!toire des religwns, LIII [1906], 396-401.) The classificatIOn

made by Henri Hubert an d Marcel Mauss, 1Il .. Esquisse d'une theorie generate de la

magie," Annee sociologtque. VI (1902-3), 62 fr., 66 fr., IS likewise too artificial:

"abstract an d impersonal images based on similarity, eonnguity, an d oppositio:p."

become "three aspects of the same idea"-which is that'of th e sacred an d also that

of mana, which II I turn is "the genus of which th e sacred is a species."

2 Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive CuUure: Researches into the Development of

MythOlOgy, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Cusiom (2 vols.; 1st cd.; London. 1871.

French translation of th e 2nd cd.; 1876. 4t h cd.; London, 1903).

3 Andrew Lang, Myth, Rituat, and R e l i g ~ o n (1st ed.; 2 vols.; London: Longmans,

Green, 1891. French translation, 1 vol.; Paris, 1898); The Making oj Religion (1st

ed.; London: Longmans, Green, 1B99. 2d cd.; 1900); Magic and Religwn (London:

Longmans. Green. 1901).

4 Edward Clodd, Tom, Tit, Tot: An Essay on SavagfJ Philosophy m Follc-tale(London: Duckworth, 189B).

I> Edwin Sidney Hartland, The Science of Fairy Tales (London: W. Scott. 1891);

The Legend of Perseus (Grimm Library Nos. 2. a,s; 3 vols.; London: D. Nutt,

1894-96), certain chapters.

4

CLASS IF ICAT ION O F RITES

by Reville,' Marillier,' an d several others: in Germany, by

Liebrecht; Andree,' Koch,' Schultze,' an d others: in the

Netherlands, by Tiele,' Wilken,' Kruijt,' and others: in

Belgium by MonseurlO and De Cock; while in the United

States they have been investigated by Brinton" an d several

others. Oddly enough, however, none of th e researchers who

adhered to the animistiC school developed a rigorous c l a 8 s i f i ~ cation of the beliefs an d rites they outlined. Their writings

ar e collections of parallels taken out of context and divOl'_ce4

from ritual sequences rather than attempts at s y s t e m a t l z a ~ tion. Here their thinking undoubtedly shows th e mfluence of

Adolf BastIan. In his youth, Bastian had discovered th e con

cept of Volkergedanken (" folk ideas "), and he adhered

rigidly to this notion to th e end of his long career. BastIan's

influence lies- at the very foundation of Tylor's Prima,"eCulture, which for about thirty years after its publication

in 1871 prOVIded th e framework for all kinds of complemen.

tary r e s e a r c h ~ particularly in Russia.1 2

J Albert Reville, Prol€gomimes de l'histoire des T.eligwns (Pans: G. Fischbacher,

IBB1); H i s t o ~ T e des religions, Part I: "Les religIOns des pcupJes non-Clvilises"

(2 vola.; Paris: G. Fischbacher. 1883). On th e same point of view see Michel Revon,

Le shinnto'isme (Pans: E. Leroux, 1904- also published as a series of articles II IRevue de l'histoire des religwns. vols. XLIX-LII rl904-5]).

2 Leon Marillier. La survwance de I'ame et l'id€e de Jusitce chez les peuples non

cwilises (Pans: Imprimene natIOnale, 1894); numerous analyses in the Revue de

l'histotre des religions, up to 1906.

S Felix LiebreCht, Zur VolTcslcunde: Alte !md neue Auj!!(itze (Heilbronn: Henninger,

1879).4 Richard Andree, Ethnographische Parallelen und Vergleiche (Leipzig: Veit & Co.,

1878-B9).

f> Theodor Koch, Zum Ammtsmus der sudamerikanischen Indiane r (International

Archives of Ethnography, Suppl. 13 rLeiden: Brill, 1900]).

6 Fritz SchUltze, Der Fetischismus (Leipzig, 1871); Psychologie der Naturvoll,er(LeIpZIg: Veit & Co • 1900).

7 C. P. Tiele. Manuel de l'histoire des religwns. French translatIOn from the Dutch

by MaurIce Vernes (Amiens: Rousseau-Leroy; 2d cd.; Paris: E. Leroux, 1885).

8 A. Wilken, "Het Arnmlsme hij den Volken va n de n Indischen Archipel."

Indische Gids (Amsterdam), Vo k VI , VI I (1884},85).

\I AIbertus Chnstmn Kruijt, Het Ammlsme m den Indischen Archipel (The Hague:

M. Nijhofr, 1906).

10 Eugene Monseur, "L'llme pupilline," Revue de l'hislotre des religtolls, VoL XL I

(1905), No. I, an d "L'ame poueet," ibid., No.3.

11 Daniel G. Brinton, Religwns of Primitive Peoples (New York: G. P. Putnam's

Sons, 1897).

12 [For the historical context of va n Gennep's work and the v.'l'itings he Cites. sec

th e IntrOduCtion.] 5



RITES OF PASSAGE

On the other hand, Mannhardt's work' led to a new

orientatioll1 although it remained unknown until Frazer2

demonstrated its fruitfulness. Together Mannhardt and

Frazer created a school. to which Smith3 contributed a ne w

line of approach-study of the h o l y , _ ~ ~ ~ d , _ t ~ " . . . l ' ! , r ~ ,

an d th e impure. Among those who were to subscribe to thistr·adltlon .··wei'e···Hartland1

4 Crawley,5 C o o k ~ 6 Harrison. 7 an d

Jevons8 in England; Dieterich 9 an d Preuss10 in Germany;

Remach,1' Hubert, and Mauss" in France; and Hoffmann

Krayer" in Switzerland. Actually, th e Bastian-Tylor school

an d that of Mannhardt, Frazer. Smith, and their successors

were very closely related.

Contemporaneously, still another school was coming into

1 WilhelmMannnardt,Amike Wold und Feldkutle (2d ed.; Berlin, 1904); "Mytholow

gisehe Forsehungen aus dem Nachlasse," Quellen und Forschufl-gen, Vol. LI (1BB7).

Z James George Frazer, The Golden Bough (15t cd.; 2 vols.; London: Macmillan,

1890. 2d ed.; 3 vols.; 1900). Ofthe third twelvewvoJume editio n, published beginrung

In 1906, the follOWing w e ~ e available at the time of writing: Lectures on the EarlY

History of he Kingship (London: Macmillan, 1905); Adonis, Attts, Osiris: Studies in

the History ofOnentai Religion (London: Macmillan, 1906. 2d ed.; 1907).

3 W. Robertson Smith, Lectures on the Religion of the Semltes (London: A. & C.

Black, 1889. New eG.; 1907); German translation by Stiibe, Die Religion der

Semiten (Freiburg im Brelsgau. 1899). [While Van Gennep made use of th e German

translation of this work, the translator has drawn directly on the original (3rd ed.;

New York; Macmillan, 1917).}

<\ Hartland, The Lef{end of Perseus, certain chapters. and numerous analyses In

Folk-lore (London).

(i Alfred E. CraWley, The My:mc Rose: A Study of Primitive lvlarnage (London:

Macmillan, 1902).

6 A. B. Cook, "The European SkywGod" (a senes of articles), Folk-lore, Vol. XV,

Nos. 3, 4; Vol. XVI, No.3; Vol. XVII, Nos. 1-4; Vol. XVltI. No.1 (1905-7); and

articles In the Classical Review.

7 Jane E. Harnson, PrOlegomena to the Study of Greek Religton (Cambridge:

Cambridge UruverSltv Press, 1903).

8 Frank Byron Jevons, An Introducuon to the History of Religion (London:Methuen, 1896).

9 Albrecht Dieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie (LeipZig: TeUbner, 1903); Mutter Erde(Leipzig: TeUbner, 1905); and other works.

10 Konrad Theodor Preuss, "Phallische FruchtbarkeItsdiirnonen als Tragcr des

altmexikanIschen Dramas: Ei n BeItrag zur Urgcschichte des mimIscbeu W e I t ~ dramas," Archiv fu r Anthropologie, XXIX (1903), 129-88.

11 Salomon Remaeh, Gulles, mythes, et religions (a collectIOn of articles published

after 1892; 3 vols.; ParIS: Leroux, 1905-8).

12 Henri Hubert and Marcel Mauss, .. Essal sur la nature et la fonction du sacrifice,"Annlia s o c i o l o g ~ q u e , II (1897-98), 2 9 ~ 1 3 8 .

13 Eduard Hoffmaun<Kraycr, .. Die FruchtbarkellsrIten im schweizerlschen Yolks

brauch." Schweizensches Archivfiir Volkskunde (Basel), Vol. XI (1907).

6

C LASSIFIC ATION OF RITES

being,-the dynamistic schoo!. Marett· 10 England and

Hewitt2 TilAmerica ha d t ~ ' a stand in sharp opposition

to th e animistic theory. Both pointed on t th e weakness I I I

th e concept of anImism previously glimpsed by Tiele'

(namely, polyzoism or polyzoiilatry)4 an d pu t forward th e

dynamIstic theory. This theory was further elabOl;.ated byPreuss' in Germany; by Farnell,' Haddon,' an d Hartland'

in England; and by Hubert, Mauss,' and van Gennep'o in

France (among others); and today it continues to draw

adherents.

This double stream of theory enables uS to assert that In

addition to sympathetic rites, and ritual with an animistic

basis, there exist groups of < ! y _ n a m i s t i \ U : ! ! ~ s (i.e., rites based

on a , o ~ . C ~ C . ~ p L Q . f . . . J L , P ' . Q , W J t ~ . , - - , § u c h ~ L ~ ~ ! 1 . that IS n.ot p e r ~ sonalized) as well as contagious ntes. The rites in this last

gronp are c h a r a c t e r i s t I ' ; ~ f i $ M e ; r O ; ; : a beliefthat natural or

acquired characteristics are material an d transmissible(either through physical contact or over a distanceT.'i We

should note that sympathetic rites are no t necestarily

a n i m i s t i c ~ no r contagious rites necessarUy dynamistic. Th e

1 Robert R. Marett, "Prcaniruistic Religion;" Folk_lore. XI (1900), 162-82;

"From SpeIl to Prayer," ibid • XV (1904). No.2. 132-65.

2 J. N. B. Hewitt, "Orenda and a Dc.6nition of ReligIOn," AmericanAnlhrOpologist,N.S. IV (1902),33-46.

3 C. P. Ticle, "ReligIOns," Encyclopaedia Britanmca (9th cd,), and other works.

<\ rThe Oxford English Dicttonary defines PolYZolsm as "the propcrtv II I a·complex.orgawsm, of bemg composed of mIllor and quaai-independent orgaDlsms (likePolyzoa)."j

5 Konrad Theodor Preuss, "Der Ursprung der Religion und Kunst," Globus. Vols.

LXXXVI (1904). LXXXVII (1905).

6 LcwIS R. Farnell. Tha Evo/unon of Religton: An Anthropological SWdy (London:

Williams & Norgate, 1905).

7 Alfred C. Haddon, Magtc and Fetishism: Religwns. Ancient and Modem

(London: A. Constable. 1906).a EdwIll SidneY Hartland, Address as President of Section 1-1 (Anthropology) of

the British AssocmtlOn for tbe Advancement of Science, Seventy-sixth Meeting,

York, 1906. Published m Reports of Meetings (London: John Murray, 1907),

LXXVI, 675-88.

9 Hubert and Mauss. "Esquisse d'une theorie generale de Ja magle."

10 Arnold va n Gennep, Tabou et totfimisme a Madagascar: J1tuda descriptive et

tMonque (Paris: E. Leroux. 1904); l\fYlhes et UJgendes d'Ausiralie (Pans: Guilmoto,

1906); "Anlmlsme en dynamisme," De Beweging (Amsterdam), 1907, No.2,

pp.394-96.

7



-

RITES OF PASSAGE

four classes are independent, although they have been

grouped in pairs by th e tw o schools studying magico

religious phenomena from different points of VIew.

Secondly, we ca n distinguish between rites which ac t

directly and those which ac t indirectly. A d i r e , , 1 ; . - , ! ! . ~ , for

example a curse or a spell. IS designed to produce resultsimmediately, w i t h o u t ~ t e r v e n t i o n by a ~ y outside agent.

On the other hand. a:r\indirect r i te-be it vow. prayer. or

religious service-is a kind of initial blow which sets into

motion some autonomous or personified power, such as a

demon, a group of jinn. or a deity, who Intervenes on behalf

of th e performer of th e rite. Th e effect of a direct rIte is

automatic; that of an .indirect rite comes as a repercussion.

An indirect rite IS no t necessarily animistic. To Cite one

example, when a central Australian aborIgine rubs an arrow

against a certain s t o n e ~ he charges it with a magic power

called arungquiltha. Later, he will shoot this arrowI I I

th edirectIOn of an enemy, an d as th e arrow falls th e arung ..quiltha will follow it s course and strike down th e enemy.'

Th e power is thus transmItted wIth th e help of a carrier, an d

th e rite is accordingly d y n a m i s t i c ~ contagious. an d indirect.

Finally, we ma y also draw a distinction between positive

.rile_s (o r volitions translated into action) an d ! g ~ g a t i v ; - ; l t e s . Th e latter. now known as taboos. ar e p r o h i b i t I o n s ' : - - c o ' m ~ mands "not to do" or "not to act." Psychologically, they

correspond to negative volitions, Just as positive rites are

th e equivalents of positIve volitIOns. In other w o r d s ~ taboos

also translate a kind of will an d are acts rather than nega

tions of acts. But just as life IS no t made up of perennial

inaction. so by itself a taboo does no t make up a ceremony,

le t alone a magic spelI.2 In this sense a taboo is no t 'autono-

1 See my Mythes et liigendes d'Australie, p. lXXXVI.

\I Regarding taboo as a negative ute, see va n Gennep, Tab(JU et totemisme a

Madagascar, pp. 26-27. 298. 319; Hubert an d Mauss. "Esqmssc d'unc thcol:Iegencrale de la magie"', p. 129. On taboo as negatIve rnagle, see Frazer, Lectures on the

Early History of Kingship, pp. 52, 54·. 56, 59; my reVlew of that book In Revue d(j

l'histotre des r e l i g ~ o n s . LU I (1906), 396-401; and Robert R. Marett, "I s Taboo a

Negative Magic?" in Anthropotoguat Essays Presenied to E. B. Tylor (Oxford:

Clarendon Press, 1907), pp. 219-34. Because It is eaSIer to enumerate the things that

8

CLASS IF ICATION OF RITES

mous, ,i t eXIsts only as a counterpart to a positive rite. In

other words, every negative rIte i f considered in isolation

ha s it s ow n individuality. But taboos in general ca n be

understood only in relation to the active rites WIth which

they coexist In a ceremony. Jevons.., Crawley, R e i n a c h ~ an d

several others erred in no t having perceIved this relationshipof mutual dependence.

According to the criteria outlined in these pages. a single

rite may fall simultaneously into four categorIes. When their

four opposites are eliminated. there remain sixteen possible

ways of classifying an y given rite according to the table

below:

Ammistic rites

SympathetIc riti

POSItIve r I t e s /

Direct rItes !

1 ContaglOus ntes

',Negative rItes

, Indirect rItesIi 'DynamistIc rites

Fo r instance. a pregnant woman abstaIning from eating

mulberries for fear that he r child would be disfigured IS per

forming a rite which is at th e same time dynamistic. con

tagious, direct. an d negative. A sailor who ha s been in

danger of perishing In a shipwreck an d as a consequence of

a vo w offers a small boat to Our Lady of Vigilance (Mary,

Star of th e Sea) is performmg an animistic, sympathetIc,

indirect, an d positive rite. Perhaps additional classes of rites

will be discovered, but those listed here already mclude a

considerable number. The difficulty lies only II I determimng

precisely th e proper Interpretation for each case. Often aSIngle rite may be interpreted in several ways. or a single

interpretation may fi t several rites whose forms differ

greatly. Above all, It is difficult to determine whether a rite

is essentially animIstic or dynamistic-whether. for example.

a certain ceremony designed to transfer an illness ha s as it s

object transferring th e illness as a quality, or exorCIsing a

one should no t do than those which one must or ma y do, the theorists have found

among all peoples extensive series of taboos, prohibitions, etc., and havc oVerrated

theIr Importance.

9

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demon or spirit who personified th e illness. To cite one con

crete exampIe. th e rite of passage through or across some ..

thing (which will be discussed later in greater detail) is open

to several interpretations-one anImistic an d indirect. th e

other dynamistIc an d direct. In th e attempt to formulate an

acceptable systematization of rites, general treatises proveof little help: theIr authors as a rule include only those

elements of a ceremony which serve their purposes. More-

over. their classifications are usually ,based on external

sImilarities rather than 011 th e dynamICS of th e rite. an d this

IS particularly true in th e work of folklorists.

Most ceremonies of a given kind fall into the same cate

gory. Accordingly, most pregnancy rites are dynamistic,

contagious. direct. an d n e g a t i v e ~ while most childbirth rites

are anImistic. sympathetic. indirect, an d positive. Bu t i t is

always just a matter of proportion; an animistic, positive

ritual will include a counterpart of dynamistic. an d positiveor animistic. contagious. and indirect rites. Limitations of

space prevent me from indicating in each instance th e

proper category for every particular. rite, bu t at least I

should state that I have no t interpreted the many rites

analyzed here unilaterally.

Once a classification of ritual dynamics has been estab

lished, it becomes relatively easy to understand the basis of

characteristic patterns in th e order of ceremonies. Yet

theoreticians have rarely attempted a classification of these

ceremonial patterns. There are excellent works on one or

another of theIr aspects. bu t only a few carry through a

complete se t of ceremonies in order from beginning to end,

an d still fewer are th e studies of ceremonial patterns in

relation to one another (cf. chap. x) .

Th e present volume is Intended to be such a study.I have

tried to assemble here all the ceremonial patterns which

accompany a passage from one situation to -another or from

one cosmic or social world to another. Because of th e im .

portance of these transitions. I think it legitimate to single

ou t rites of passage as a special category, which under fur-

10

I

I

\".,

i

i

CLA SSIFICA TIO N OF RITES

ther analYSIS ma ybe subdivided into ...,ites of separation,.

trart_sition T i t e s ~ an d r i , t e ~ , of i n c o r p ( J r a ( i g ~ .. These three sub

c ~ t ~ g ~ r i e s ' a r e ' not developed to the same extent by al l

peoples in e'.'ery ceremonial p a t t e r n ~ ~ t e s _ . o f s e p a r a t ~ o n ... !,re prominent In f-Qll.eral c e r e . m Q Q ! . ~ . L Q ! ~ ~ of IncorporatIOn

at marriages. Transition rites may play an important p a r t ~ for instance. in pregnancy, betrothal. and initiatIOn; or they

may be reduced to a minimum in adoption. in th e delivery

of a second c h i l d ~ in r e m a r r I a g e ~ or in th e passage from th e

second to the third age group. Thus, although a complete

scheme of rites of passage theoretically includes preliminal

rites (rites of separation), liminal rites (rites of transition),

an d p·ostliminal rites (rites of incorporation), in specific in

stances these three types are no t always equally important

or equally elaborated.

«'Furthermore. in certain ceremonial patterns where th e

transitional period is sufficiently elaborated to cons.titute anindependent state, th e arrangement is reduplicated. A

hetrothal forms a liminal period between adolescence an d

marriage, but th e passage from adolescence to betrothal

itself involves a special series of rites of separation, a transi

tion, and an incorporation into the betrothed condition; and

th e passage from th e transitional penod, which is betrothat

to marriage itself, is made through a series of rites of separa

tion from th e former, followed by rites consisting of transi·

tIon, an d rites of incorporation Into marriage. The pattern

of ceremonIes compriSIng rites of pregnancy, delivery, an d

birth is equally involved. I am trying to group al l these rites

as clearly as possible, but since I am dealing with activities

I do no t expect to achieve as rigid a classification as th e

botanists have, for example.

I t is by no means illy contention that al l rItes of birth,

initiation, marriage. an d th e like, ar e only rites ot.passage.

For. in addition t.o theIr over-all goal- to insure a change

of_condition or a passage from one magico-religious or secu H

la r group to anothe;r-all these c ~ r e m o n w s have their indi

vidual purposes. Marriage ceremonIes include fertility rites;. 11




birth ceremonies include protection and divination rites;

f u n e r a l s ~ defensive rites; i n i t i a t i ( j n s ~ propitiatory r i t e s ~ ordinations, rites of attachment to the deIty. All these ntes.

which have specific effective alms. occur in juxtaposition

an d comhination wIth rites of p a s s a g e ~ a n d are sometimes

so intimately intertwined with them that it is impossible todistinguIsh whether a particular ritual i s ~ fo r e x a m p l e ~ one

of protection or of separation. This problem arises in relation

to various forms of s o . ~ c a n e d purification ceremonies. which

ma y simply lift a taboo an d therefore remove th e co,,·

taminating quality, or which ma y be clearly actIve r i t e s ~ imparting the quality of purity.

In connectIOn WIth this problem. I should like to consider

bnefly th e pivoting of th e sacred.' Characteristically, th e

presence of th e sacred (and th e performance of appropriate

rItes) is variable. Sacredness as an attribute is nDt absDlute;

it is brought into play by the nature of particular sItuatIOns.A man at home. in his tribe. lives In th e secular realm: he

moves into th e realm of th e sacred when he goes on a JDurney

an d finds himself a foreigner near a camp of strangers.

A Brahman belongs to th e sacred world by birth; bu t

within that world there is a hierarchy of Brahman families

some of whom are sacred in relation to. others. Every

woman, though congenitally I m p u r e ~ is sacred to all adult

men: if she is pregnant, she also becomes sacred to al l other

women of the tribe except her close relatives; an d these

Dther women constItute in relation to her a profane world.

which at that moment includes al l children and adult men.

Upon performing s o ~ c a l l e d purification rites. a woman who

has just given birth re-enters society, bu t she takes her place

only in appropnate segments of i t - such as he r se x an d he r

family-and she remaIns sacred in relation to the inItiated

1 This pIvotmg was already well understood by Smith (see The ReligIOn of the

Semttes, pp . 427-28 an d discussion of "taboo ", pp. 152-53, 451-54, ctc.). Compare

the passage from sacred to profane, and VIce versa, among th e Tarahumare and tbe

Huichol of MeXICO as described by Karl Sofus Lumholtz, Unknown Me:nco: A Record

of Five Years' ExploratIOn among the Tribes of Western Sierra Madre (London:

C. Scribner's Sons. 1903), passtm.

12

C L A S S ~ F I C A T r o N OF JIITES

me n an d to th e m a g i c o ~ r e l i g i o u s ceremonies. Thus th e

"magIc circles" pivot, shifting as a person moves frDm one

place I II society to another. Th e categories an d concepts

which embody them operate in such a wa y that whoever

passes through th e vanous positIOns Df a lifetime one da y

sees th e sacred where before he has seen th e profane. or viceversa. Such changes of condition do. no t occur withDut d i s ~ turbing th e life of SOCIety and the individual, an d it is th e

function of rites Df passage to reduce their harmful effects.

That such changes are regarded as real an d important is

demonstrated by the recurrence of r i t e s ~ in important c e r e ~ monies among widely differing peoples, enacting death In

one condition an d resurrection in ·another. These r i t e s ~ d i s ~ cussed in chapter lX . are rites of passage In theIr most

dramatic fDrm.

I t remains for me briefly to define th e meaning of th e

terms used in this work. Dynamism designates th ei m ~

personal theory of mana; a n i m i s m ~ th e personalistic theory,

whether th e power personified be a single or a multiple

being, animal or plant (e.g., a totem), anthropomorphic or

amorphous (e.g . God). These theories constItute religion,

whose tephniques ( c e r e m o n i e s ~ r i t e s ~ services) I call magic. -Since th e practice an d the theory are insryarable-the

theory without th e practIce hecoming metaphysics. an d th e

practice on th e basis of a different theory becoming science

- t he term I will at all times use is th e adjective magico .

religious.

The result is the diagram overleaf.

13



IDynamismI

RITES OF PASSAGE

1. THEORY (Religion)II

Ammism

(monistlc; impersonal)I

(dualistIc. etc.; personal)

IITotemism

ISpIritism PolydemoIDsm

(with intermediate stages)

2. TECHNIQUE (MaglC)

(Rites)I

ITheism

Sympathetic Contagious Direct Indirect Positive Negative

(taboo)

14

TH E TERRITORIAL PASSAGEI I erritorial passages can provide a fraluework

for th e discussion of rites of passage which follows. Exceptin the few' countries where a passport is still in use, a person

in these days ma y pass freely from one civilized regIOn to

another.! The frontier, an imaginary line connecting mile .

stones or stakes, is visible-in an exaggerated fashion

only on maps. But no t so long ago th e passage from one

country to another, from one province to another within

each 'country, and, still earlier, even from one manorial

domaIn to another was accompanied by various formalities.

These were largely political, legal, and economic, bu t some

were of a maglCo-religious nature. For instance. Christians,

Moslems, and Buddhists were forbidden to enter and stay

in portions of the. globe which did no t adhere to their

respective faIths.

It is this magico-religious aspect of crossing frontiers that

Interests us. To see it operating fully, we must seek ou t

types of civilization in which the magico-religlOus encom .

passed what today is wIthin th e secular domam.

The territory occupied by a semIcivilized tribe IS usually

defined only by natural features, bu t its inhabitants an d

theu neighbors know quite well wIthin what territorial

limits their rights an d prerogatives extend. The natural

boundary might be a sacred rock, tree, river, or lake which

cannot be crossed or passed without th e risk of supernatural

sanctions. Such natural boundaries are relatively rare, how

ever. More often th e boundary is marked by an object-a

stake, portal, or upright rock (milestone or landmark)

whose installation at that particular spot has been accom

panied by rites of consecration. Enforcement of th e interdic

tion ma y be immediate, or it ma y be mediated by frontier

1 rIt should he remembered that van Gennep wrote in the first decade of the

century.j

15



RITES OF PASSAGE

divinities (such as Hermes. Priapus,J. or th e deities repre

sented on th e Babylonian kudurru). When milestones or

boundary signs (e.g., a plow. au animal hide cu t In thongs,

a ditch) are ceremonially placed by a defined group on a

delimited piece of earth. th e group takes possession of it in

such a wa y that a stranger who sets foot on it commits a

sacrilege analogous to a profane person's entrance into asacred forest or temple.

Th e idea of th e sanctity of a territory so delimited has

sometimes been confused with the belief in th e sanctity of

th e entIre earth as th e Earth Mother.' In China, according

to the most ancient documents. th e deity was not the earth

as such, but each plot of ground was sacred fo r its inhabi

tants an d ,0wners. SI t seems to me that th e case of Loango,'"

tb e terrItory of Greek cities, an d that of Rome' ar e al l

analogous.

Th e prohibition against entering a given territory is

therefore intrinsically magico-religious. I t has been ex

pressed WIth th e help of milestones, walls, an d statues In th e

1 Herais mv interpretation (as vet to be fully demonstrated) of the almost u r u v e r ~ sal assocIation betwecn landmarks and the phallus: (I) There IS an association of

th e stake or the upright rock with the penis In erection; (2) the idea ofumon assoCI

ated with the sexual act has a certaIn magical s l g n i f i ~ n c e ; (3) pOInted objects

(h?r?-s, fingers, etc.) .are b ~ l i e v e d to protect through their power to "pierce" the

evIl Influences, th e wlCked pnn, etc.; (4,) very seldom IS there the idea of the fecundity

of the terntory and its Inhabitants. The phallic symbolism of landmarks has almostno truly sexual sIgnificance.

2 Several interpretatIOns by Dieterich (in MuUer Erde), which I helieve to be

Incorrect, will be discussed with reference to birth and childhOOd.

3" In the ancIent Chinese religion there was a gOd of thc soil for each district (no

d O U b ~ for t w e n t y ~ f i v e families); th e king ha d a god of the soH for his people and one

for ~ ~ s own p e r s o n ~ l use; the same was true for each feudal lord, each group of

famIlies, each ImperIal dynasty. These gods presided over war, which was created as

a punishment; they were fashioned from a pIece of wood and associated with gods

of the harvest. It seems to me that the earth goddess came later as a result of several

svncretisms" (Eduard Chavannes, •• Le dieu du sol dans r anClCDne religIOn chinOlse . .Revue de l'histolre des religrons, XLIII rI90lJ, 124-27, 140-44). •

" Cf. E. Dennett, At the Ba_ck of he Black Man's Mind: Or Notes on the Kingly

Office tn West Africa (London: Macmillan, 1906), and Eduard PechiieI-Loesche,Volkskunde von Loango (Stuttgart: Strecher & Schroeder, 1907).

6 Cf. W. Warde FOWler's mterestlllg diSCUSSIOn t i t led" Lustratio" in Anthropology

and the Classlcs, cd. Robert R. Marett (Oxford, 1908), pp . 173-78. My readers will,I hope, accept the VlCW that lustrauo is nothing more than a rIte of territorial scparation, cosmIC or human (e.g., return from wax).

16

TH E TERRITORIAL PASSAGE

classical world, an d through more simple means among th e

semicivilized. Naturally, these SIgns are no t placed along

th e entire boundary line. Like our boundary posts, they ar e

se t only at points of passage, on paths and at crossroads.

A bundle of herbS, a p,ece of wood, or a stake adorned with

a sheaf of straw may be placed in th e middle of the path or

across it,1 Th e erection of a portal,2 sometimes together with

natural objects or crudely made statues, ' is a more compli

cated means of indicating th e boundary. The details of

these various procedures need no t concern us here.'"

Today, In ou r part of the world, one country touches

another; bu t th e sItuation was quite different m th e times

when ChrIstian lands comprIsed only a part of Europe.

Each country was surrQunded by a strip of neutral ground

which in practice was divided into sections or marches.

.l To the references gIven by H. Grierson II I The Silent Trade (Edinburgh, 1903),

pp. 12-14, n. 4 (where, unfortunatcly, the rItes of appropriation and the taboos of

passage have been confused), add: Dennett, At the Back of the Black Man;s MinH,

pp. 90, 153, n. 192; Pechiiel·Loesche, Volkslmnde vo n Loango, pp. 223-24,456.472,

etc.; J. Biittikofer, Reisebilder aus Liberia (Leiden, 1890), II , 304; va n Gennep',

Tabou'et totemlsme aMadagascar, pp . 183-86 (taboos of passage); J. M. M. Van der

Burght, Dichol1naLre / r a n t ; a ~ s Kirundi: Avec l'indicahon succmcte de ta stgnificatwnswahili et allemande augmente a'une mtrodUctlon et de 196 articles eUlUologiques sur

les Urundi et les Warundi (Bar*le-Duc: Societe cl'Illustration Catholique, 1904),

S.v. ,. Iviheko," etc. The custom of planting a .stake surmounted with a sheaf of

straw-to prohibit the entrance mt o a path or field is very widespread in Europe.

2 Paul B. du Chaillu (in L' A/rique sauvage: Nouvelles excurswns au pays des

Ashongos [Paris: Michel Levy Freres, 1868J, p. 38, from th e English; Journey to

Ashango Land [New York, D. Appleton CO, 1867J), mentIOns a portal with sacred

plants, chimpanzee Skulls. etc. (in th e Congo). Portals formed by two stakes driven

mto the ground with a polc runuIng between them, on wh.i('h hang Skulls, eggs, etc.,

are often found on th e Ivorv Coast as taboOB of passage and protection against th e

spirits (oral report bv MaUrice Delafoss e); P e c h i i e l - L o e s c h e ~ Volkskunde von Loango,

figures on p. 224, 472, etc.

3 See among others for Surmam, K. MartIn, "Bericht ubcr eine Reise ins Gebelt

des oberen SurInam," Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land en Volkekunde von Nederlands

Indie (The Hague), XXXV (1886), 28-29. Figure 2 shows a statue with two faces

which I compared to Janus hi/rons in an article of the same title in Revue des

traditions populaires, XXII (1907), No.4, 97-98. It confirms Frazer's theory II ILectures on the Early History o/the Kingship, p. 289.

"OccasIOnally In Loango a palisade is erected across the road (Du I3haiIlu,

L' Afrique sauvage, p. 133) to prevent diseases from enterIng the territory of th e

villages; Biittikofer (ReMebilder aus Liberia, p. 304) mentions a barricade of straw

mattIng used to prevent access to sacred forests Where initiatIOn rites take placc;

perhaps th e barriers made from branchcs and from straw matting found in Aus

tralia and in New Guinea serve this purpose, rathcr than SImply that of hiding from

the profane what IS gOIng on there, as is usually thought.

17



-RITES OF PASSAGE

These have gradually disappeared, although th e term" letter

of marque"l retains th e meaning of a permit to pass from

one territory to another through a neutral zone. Zones of

this kInd were important in classical antiquity, especially in

Greece, where they were used for market places or battle

fields .'

The same system of zones is to be found among th e s e m i ~ civilized. although here boundaries are less precise because

th e claimed territories are few In number and sparsely s e t ~ tled. Th e neutral zones ar e ordinarily deserts. marshes, an d

most frequently virgm forests where everyone ha s full rights

to travel and hunt. Because of the pivoting of sacredness,

th e territories on either side of the neutral zone are sacred

in relation to whoever is in th e zone. but t.he zone, in turn.

"is sacred fo r th e inhabitants of th e adjacent territorIes.

£Whoever passes from on e to the other finds himself physl

cally an d m a g l C o ~ r e l i g i o u s l y in a special situation fo r a

certain length of time: he wavers between tw o worlds. It is

this situation which I have designated a transition. an d on e

of th e purposes of this boiik IS to demonstrate that this

symbolic and spatial area of transition ma y be found In

more or less pronounced form in al l th e ceremonies which

accompany th e passage from on e social an d magico-religious

position to anothe9

1 rLettera of marque origmally constituted a license from a sovereign authorizing

a subject to seek rcprlsals agamst subjects of a hostile state for injuries mflicted by

that state. In later hmes these letters enabled prIvateers to commit acts against a

hostile natIOn which otherWIse would have been considered piracy. In Europe,letters of marque were abolished by the Congress of ParIs In 1856. (See Oxford

English Dictwnary.)J

2 On the subject of sacred zones and bands of neutral territory, see Grierson, The

Silont Trade, pp. 29, 56-59; and on frontiers an d SIgns of sacred frontlers In Palestine

an d Assyro.BabyLonia, see H. Gressmann, "Mythische Reste II I de t Paradieser·

z§.hlung," Archivfilr R e l i g ~ o n s w ~ s s e n s c h a f t , X (1907),361-63 n. On th e feast of the

Termmalia in Rome, see W. Warde Fowler, The Roman Festwals of he Penod of he.

Republic (London: Macmillan, 1899), pp. 325-27. It seems likely that the CapItoline

Hill was origmally one of those neutral zones of which I speak (FOWler, p. 317), as

well as a frontier between the city of the Paiatme and that of th e Quirinal; see also

Roscher's Lexilwn, s.v. "Jupiter ," col. 668, an d W. Warde Fowler in Anthropology

and the ClaSSICS pp. 181 ff. on the subject of the pomerium.

18

j

iI THE TERRITORIAL PA SSA G E

With this introduction we no w turn to some descriptions

of terrItorial passages. When a king of Sparta went to war.

he sacrificed to Zeus; i f th e prognostication was favorable,

a torchbearer took fire from th e altar and carried it In front

of th e army to th e frontler. There th e king sacrificed agam,

an d if th e fates again decreed in his favor he crossed th e

frontler with the torchbearer still preceding the army.' The

rIte of separation from one's own land at th e moment of

entering neutral territory was clearly acted ou t in this p r o ~ cedure. Several rites of frontier crossing have been studied

by Trumbull,' who cites th e following example: when

General Grant came to Asyut, a frontier point In Upper

Egypt, a- bull wa s sacrificed as he disembarked. The head

was placed on one side of the gangplank and th e body on

th e other, so that Grant ha d to pass between them as he

stepped over th e spilled blood.' The rite of passmg between

the parts of an object that has heen halved, or between two

branches. or under something, is one which must. in a cer

tain number of cases, be interpreted as a dire2.t.!ite of

passage by means of which a p e r s c ) , i i l e ' a v e ' s " · 6 n e ~ world behind

him and. enters a new one.4

Th e procedures discussed apply no t only in reference to a

country or territory but also In relation to a village. a town,

a section of a town. a temple, or a house. Th e neutral zone

shrinks progressively till it ceases to exist except as a simple

stone, a beam, or a threshold (except for th e pronaos, th e

narthex, th e vestibule, etc.).' Th e portal which symbolizes

1 See Frazer. The Golden Bough, I, 305.

2 H. Clay Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant: Or Ihe Beginmng of Religwus Riles

(New York; Charles Scribner's Sons, 1896), pp. 184-96. I wish to thank Mr. Salomon

Reinach for tending me this book, which IS difficult to find.

3 Ibid., p. 186. Trumbull 's theSIS IS that the blOod which was shed is a symbol, ifno t an agent of union.

01 A collection of these rItes ha s been published in Melusme: Recueil d f l · m y t i l O l a g ~ e , liUerature papulatre, iradilian, et usages (Paris: Gaidoz & Rolland, 1878-1912). A few

implY th e transfer of a disease, bu t what are commonly called rItes of purification

suggest the idea of a transition from the Impure to th e pure. All these ideas, an d the

rItes to which they correspond, often form a smgle ceremonial groupmg.

Ii Fo r details on the rites of passage pertaming to th e threShold, I refer you to

Trumbull's The Threshold Covenant. Some prostrate themselves before th e threshold,

BOrne kiss It, some touch it with theIr hands, some walk-upon it or remove theIr shoes

19



'-, . -

r

IiIIIIi II!!, IIJ.,',' I',''

I

RITES OF PASSAGE

a taboo. against entering becomes th e postern of th e ram

parts, th e gate In th e walls of th e city q u a r t e r ~ th e door of

th e house. The quality of sacredness is no t localized in th e

threshold only; it encompasses th e lintels an d architrave as

well. '

The rituals pertaining to. th e door form au n i t ~

an d differences among particular ceremonies lie in technicalities: th e

threshold is sprinkled with blood or with purifymg water:

doorposts ar e bathed with blood or with perfumes: sacred

objects are hnng or nailed onto them. as on·the architrave.

Trumbull. in the monograph which he devoted to "the

threshold c o v e n a n t ~ " bypassed th e natural interpretatIOn.

although he wr{)te that th e bronze threshold of Greece" is

an archaic synonym fo r th e e n d u p - ~ g border. or outer limIt.

of spmtual domam.'" P r e c I s e l y : ~ e door IS th e boundary

between th e foreIgn and domestIc worlds m th e case of an

ordinary dwelling, between th e profane an d sacred worlds)Jr·

i,n th e ca,se of a temple. Ther, to cross th e threshold is to

nnlte oneself With a ne w worl2-.dlt is thus an Important act

in marriage. adoption. ordination. an d funeral ceremonIes.

Rites of passing through th e door need be stressed no

further at this point because several of them will be des

cribed in chapters to follow. I t will be 'P)!,d-rhiit"llie--tIt"f

carned Dut. _ on."".the,. _threshold Itself a v . ~ ' " tranSItion rIte'_

"Purifica:tions" (washing, c l e a n s i n g ~ - e t c ~ r ~ ( j ~ , ~ i i t ! ! ! . ~ " . r i f ~ of

separation from previous s u r r o u n d i n g s ~ there follow rites of

incorporatIOn (presentation of salt. a shared meal, etc.). Th e

before dOIng 50 , some step over It, some are earned over It, etc. See also William

Crooke, .. The Lifting of the Bride," Folk-lore, XIII (1902), 238-42. All these rItes

vary from people to people an d become more complicated if he threshold is the seat

of the spirit of th e house, the family, or the threshold god.

1 Fo r a detailed list of Chinese practices with reference to doors, see Justus Doo

little, Social Life of the Chinese with Some Account of the Religious, Governmental,

Educatwnal, and Business Customs and Optnions with Special but Not Exclusive

Reference to Fuhchau (New York: Harper, 1865), I, 121-22; II , 310-12; Wilhelm

Grube, Zur pekinger VoUcskunde (Berlin, 1902), pp . 93-97. On magIcal ornamentatIOn

pertaInIng to the door, see Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, pp. 69-U" 323.

2 I canDot share Trumbull's VICW that the threshold is a primitive altar and the

altar a transplanted threshold, nor can I attribute a greater Importance to the

presence of blood in ntcs pertaInmg to the threshold than to the use of water or

Simple contact. All these are ntes of incorporatIon or union.

20

i

TH E TERRITORIAL P A S S A G E

rites of th e threshold are therefore not" union" ceremonies.

properly speaking, but rites of preparatIOn for union. them

selves preceded-by rites of preparation fo r th e transitional

stage.

Consequently,(I propose to call the ntes of separatIOn

from a previous world. preliminal rites. those executed

during th e tranSItional stage liminal (or threshold) rites, an d

th e ceremonies of Incorporation into th e ne w world p o s t ~ liminal rites'0

The rudimentary portal of Africa is very probably th e

orIgmal form of th e Isolated portals which were so highly

developed I II the Far East, ' where they not only became

independent monuments of architectural value (for ex

ample, porticoes of deities. of emperors. of widows) but also.

at least in .,S.hinto;>ism an d T ~ ~ , are used as ceremonial

instruments (see description of childhood ceremonies in

chap. v). ' This evolutIOn ,from th e magiC portal to th e

monument seems also to have occurred in th e case of th e

Roman arch of triumph. The VIctor was first required to

separate himself from th e enemy world through a series of

rites. in order to be able 1m return to the Roman world by

passing through th e arch. The rite of incorporation in this

case was a sacrifice to Jupiter CapItoline and to the deities

protecting th e city. '

In th e instances CIted thus fa r th e efficacy of th e ritual

portal has been direct. But the portal may also be th e seat

of a partIcular deity. W h e n " guardians of the threshold"

take on monumental proportions. as In Egypt. in Assyro

Babylonia (winged dragons, th e sphinx, an d all sorts of

1 rThis statement appears to be primarily speculatIVe.I2 Fo r China, see Gisbert Combaz, Sepultures Lmperiales de La Chine (Bmssels:

Vromant & Co., 1908), pp. 27-33; Doolittle, Social Life of the Chinese, II , 299-300.

For Japan, scc W. E. Griffis, lU Trumbull. The Threshold Cot·enani, Appendix,

pp. 320-24; B. H. Chamberlam, Things Japanese: Notes on Various Subiects Con

necied with Japan for the Use of Travellers and Others (London: Paul, 1891, p. 356,s.v. "torii"); N. Gordon Munro, "Primitive Culture lU Japan," Transaciwns afthe

A s ~ a t t c Society of Japan, XXXIV (1906), 1M.3 Fo r the order of ntes of triumph, see Le Perc Bernard de Montfaucon,

O.S.B., Antiquites expliquees et representees en figures (Paris: F. Deluulne, 1719),2d ed.; IV, 152-61. .

21



~ , . " , t > J , . , • """ , I-i '" II ., I

I, I,

t "

i I 'I I

II

RITES OF PASSAGE

monsters),' an d in China (in th e form of statues), they push

th e door and the threshold into th e hackground; prayers

an d sacrifices ar e addressed to th e guardians alone. A rite

of spatial passage has become a rite of spIritual passage. Th e

ac t of passIng no longer accomplishes th e p a s s a g e ~ a p ~ r -sonified power insures it through spiritual means. 2

Th e tw o forms of portal rituals mentioned above seldom

occur in isolation; in th e great majority of cases they ar e

combined. In th e var IOUS ceremonies one ma y see th e direct

rite combined with th e Indirect, th e dynamistic rite with

th e a n l m i s t l c ~ either to remove possible obstacles to the

passage or to carry out the passage itself.

Among th e ceremonies of terrItorial passage those per

taIning to the. c!ossmg ~ ~ ~ ~ ! ~ ~ ~ § _ ~ Q . u l g also becIted. These mclude th e deposIting of varIOUS objects

(stones, bits of cloth. haIr, etc.), offerings. invocations of th e

spIrit of the place, an d so forth. They are to be found, for

Instance, in Morocco (kerkour), Mongolia, Tibet (abo),Assam, th e Andes, an d th e Alps (in th e form of chapels). Th e

crossIng of a rIver IS often accompanied by ceremonIes,3 an d

1 Hegarding thcse divmitics and the rites pcrtammg to them, see Eugene Lefebure,

Rites egyptwns: Construction ei proiection des edifices (Pans: E. Leroux. 1890); fo r

th e Assyrian wlllged hulls. sce p. 62.

2 Regarding th e divlllitics of th e threshold. see (i n addition to Trumbull, The

Threshold Covenant, pp. 94 If.): L. R. Farnell, "The Place of the Sonder·gotter III

Greek PolytheIsm," in Anthropological Essays Presented to E. B. Tylor, p. 82; and

Frazer, The Golden Bou.gh. In China they are ordinarily Shen·Shu aDd Jii.Lii (see

Ja n M. de Groot an d Eduard Chavannes. Les fetes annuellement c61€brlies a Emouy

fPans, IB861, pp . 597 ff.) bu t III Peking also Ch'in·Ch'iung and Yu"chih·Kung (see

Grube. Zn r pekinger Vollcskunde). Fo r Japan see Isabella L. Bird, Unbeaten Tracks tn

Japan: T r a v e ~ m the Interior, InCluding Visits to the Abongmes of Yozzo and the

Shrme ofNikhQ

(London: J. Murray,1905),

I,117. 273;

Reyon. "L e shinntolsme."

pp. 389, 390; Munro." Primitive Culture In Japan," p. 144. etc.

3 See among others H. Gaidoz. Etude de la mythologle gauloise, Vol. I: Le dieu

gaulolS du solei! et le symbolisme de Ia roue (Pans: E. Leroux, 1886), p. 6S; I recall

th e cercmomes of constructIOn and of the openmg of bridges (cf. "pontifex"). As

for rItes of passmg betwcen or under something, tbey have been colIeeted in

Melusme an d by almost all folklore students. They should all be discussed agaIn.

Im t It will be Impossible to do so at this time. Therefore I will CIte only th e followmg,

taken from Stepan Petrovrtch Krascrunnikov. Ilistotre et descnption du Kamtchatka,

trans. from the Russian by M. de SaUlt Pr e (Amsterdam: M. M. Rey, 1760), I,

130-31. an d sec p. 136: "Soon afterward, thcy bronght birch branches into the

VUrt, according to the number of families represented. Each KamcJladal took one of

tbcse branches for his family, and after bending It Illto a CIrcle he made his wife an d

22

TH E TERRITORIAL PA SSA G E

a corresponding negative rIte is found where a king or a

priest is prohibited from crossing a certain rIver or an y

flowing water. Likewise, th e acts of emharking an d dis

embarking, of enterIng a vehicle or a litter. an d of mounting

a horse to take a trip are often accompanied by rites of

separation at th e t ime of departure an d by rites of i n c o r ~ poration upon return.

Finally, in some cases th e sacrifices associated with laying

th e foundation fo r a house and constructing a house fall

into the category of ntes of passage. I t is curious that they

have been studied in isolation, SInce they ar e part of a h o m o ~ geneous ceremonial whole. th e ceremony of changing reSI

dence.! Every ne w house IS taboo until. by appropriate

children pass through it tWice; as they emerged from this hOOp, they began to spin

around. Among them this is called being purified of one's faults."

It S apparent from the detailed descriptIOns by Krascmnnikov that th e birch is a

sacred tree for th e KamChadals an d that it is used ritually 1Umost of their ceremomes.

'fWD interpretatIOns are possible: direct sanctificatIOn ma y occur under the Illfiuence

of the birch, which IS c o n s i d ~ r e d pure, or a transference of impunty from the peopleto the birch may take place. Th e latter seems to be In keeping with the rest of the

ceremony: "When all ha d been purified, the Kamchadals came out of the yurt with

these small branches through the zupan, or th e lower opening, an d they were fol

lowed by their relatlves of both sexes. As soon as they were out of the yurt, thCY

passed through the birch cncIe for the second tlme and then stuck the little branches

II I th e snow. bending th e end towards the east. After throwmg all theIr wnsiif on this

spot an d Shaking theIr clothing, th e Kamchadals re-entered the yurt by the ordinary

openlllg an d not by th c znpan." In other words, they rid themselves of the sacred

material impurities which had accumulated m their clothes. an d of theIr most

important rrtual obieet. Ule tonsiif (Which togcther with" swect grass." cte., com

pnses therr catcgory of sacra). Th c branches, which ha d been endowed with th e

sacred, are thrown away.

Th e passage through th e sacred arcs automatIcally removes from th e celebrants

th e sacred charactenstlCS which they acqUIred by performing th e complicated cere·

monies that this nt e termmates. These cItcIes form th e portal which separates the

sacred world from the profane world,so

that , once they have entered th e profane,

th e performers of the ceremony are again able to use th e big door of the hot.

I Regarding constructIOn sacrifices, see Paul Satan ("Uber das Banopfer,"

Zeitschriftfilr Ethnologw, XX X r18981, 1-54,), wh o did no t see that a few of them are

ntes of appropriation. Fo r French rites. see Paul Scbillot, Lefollt-lore de La France

(Pans: E. Guilmoto, 1907), IV , 96-98; an d for varIOUS theories, see Trumbull. The

Threshold Covenant, pp. 45-57, and Edyard Alexander Westermarck, The Odgm

and Deve(opment of Moral Ideas (London: Macmillan. 1906-8), I, 461. Those rItcs

fall into a wider category which I call th e "ri tes of the first tIme" (sec chap. IX).

Th e charm 43. 3-15. of th e Kausikasutra (W. Calland, AltindiscMs ZanberrN:

Darstellung der altindischen Wunsdwpfer rAmsterdam: J. Muller, 19001. pp. H,7-4B)no t only IS connected with construction and with entering hu t also IS mentioned ill

people's and arumals' Changing of dwellings.

23



-RITES OF PA SSA G E

rites. it is made noa (secular or profane),.!. In form an d

dynamics, .the lifting of this tahoo resembles those pertain

ing to a sacred territory or woman: there IS washing or

lustration or a communal meal. Other practices are intended

to insure that th e house remaIns Intact , does no t crumble.

an d so forth. Scholars have been wrong in Interpreting some

of these practices as survivals an d distortions of an ancient

custom of human sacrifice.,[£eremonlcs to lift a taboo, to

determine wh o will be th e protecting spirit, to transfer th e

first death, to Insure all sorts of future security, are £gnowed

hy ntes of incorporation: libations, ceremonial visiting,

consecration of th e various parts of the house. th e sharing

of bread and salt or a beverage, th e sharIng of a me,;i}(In

France, a housewarming is given. called literally, "hanging

th e pothook.") These ceremonies are essentially rItes identi

fYIng the future inhabitants with their ne w residence. When

th e inhabi tants-for instance. a betrothed man or a young

husband and hi s family or hi s wife-build th e house themselves. th e ceremonIes begin at the very start of construction.

Rites of entering a house. a temple. an d so forth. have

their counterpart In rItes of exit. which al e either identical

or th e reverse. At th e tIme of Mohammed, th e Arabs stroked

th e household god when entermg and when leavmg,' so

that th e same gesture wa s a rite of incorporation or a rite of

separation. depending on th e case. In th e same way, when

ever an Orthodox Je w passes through th e main door of a

house, a finger of hi s right hand touches th e mezuzah. a

casket attached to th e doorpost which contains a piece of

paper or a ribbon upon which is written or embroidered th esacred name of God (Shaddai). He then kisses th e finger an d

says, "The Lord shall preserve th y going ou t an d th y

coming. in from this time forth evermore."3 Th e verbal rite

is here joined to the manual one.

1 Fo r a typical ceremony. scc W. L. Hildburgh, "Notes on Sinhalese Maglc,"

Journal of ho Royal Anthropological InstllUle, XXXVIII (1908), 190.2 Smith, Tho Religion or tho S e m ~ t e s , pp. 4,61-62.

3 Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant, pp. 69-70, with reference to SYIla. rVan

Gennep evidently relied on Trumbull for this mformatlOn. According to The Jewish

24

i

I

t

TH E TERRITORIAL PA SSA G E

I t will be noted that o ~ _ . t h . ! ' } ! : ! a l n . l l o o r is th e site of

entrance an d exit rites, perhaps because it IS consecrated by

a special rite or because it faces in a favorable direction.

Th e other openmgs do no t have th e same quality of a point

of transltion between the familial world and the external

world. Therefore thieves (in CIvilizations other than ou r

own) prefer to enter otherwise than through th e door;

corpses are removed by the back door or th e window; a

pregnant or menstruating woman is allowed to enter and

leave through a secondary door only; th e cadaver of a

sacred animal is brought in only throngh a wmdow or a

hole; an d so forth.(These practIces ar e intended to prevent

th e pollution of a passage which must r e m ~ i n u n c o n t a : ~ : r n : " , nated once it ha s been purified by speCIal ceremonIes.)

Spitting or stepping on it , for instance, are forbidden. But

sometimes th e sacred value of th e threshold IS present II I all

th e thresholds of th e house. In Russia I saw houses in which

little horseshoes, used to protect th e heels of boots, werenailed on th e threshold of every room. In addition, every

room In these houses ha d it s ow n Icon.

In order to understand rites pertaining to th e threshold,

one should ah';ays remember that th e threshold is only a

part of th e door an d that most of these rites should be

understood as direct an d physical rItes of entrance. of

waiting, an d of depar ture- that is. as rites of passage.

Encyclopedia, e ~ . Isidore Singer (New York and London: Funk & Wagnalls, 1916),

th e prayer at the door IS translated as " may God keep my gOlDg out and my COmIng

in from· now on and evermore." Thc Inside of the mezuzah contams the wordS of

Deuteronomv 6 : 4-9 and 11 : 13-21, both ofwhlch exhortthc Jews to love and obey

God and which command them to wrIte God's name on thcIr doors and gateposts." S h ~ d d a i " is written on the outside of th e mezuzah, which IS touched and kisscd in

passlDg through th e door.J

25



-,""",!!,!\" ,-

INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPSI I I - society is similar to a house divided into

; ,rooms an d corridors. Th e more th e society resembles ours inits

form of civilization. the thinner are its internal partitions

an d th e wider an d more open ar e it s doors of c o m m u n i c a ~ tion. In a semicivilized society, on th e other hand. sections

are carefully Isolated, an d passage from one to another must

be made through formalities an d ceremonIes which show

extensIve parallels to th e rites of territorial passage d i s ~ cussed in the last chapter.

An individual or group that does no t have an immediate

rIght. by birth or through speCially acqUIred attributes. to

enter a partIcular house and to become established in one of

it s sections is in a state of isolation. This IsolatIOn has two

a s p e c t s ~ which may be found separately or In combination:

such a, person is we_ak. because he is outside a given group

01' sOCIety, but he is also strong, since he is in th e sacred

realm with respect to the group's members, for whom their

society constitutes th e secular world. In consequence. Some

peoples kill. strip, an d mistreat a stranger without c e r e ~ ~ o n y , . l while others fear him, take great care of him, treat

hIm as a p o w ~ r f u l being, or take m a g i c o ~ r e l i g i o u s protectIve

measures against him.

_For a great many peoples a stranger is sacred, endowed

with m a g l C o ~ r e l i g i o u s powers. and supernaturally benevo

lent or malevolent. This fact has been pointed ou t r e ~ peatedly, espeCIally by Frazer ' an d Crawley,' who both

att.ribute th e r i t ~ s to.which a stranger IS subjected to m a g i c o ~ r e h ~ l O u s terror In hIS presence. These rites. they maintain,

are Intended to make him neutral or benevolent. to remove

In the case of organized l 'obberv-of caravans, for example-or of the right of

shIpwreck, th e phenomenon IS m u ~ . ~ more economIC and legal than magicO-l"eliglOu8;

occaSIOnally however, as III th e FIJI IslandS, the right of shipwreck seems mtcnded

to 2Prevent magtcally dangerous strangers from entermg the tribe's territory.

Frazer, The Golden Bough, I, 297-304. Trumbull, The ThreShold Covenant

pp. 4-5 and passim, considers only l'ltes of entrance m relatIOn to the blood and th ;threshold.

3 Crawley, The Mystic Rose, pp. 414, 239, 250 fr.

26

INDIVIDUALS AN D G RO U P S

th e special qualities attriliuted to him. Grierson accepts th e

same point of VIeW, bu t he is also Interested in th e economIC

an d legal positIOn of th e stranger. an d he cites many

references ! Westermarck presents even ampler evidence.

an d also suggests further motives which ma y affect be-

havior toward a stranger (e.g., personal feelings, positive or

supernatural mterest). ' He rejects Crawley's theory based

on th e .concept of contagion-that rites pertaining to the

stranger are but a means of lifting •• a taboo of individual

isolatIOn"3 by which everyone is surrounded-and proposes

an even narrower one. Fo r hi m th e purpose of th e ntes is

, to destroy both th e evil ey e possessed by all strangers a

priori an d t he " conditional curse" placed upon th e host by

th e stranger"s presence. 4 J e v o n s ~ on th e other hand limits,

th e significance of these rites to purification of th e clothing

an d belongings of th e stranger. excluding th e stranger

hImself. 5

Each of these pOints of view IS applicable to a series ofparticular facts. but none of them enables us to understand

th e dynamics of ntes pertmning to the stranger, then

patterns. and the parallels between these ceremomal pat.

terns and the order of rItes of childhood. adolescence,

betrothal, and marriage.

However. if we consult documents which describe in d e ~ tail the ceremonIes to which isolated strangers or groups

(such as caravans or scientific expeditions) are subjected,

we see. beneath a varIety of forms, a _ s ~ x p . ! i ~ i I g l y uniform

Pl!ltern. Th e actions which follow an arrival ofsti-angers'Ill

large numbers tend to reinforce local "social coh,l:::sion: th einhabitants al l leave th e v l ! l a g - ' ; - ; ~ ; f t a k ~ - - ~ e f ~ g e - 1-;; a well·

protected place such as a hill or forest; or they close their

.1 Grierson, The Silent Trade, pp. 3 0 ~ 3 6 . 70-83.

2 Westermarck. The Origm and Development of Moral Ideas; I, 570.3 Crawley, The Myslic Rose, p. 172.

4 Westermarck. The Origm and Devetopmeni of Moral Ideas,!' Sec cspeciaIIy pp.

586-92 and the truly Ignorant conclUSIOns of p. 390."Jevons, An IntroduciwlI to the History of Religion, p. 71. It is Impossible to

understand how clothing or other possessions can be impure. dangerous, and taboo

while the user remalOS unaffected.

27



-...

RITES OF pASSAGE

doors. ar m themselves, an d send ou t sIgnals for a gathering

(e.g., fire, trumpet. drum); or th e chief., alone or with his

warriors, goes before th e strangers as a representative of his

society, SInce he is better immunIzed against this contact

than th e ordinary inhabitants. Elsewhere., special i n t e r ~ mediaries or elected delegates are sent. In addition (though

there are exceptions of a political nature., fo r example),

foreigners cannot immediately enter th e territory of th e

tribe or th e village; they must prove their llltentions from

afar an d undergo a stage best known in th e form of th e

tedious African palaver. This preliminary stage., whose

duratIOn varies., is followed by a transitional period consist

Ing of such events as an exchange of gifts. an offer of food

by the inhabitants, or th e prOVIsion of lodging. . Th e c e r e ~ mony terminates in rites of incorporatlOn-a formal e n ~ trance. a meal in c o m m o n ~ an exchange of handclasps.

The length and intrIcacy of each stage through which

foreigners an d natives move toward each other vary with

different peoples. 2 Th e basic procedure IS always th e same,

h o w e v e r ~ fo r either a company or an individual: ~ h e y must

stop. wait. through a transitional period. enter. be

IncorporatedJI'he particular rites ma y include actual c o n ~ tact (e.g., a slap, a handclasp), exchanging gifts of food or

valuables. eating, drinking, smoking a pipe together, s a C r I ~ fiClng animals, sprInkling water or blood. anointing, being

attached to each o t h e r ~ being covered together, ·or sittIng

on th e same seat. Indirect contact may occur through a

spokesman or through touching simultaneously or one after

th e other a sacred object. the statue of a local deity, or a"fetish post." This enumeration could be continued i n d e f i ~

1 This ma y he a "communal house" of young me n or warriors. a special place

belongmg to th e chief or a noble, or even a roo,m m a Jocal familv's house. In the

last case the stranger is often mcorporated into the family, and thus into the society.

2 See some accounts which are compared in my Tabou et t o t e m ~ s m e Ii Madagascar,

pp. 'W-47. In this category Imght be listed the protocolfor tile receptIOn of ambassa.

dorial misslOns, etc., which mark the contact .between two groups. Particularly the

"Welcome" ritual of th e central Australians should be noted; see B. Spencer an d

F. J. Gillen, The Northern Tribes of Centrat Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904),pp.568-79.

28

,,

ir

INDIVIDUALS A N D G R O U PS

nitely, but space forbids a close exammation of more than

a few rites.

(The rIte of eatlllg an d drinking together, which will be

frequently mentioned m this book, IS clearly a rIte of in

c o c p o r a t i o n ~ of physical union, l an d has been called a

sacrament of communion. 2 A union by this means ma y be

p e r m a n e n t ~ bu t more often i t lasts only dUring th e period

of digestion)Captain Lyon ha s noted that th e Eskimo con·

sider a man their guest only for tweuty-four hours.3 Often

th e sharing of meals is recIprocal, an d there is thus an

exchange of food which constitutes th e confirmation of a

bond. When food is exchanged without a common meal, th e

actIOn falls Into the vast category of gift exchanges. 4

Exchanges have a direct constraining effect: to accept a

gift IS to be bound to th e giver. Crawley perceIved this in

part. ' hut Ciszewski, II I his monograph on fraternal bonds

among th e Slavic populations of th e Balkans an d Russia.

di d no t understand it . He considered rites of incorporation"symbolic" ,and recognized four major ones: eating an d

drinking together, the act of tying one to the other. kisSlllg

on e a n o t h e r ~ an d t h e " symbol of naturae ~ m i t a t w . " Leaving

aside the last (SImulated childbirth, etc.), which IS sympa

thetic In nature. the ntes described by Ciszewski In his

research ma y be classified as follows: individual or collective

eating in common; simultaneous Christian communIOn;

being tied with a single rope or belt; holding hands; em

bracing; putting feet together on th e hearth; exchanging

gifts of cloth, garments, weapons, gold or silver coins, b o u ~ quets, garlands, p i p e s ~ rings, kisses, blood, Christian sacredobjects (a cross, a candle, or an icon); kissing these sacred

1 See Cr awley, The M y s t ~ c Rose, pp . 157 ff., 214. 456 ff.

2 Smith, The Religlon of he Semites, pp . 206-10; Hartland, The Legend of Perseus.

Vol. III, passim.

a The Private Journal of C a p t a ~ n G. F. Lyon of the H.M.S. Hecla, During the

Recent Voyage of Discovery under Captam Parry (London: J. Murray, 1824), p. 350.

4 For hibliographic references, see Grierson, The Silent Trade, pp. 20-22, 71;

Westermarck, The Origin and Development of Moral Idtlas, r. 593-94.

6 Crawley, The Mystic Rose, p. 237; he was mistaken in interpreting the lifting

of the taboo and th e rItes of Ulllon fw m a totally individualistic point of VIew.

29



RITES OF PASSAGE

objects (an icon. a cross, th e Gospels); or pronouncing an

oath

Moreover, it appears from Ciszewski's monograph that(in

each local ceremony there is a combination of several of

these uniting acts an d that in al l of them there occur one or

more rites of exchange. I t is this rite which usually occupIes

th e central place+as is also th e C;;Jse in marriage ceremonies,

to be examined later. In . r e a l i t y ( ~ h e rite in-:olv_es a mutual

transference of personahty, an d Its operatIOn is as SImple

as th e mechanics of being tied one to the other. being covered

with th e same coat or veil, an d so fort4,) Furthermore, a l ~ though th e exchange of blood ma y be coarser or more cruel

than that of a piece of clothing, a ring, or a k i s s ~ it is no

more primitive. 2

We mIght also ad d to the kinds of exchanges already

listed those which include children (practiced in China, for

example), sisters an d wives (in -Australia), entire garments,

deities, or all sorts of sacred objects, such as umbilical

cords.' Among some North American Indians (such as th e

Salish) exchange ha s become an institution called "PE!

l " t _ ~ ~ , " which is held perIodically fo r each person in tU-rn.'

I Stanislaus Ciszewski. Ki1llstliche Verwandschaft beL den SUds/aven (LeipZIg:T. Krakau. 1897). Sec, respectively, pp . 141, 2, 33, 35, 39, 43-45, 54. 57, 34, 63, 3,

38,4,0,35,46,54,55,45,47,27.33,34.45,46,55,32,57, 69, 43-45, 43-46. 41, 57,42,27,33,37,38,41-43,45,27,45.60-69,37,156-57,34, 37. 39, 55, 56. On pp. 41 ff.

an d 33, Ciszewski cites an interesting instance where the fraternal bond is formed in

three stages (small, medium, and large)-whicb, call to mllld the stages of initiatIOnand incorporation into age groups,

2 On fraternal honds see th e inquirY of the Revue des traditions TJOpulaLl'es and of

Mclusme; G. Tamassia, L'affratellamento (TUrIn, 1886); Smith, The Religion of the

Semtics. pp. 239-48; J. Robinsohn, PsychotogLe del' Naturviilker (LeIpzig, 1896),pp. 20-26. According to eyen Ciszewski's account (p. 94) social fraternal bonds

create!l stronger relatIOnship than natural consanguimty.

3 Taplin, The Nal'nnyeri (2d ed.; Adelaide: T. Shawyer, 1878), pp. 32-34. This

exchange creates the relationship called ngiangtampe, on which Crawley (in The

Mystu Rose) built his theory of" mutual inoculation between individuals," without

seem/!; that all forms of exchange have exactly th e same purpose. On the social

slgnificance of fraternal bonds, see Ciszewski. Kiinstliche Verwandscha!t bei den

SUdslaven, pasnm, esp. p. 29. Fraternal bonds may be permanent or temporary, in

which case they may be renewed (see Ciszewski, pp. 7. 45, 49, etc.).

4 Among others, see C. Hm.Tout, "Report on the Ethnology of the Southeastern

Tribes ofVaneouver Island, British Columbia," Journal of he Royal A n t h r o P Q l o g ~ c a t Illsmute, XXXVII (1907), 3 1 1 ~ 1 2 . 30

t

INDIVIDUALS AN D GROUPS

One of the duties of royalty, among th e semicivilized, is

redistributing to their subjects th e "gif ts" obligatorily

given. In short,( th e movement of objects among persons

'" constItuting a defined group creates a continuous social

bond between them in th e same wa y that a "communIOn"

d o e s ~ Among rites of union similar to those creating _a f ~ ! ~ . ! } J ? 1

,. bond may be cited th e joint performance of a ceremonial

. - ; c r ~ s u c h as godparenthood or a pilgrimage. Such a unIOn

cannot be broken except by a specIal nte of separation.

Th e direct and simple operation of th e rite lllcorporatmg

a stranger is very clear in th e ceremony to which Thomson

submitted Just before his entrance Illto MasaI terrItory.!.

On the da y after our arrival a Swahili runaway came as a messenger of

th e chief to make friends an d brothers with me . A goat was brought

and, taking it by one ear, I was reqUlred to state where I was gomg, to

declare that I meant no evil an d did no t work in uchawi (black magic),

an d finally to promise that I would do no harm to the country. The

other ear wa s then taken by th e sultan-·s ambassador. and he made

promise on his part that no harm would be done to us , that food would

be given. an d aU artICles stolen refunded. The goat was then killed .

an d a strip of skin cu t off th e forehead, in which two slits were made.

Th e M-S wahili, taking hold of this. pushed it on my finger by th e

lower slit five times, finally pushing It over th e Jomt. I ha d next to take

th e strip, stilI keeplllg it on my finger. an d do th e same for th e M-

Swahili, through th e upper slit. This operation finished, th e strips ha d

to be cu t in two, leaving th e respective portions on our fingers: an d th e

Sultan of Shira an d I were sworn brothers. 2

Among th e Zaramo, WaZlgula, an d Wasagala it is th e

practice to exchange blood. The two individuals SIt face toface, th e legs of one crOSSing those of the other, while a

third person brandishes a sword above t h e m ~ pronouncing

a curse against th e breaker of th e fraternal bond. Here

th e bond is created by simultaneous contact an d blood

1 [The ceremony described was performed by Thomson with the Chaga of Shira

at a camp adjacent to Masal territory.J

2 JosepJl Thomson, Through Masai Land (London: Law, 1885); French transla·

tion: Au pays des M a s s a ~ (Paris, 1886), pp. 101-2. [The ol'lginai English has been

used in the translation.J

31




exchange, and an exchange of gifts follows.' I cite this last

instance. chiefly to show that it is a mistake to separate

rites involving blood arbitrarily from those of incorporation.

Actually, these special rites seldom constitute th e whole

ceremony, which, in the great majority of cases. includes

rItes of contact. food sharing, exchanges, Joining (tying,

etc.), '"lustration," and so forth.A combinatIOn of th e various rites of incorporation by

direct contact IS very apparent, for instance. in the follow

ing customs ofthe Shammar, an Arab tribe. Layard writes:

Amongst th e Shammar, if a ma n ca n selze th e end of a stnng or

thread the other end of which is held by his enemy, he Immediately

becomes his Dakheel. I f he touch th e c ~ n v a s of a tent, or ca n even

throw his mace towards It. he becomes th e Dakheel of its owner. I f he

ca n spit upon a man, or touch an y article belonging to him with his

teeth. he is Dakhat, unless, of course, in th e case of theft, it be the

person wh o caught him. The Shammars never plunder a caravan within

sIght of thell' encampment, for as long as a stranger can see their tents

they consider him their Dakheel. 2

Here even sight is contact. Rites of this kind play an im

portant part in ceremonials of the rIght of asylum.' Th e

simple fact of pronouncing a word or a formula like th e

Moslem salaam also ha s th e effect of creatmg at least a

temporary bond; that is wh y Moslems look for all sorts of

ways to avoid giving a salaam to a Christian. 4

Th e variOUS forms of greeting also fall into th e category

1 R. Burton, The Lake Regions of Central Africa (London: Longntans, G.reen.1860), I, 114, 115.

2 A. H. Layard, Nineveh and Babylon: Second Expedition to Assyna, 1848-51

(Loudon: Munay, 1861), pp . 317 ff. Regarding the daMU, see W. Robertson Smith.Kinship and Marriage m Early Arabia, ed. Stanley A. Cook (London: Stack, 1907),

pp . 48-49 n. rThe rules governIng contact applv equallY to protector (daMal) an d

protege (dakhil); th e role assumed depends, of course, on CIrCUmstances Independent

of th e l'ltual.l

.3 On the right of asylum, see Trumbull, The Thresltold Covenant, pp. 58-59. AIbas

HellWIg (Das Asylrecht der NatUTVoiker [Stuttgart, 19031) did not see the maglCO-

religious side or the link between taboo and the rites of incorporation pertaIning to

th e l'lght of asvlum among th e semicivilized; these have been studied in part from

this point of VIew by Smith (The R e l i g ~ o n of he S e m ~ t e s , pp. 53-57, 206-8) an d Cis

zewski (Kiinstliche Verwandschaft b e ~ den Siidslaven, pp. 71-86, etc.).

4. Edmond Doune, Merrakech (Paris: Comlte de Maroc, 1805), I, 35-38.

32

I\

J

INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS

of rites of incorporation; they vary according to th e extent

to which th e person arriving is a stranger to the inhabitants

of the house or to those he meets. The various greetings of

Christians. still found in archaic forms In Slavic countries,

renew each time th e mystical bond created by belonging to

th e same religion, as does th e salaam among th e Moslems.

The reading of several detailed deSCriptions will show thatamong semicivilized people(these greetings have th e follow

in g effects: (1) In th e case of relatives, neIghbors, or mem

bers of th e same tribe. there is a renewal an d reinforcement

of membership In a single. more or less restrIcted group.

(2) In th e case of a stranger, he is introduced first to a limIted

group and then, i f he so deSIres, to other restricted groups

an d at th e same time to th e society at large. Here agam,

people clasp hands or ru b noses, separate themselves from

th e outside world by removmg their shoes, coat, or head

dress. unite by eating or drInking together. or perform

prescribed rItes before household gods, an d th e like. Inshort, a person identifies himself in one wa y or another with

those he meets, i f only for th e moment) Among th e Ainu,

fo r instance, a greeting is intrinsically a religious act. , Th e

same ritual sequences ma y be found In th e exchange of

VIsits, which as an exchange also baSIcally ha s th e value of

a bond; among th e Australians, for example. it is an inter

tribal custom.

Direct rites of incorporation based on contagIOn include a

number of sexual r i t e s ~ such as wife exchange. If th e rite is

unilateral, -; woman is loaned (a w i f e ~ daughter, sister, rela

tive, wife of th e host, or woman of the same class or tribe

as th e host).' Although I I I some cases th e purpose of this

I Fo r details of these rites see J. Batchelor, The Ainu: the Hairy Aborigmes of

Japan (London: ReligIOUS Tract Society, 1891), pp. 188-97; Chamberlain, Things

Japanese, pp. 333-39. on tea ceremOllles; F. Hutter, Wanderungen und Forschungen

in Nord Hinterland von Kamerun (Brunswick, 1902), pp. 135-36, 4·17-18; and III

general the references to politeness, etiquette, salutation, and hospltnlity in ethno

graphic monographs.2 Fo r theories an d references see: Edvard Alexander Westermarck, The History of

Human Marriage (London: Macmillan, 1891), pp. 73-75; Crawley, The Mystic Rose,pp . 248, 280, 285, 479; The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venehan, trans. Henry Yule,

33



ll

\I

\\!I

\I[,

I.

I\,

!iII

f!

RITES OF PASSAGE

loan is to obtam more gifted an d powerful children (because

of the mana Inherent in al l strangers),.!. usually th e rite is

clearly intended to incorporate th e stranger Into a more or

less restricted group of which th e woman lent to him is a

member. In fact. th e loan is an equIvalent of a shared meal.

Among th e central Australians a ma n an d a woman. or two·

men and tw o women. are sent as messengers. As a sign of

their mission they bring packages of cockatoo feathel's an d

bones for the nose (to be placed in th e perforated septum).

When the messengers and the men of th e camp have dis

cussed the business at hand. the former take th e two women

a short distance away from th e camp an d leave. I f he me n

of th e visited group accept th e negotiatIOns, they all have

s e x u ~ l intercourse with the w o m e n ~ if not. they do no t go

to Join them.

When a party of warriors on an expedition of revenge

approaches a camp with th e mtention of killing some inhabi

tant, women are similarly offered to them. I f they have

sexual relations mth these women th e quarrel is ended. since

acceptIng them IS a sign of friendship to accept th e women

an d contInue the vendetta would constitute a serious breach

of intertribal custom.2 In both cases, coitus is clearly an ac t

of union an d identification. It s significance conforms with

facts I have cited elsewhere.s which show that amonrr th e"entral Australian th e sexual ac t is auxiliary to nlagic an d

IS no t a fertility rite. Incorporation into a religiously unIted

group may also be mediated by sacred prostitutes, and

where they are explicitly reserved for strangers this role

rev. Henri Cordier (London: J. Murray), I, 214; II . 48 n. 4. 53-54; Murray Anthony

Potter. Sohrab and Rustum (London: P. Nutt. 1902). pp. 145-52. In Morocco as

among the ICabyles of AlgerIa. th e lending of daughters IS customary for "guest: of

the tent" hu t not fol' "guests of the community."

.l This case falls mto the general category of fertility Xltes; e.g., the loan of women

reported in Ser Marco ~ o . l o , II . 53, IS intended to assure good harvests aud "a great

augmentatIOn of matel'lal prospenty."

2 B. Spencel' and F. J. Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia (London: Macmillan. 1899), p. 98.

3 M y ~ h e s et l€gendes d'Aus!rcilie, pp. Ivi-1:vii; on the subject of wife lending In

Australia, see Spencel' an d .GIIlen, Nanve Tnbes of Central Australia, pp . 74, 106-8,

267, and The Northern Tnbes of Central Australia, pp. 133-39.

34

)

INDIVIDUALS A N D G RO U PS

ma y explain theIr presence. Th e word ., strangers" may

here be construed in a wider sense as th e equivalent of

" n o n ~ I n i t i a t e s " or "those who are no t worshipers. in p a r ~ ticular. of th e deity to which th e prostitutes are attached."l

I t would be interesting to isolate th e rules which often

seem to govern th e protocol of receiving a stranger. Fo r

instance, th e stranger is often lodged In a "communal

house" (such as th e lapa of Madagascar), which may be a

~ ' y o u n g men's house," a "house of adult men," or a "house

of warriors," depending on th e peoples. 2 li e is thus Incor .

porated into th e gronp that most closely corresponds to his

ow n character as an active an d powerful man, no t into th e

society at large. Such hospitality gives th e stranger a

number of military, sexual, an d political rights; It is a

widespread custom, especially in IndoneSIa, Polynesia, an d

certain parts of Africa. In other regions of that continent

th e stranger's abode IS assigned to him by a sacred p e r s o n ~ age such as th e chief or king. When th e anCIent rite of

incorporation is replaced by th e Oriental caravansery and

varIOUS kinds of tribute. th e reception of strangers moves

into a purely economic stage.

Up to no w we have considered th e stranger only from

th e point of view of those individuals or gronps WIth which

he come.s in contact. But as a rule he, too. has a home. an d

it would be surprIsing if he could leave It WIthout the per

formance of ceremonies which signify th e reverse of th e

rites of incorporation just discussed. F u r t h e r m o r e ~ if a man

away from home IS incorporated by a group with whom heis stayIng, he should theoretically go through rItes of

s ' ! . ~ when leavmg i t - and perfect Iialance ha s in fact

been n o t e ~ e e i i . J . : i t e ' s of arrival and th e corresponding

rites of l e a v e ~ t a k i n g , which include visits. a last exchange

.1 See facts in Edwin Sidney Hartland. "Concerrung th e Rite at the Temple of

Mylitta," in A n t h r o p o l o g ~ c a l Essays Presented to E. B. Tylor, pp. 189-202, and books

by Dulaure. Frazer. etc.

2 See H. Sehurtz, Altersklassen und Mannerbumte (Berlin: A. Reiner, 1902),

pp. 203-13, especially on the varIOUS form s of communal houses and theil' eVolutIOn.

35



RITES OF ' PA SSA G E

of gift's, a meal in common, a last drink, wishes, a c c o m p a n i ~ ment on th e road, an d sometimes even sacrifices. Explorers'

accounts generally mention observances such as th e follow

ing:

Among th e Moslems. in particular, th e religion includes numerous

precepts pertaimng to travel. The hooks of the Ahadith and th e adab1

dedicate a whole chapter to travelers• • . • In North Africa water 1S

thrown under th e steps of th e one departing. When, in 1902, we were

leaving Mogador for an excursion into th e interIOr. a member of th e

family of one of my Moslem compalllons came out of his home at th e

moment of our departure an d threw a pail of water under the feet of

my companion's horse. Z

Perhaps t ~ ~ . s J § " - ! l _ . ! ~ , ~ o ! . . . : ~ ! i ~ ~ ~ ? ~ : : ' ~ ~ : ~ ~ 1 ~ ~ tended to break past or tuture spells" as Doutte asserts on

t h ' e ' ' ' h · ; ; i ~ t F r a z e ; ' ~ i ; t ; ; p ; ; t a f w i i s ; a ~ t o my mind i t is more

probably a rite of separation in which th e traveler crosses

an artifiCIal Rubicon. Rites of separation have been greatly

elaborated in China to mark a mandarin's change of province, a departure for a trip, an d so forth.' I t seems to me

that al l th e rites observIng departure on a trip or an e x p e d i ~ tion are intended to make the break gradual rather than

a b r u J ! ! M l ~ ~ j ; t ! E 9 , ! ~ t t i ~ A i ~ ~ : ~ 1 § E c ! _ « ! ~ ~ i i ~ · -:AS fo r rites on th e occaSIon of the traveler's return, these

include th e r e m o ' : . ~ . L ~ f i ~ ~ . ! . ~ ! i e s acquired , 9 . ! , L t J ~ , ~ . " " X Q y , e . g e ~ ~ - , ' ' ' ' ' - . - ' - ' , " " - - " , , , , " , ' ' ~ " p ,

l The Ahadith are sacred writings of Islam. The adab al-kiitib, adab ai-wuzarii',

and others are stnctly distmguished from religious writings bu t are works of a

secular nature dedicated to a cultivation of higher human qualities, or adab (see

Encyclopedia of Islam, ed. M. T. Houtsma and M. Seligsohn rLeiden: Brill, 1908J).2 Doutte, Merrakech, pp. 31, 91.

3 Frazer, The Golden Bough, It 303; see also Grierson, The Silent Trade, pp. 33-34,

72-74; Westermarck, The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas, I. 589-94.4 "When the mandarm IS about to leave. all th e inhabitants go out on the mam

roads and line up from place to place, from the Clty gate through which he will pass

up to two or three miles farther. Highly polished tables draped with satm and

covered with preserves, liqueurs, and tea can be seen everywhere. Everyone stops

th e mandarm, and agamst his wishes he IS made to Sit, eat, and drink . • • The most

pleasant part is that all th e people want something which belongs to him. Some take

his shoes, others his cap, some his overcoat, bu t each one of these things is replaced

by others, and by th e tIme he has passed through the mob, he ma y have changed

shoes thirty different times.!' Le Pe:re LoUls LeComte, Nouveaux memotres sur I'ltatprhsent de la Chine (3d cd.; Paris: J. Anmaon, 1700), II . 53-54. For more modern

details, see Doolittle, Social Lile 01 the Chinese, II , 235-36, 302-3.

36

Ir

t[I

INDIVIDUALS AN D G R O U PS

( r ~ ~ , . 2 f ~ , p . ; u : a t i ! l n ) , J ! l ) J : L x J t e s . Q , f , g I ! ! i b l l l , \ J ! } £ ! l I P , w : , l ; \ t ~ ( ) n , such

as certain ordeals an d rites of anImal Intercourse In M a d a ~ gascar 1 Such rites are especially prevalent where absences

- o f th e h u s b a n d ~ fo r instance-are regular.

However, th e traveler's departure does no t completely

separate hIm either from th e society to which he OrIginally

belonged or from th e one he joins during his trip. Therefore.

speCIal rules for th e conduct of his family while he is absent

prohibit all actions which could harm him directly (by

telepathy) or by sympathetic means.' H e n ~ e , too, it is th e

custom ,to provide th e traveler, at each d e p a r t u r e ~ with a

sIgn of r e c o g n i t l O n ~ such as a s t a f f ~ a letter, or a tessera in

anCient Greece.3 which automatically incorporates him Into

other groups. This is done among th e Votyak when a

shaman or usto-tuno is called for cases of illness or animal

epidemics:

He is brought from far away, so that he knows no one. He is taken

from village to village. as he is needed. When he leaves home. he asks

th e village that ha s called him for a "pledge" conslstlllg of a p i e c ~ of

wood on whiCh th e chief of each family has lllscribed his tamga (clan

and property mark). The UslQ-tuno leaves this piece of wood at home,

giving his wife tlle nght to demand that her husband he brought back

to 'her. This formality IS repeated each time th e usto-tuna goes to

another village, an d th e piece of wood bearing the tamga of t11e next

village is always placed in th e hands of th e mistress of th e household

th e usto-tuno leaves.'

Th e journeys of Australian messengers among various clans

1 Tabou et totemisme a Madagascar, pp. 249-51. 169-70: on rItes of return III

general, see Frazer. The Golden Bough, I, 306-7; for the return of warrIors, see

Joseph FranyOls Lafitau, Meeurs des sauvages ameriquams comparees aux mrours despremiers temps (PaIlS: Saugrain l'Aine, 1124), II , 194-95, 260; on th e rItes of travel

In ancient India. see Calland, ,Altindisches Zauberrei, pp. 46, 63-64.

II I t is the same durmg the absence of fishermen, hunters. and warriors; seeFrazer. The Golden Bong/t, I, 27-35; van Gennep, Tabou et tOliimismeaMadagascar,

pp. 171-72; as well as references in William Ellis, History of Madagascar (London:

Fisher & Co., 1838), I, 167; for Borneo; Florence E. HeWitt, "Some Sea Davak

Taboos;" Man, VI I (1908), No. 12, -186-87.

3 [A tessera was" a die brOken between host and guest and kcpt as a means of

recognition (AttIC and Ionic)" (Oxford English Dictionary).]4 Vasiliev. O b o z r e n ~ e wzyc heski kh obriadov, sueverii i verovan ii Votiakov Kazanslcot

~ Yiatsko'i gUbernii (Kazan, 1906). p. 15. See, on this subject, publications on

messengers; staffs. etc.

37



R ITE S OF PASSAGE

an d tribes are also definitely rituaIized,i as were th e pr o .

cedures regulating merchants:: coming an d going in Europe

and the Far East durmg th e Middle Ages.

Th e pattern outlined for ceremonies pertaining to

s ~ r a n g e r s an d travelers ma y be found also in ~ i o n In Rome these mcluded th e detestatio sacrorum. a

set of rites of separation from th e patrICIan class. th e gens.

th e cult of th e former household. and the former immediate

family; an d th e transitio in sacra. a se t of rites of incorporaw

tion to the new environment. 2 Th e Chinese ritual likewise

includes relinquishing ties with th e former clan an d housew

hold cult fo r th e sake of th e new. The particular rites per

formed at adoptIOn are identical with those mentioned fo r

other Instances of incorporation. They include exchanges

(of blood, gifts. etc.), tymg, veiling, seating together. real or

simulated nursmg, simulated birth. and so forth. Th e rites

of separation have been observed much less frequently, bu t

I have noticed that among th e southern Slavs there is a rIte

of separation for persons c o n s i d e r ~ d related because they

were born during th e same month.

Among th e Chamar. a caste of tanners an d leatherworkers

in northern India. in cases of adoption al l members of th e

clan come together. an d th e parents of th e bo y say: " Yo u

were my son by a deed of evil (pap); now you ar e th e son of

so-and-so by a virtuons act (dharm)."3 Th e members of the

clan sprmkle th e child with rice. an d th e adopting parent

gives a ceremonial meal to al l those present. Among some

American Indians. th e adoptIOn ritnal is related to concepts

of mana (orenda, manito. etc.) an d reIncarnation. Naming

J. Spencer and Gillen, Native Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 94, 156, 274; TheNort/lem Tribes of Central Australia, pp. 139, 551; A. W. HOWItt, The Native Tribesof S o u t h ~ e a s t Australia (London: Macmillan, 1904), pp. 678-91.

a Charles Daremberg and Edmond Saglio, Dictwnnazre des antiquit€s grecques et

romames d'apres les textes et tes monuments (Parts: Hachette, 1877-1906), s.v.:

"adoptlO," "consecratio," "detestatio," etc.; regarding adoption among th e s e m l ~ civilized, see Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, II , 417 i f.; Frazer, The Golden Bough,I, 21 i f.; among th e Slavs, Ciszewski, KUnstliche Verwandschaft b e ~ den Sildslaven.pp. 103-9.

a. William Crooke, "Typical Castes and Tribes . • • of the Aryo-Dravidian Tract:

Chamar," Census of India, Ethnographical Appendixes (Calcutta, 1903), p. 174.

38

INDIVIDUALS A N D G R O U PS

forms an important part of their ceremonies. because an

individual's name indicates his place with reference to the

varIOUS marriage an d clan sections_ In addition, those

adopted are assigned a fictitious age group, even where a

group IS Involved- (the Tuscaroras became "children" to

th e Oneida; th e Delawares were adopted as "cooks" by th e

Leagne of Five Nations an d therefore wore women's dress

an d changed their economic activity).'

Th e rites performed when a slave or a retaIner changes

masters also ma y he explained as rites of p a s s a g e ~ As a rite

.of incorporation. one may CIte th e VIolent blow with a stick

given by a slave in Loango to a ne w master he- has chosen

for himself;' another is th e ceremony of th e Bambunda

called tombika (o r shimbika).' Th e change in a slave's statns

brought about when she gives her master a child is marked

by rites of incorporation sometimes reminiscent of marriage

ceremonies; these rites are related to those of the right to

asylum. Ceremonies of changing clan, caste, or tribe andthose of naturalization also include rites of separation,

transition. and incorporation. Some of these will later be

discussed in detail.

Th e operation of rites is th e same for groups as fo r indi

viduals. Among rites of s e p a r a ~ r may be inw

eluded a deelarat;;;;:; of war, either trillal or familial. Th e

European and Semitic rites of th e vendetta are well known.

so I shall mentIOn th e Anstralian ones, which have also been

described in detail . The gronp charged with implementing

revenge is first separated from society an d acquires it s own

individuality; its members do no t re .enter SOCIety until afterth e performance of rites which remove that temporary

individuality and reintegrate them into the society. Th e

1 See J. N. B. HeWltt, under" Adoption." in HandbOOk of American IndiaT/4, ed.

Frederick Hodge (Bulletm of tile Bureau of Amencan Ethnology, Vol. I [19071,

No. 30, pp. 15-16.

2 P e ( ' h i i e l ~ L o e s c h e , Volkskunde von Loango, pp. 245-46.

3 References in Albert Hermann Post, Afrikamsche Jurisprudenz, 2 vall!. lD

EthnotogMchjunstische Beitriige zur Kenntnis des einheimische RecMe Afrikas

(Oldenburg: SchUlze, 1887), I, 102.

4. See Spencer and Gillen, The Northern Tribes oj'Central Ausiralia. pp. 556-68.

39

4. ; I¢. i !#4



iI I

I ' I

RITES O F P A S S A G E

purpose of the vendetta IS to recreate a social unity of which

some aspect has heen destroyed; in this sense It resembles

certain kinds of adoption an d shares a number of elements

with rites of passage. Th e ceremonies performed at th e end

of a vendetta or a war (peace ceremonIes)! are identical

wIth rites of friendship' an d of adopting groups of strangers.

Rites of union with a god or wIth a group of deities alsoought to be mentioned in this chapter. The Jewish Passover

(the word itself signifies passage) is a rite of passage which,

through a process of convergence, has been combined on tb e

on e hand with ceremonies of the changing of seasons and on

th e other with a commemoration of th e passage through

Babylon and th e return to Jerusalem. The ritual of this

holiday therefore mcludes, in combination, several of th e

kinds of rites of passage studied in this volume.4

1 Regarding these 1'ltes. see Hartland, "Rite at the Temple of MyIitta," pp. 250-

251; Crawley, The Mystu Rose,pp. 377. 239-46; Hutter, Wanderungen und F o r s c h u n ~ gen, pp. 435-38.

1I And on mdividual reconciliation In Borneo: " If two men wh o have been at

deadly feud meet in a house, they refuse to cast their eyes npon each other till a fowl

has been killed and th e blood sprinkled over them; and. when two tribes make peace,after solemn engagements are concluded, a pig is killed the blood of which is supposed

to cement the bond of friendship." Spencer Samt John, Life in the Forests of the

Far East (London: Smith & Elder, 1B62), I, 64-65. The word "cementmg" should

be taken In its m a t e r i ~ sense, but not symbolically, uS IS ordinarily done. This nt e

has nothing to do with th e threshold, as Trumbull believed (The Threshold Covenant,

p.21).

3 IVan Gennep IS III error here. Passover has no relation to the BabylOnIan c a p ~ tiVItY-It IS connected with the belief that durmg the last of the seven plagues In

Egypt th e houses of the Hebrews were spared by the Angel of Death, an d they were

exempt from th e slaYlllg ofthe first-born children. The angel knew Hebrew homes by

the mark of a lamb's blood on the portal (see Exodus 12, The Jewish Encyc,topedia,

Umversal Jewish Encyclopedia).]

4. I do not know wJlether this very Simple Interpretation has ever been proposed

before. It expJams th e sequence of the rites of th e Jewish Passover and the i n c o r ~ poration into the ChristIan Easter of the idea of death and resurrection without an y

borrowing from th e ntes of Adonis, etc. This holiday has been a ceremonial of

passage from its very beglOmng and hi t by hi t has attracted and absorbed various

elements which are still independent among other peoples.

40

I

PREGNANCY AND CHILDBIRTH

IV he ceremonies of pregnancy and childbirth

\together generally constitute a whole. Often th e first rites

\performed separat,e th e pregnant woman from society, from

~ e r family group. and sometImes even from her sex. They

Iftre followed by rites pertaining to pregnancy itself, which

[:

' s ,a trans, tional period. Fin,ally come th e rites of Chi,ld,birt,h1 ntended to reintegrate th e woman into th e groups to which

1 he previously belonged, or to establish her new position in

society as a mother. especially if she has given birth to he r

" first child or to a son.

Of all these rites, those of separation at pregnancy and

childbirth have been subject to closest study. Frazer and

Crawley1have drawn attention especially to the customs of

seclusion in special huts or in a special part of the home;

to th e taboos, which are primarily dietary, sumptuary, an d

s e x u a l ; ~ n d to the so-called purification rites, through which

in some cases taboos may be lifted, in others reIntegration

effected. I t has been established that at th e onset of preg

nancy a woman is placed in a state of isolation, either b e ~ cause she is considered impure and dangerous or because he r

very pregnancy places her physiologically and socially in an

abnormal condition. Nothing seems more natural than that

sh,e should be treated as if she were il l or a stranger':\

(Pregnancy ceremomes, like those of childbirth, include a

great many rites-sympathetic or contagious. direct or i n ~ direct. dynamistic or animistic-whose purpose is to f a c i l i ~ tate delivery an d to protect mother an d child (and sometImes also th e father, close relatives. th e whole family, or

th e entire clan) against evil forces, which ma y be impersonal

or personified.\These have been studied repeatedly,' no

1 Frazer, The Golden Bough, I. 326-27. II , 462; CraWley, The Mystic Rose, pp. 213,414-16,432; also passages cited further on from Hermann H. Ploss, Das Weib m

Natur un d Viilkerkunde, posthumously cd. Max Bartels (Leipzig: Theodor Griehen,1899. Bth cd.; 1905).

2 -Tylor, Primitive Culture, II . 305; Hartland, The Legend of Perseus, I. 147-B1;

Victor Henry, La magic dans I'Inde antique (PallS: DUJarric. 1904,), pp. 138...44;

41



VIIIFUNERALS

. On first considering funeral ceremo

nies, on e expects rites of separation to betheirmost p r o ~ i n e n t c o m p o n e n t ~ in contrast to rites of transition an d rites of

incorporation. which should be only slightly elaborated.

A study of the data. however. reveals that th e r ~ t e s of

separation are few in number and very s i m ~ l e . while. th e

transition rites have a duration and complexity sometImes

so great that they must he granted a sort of autonomy.

Furthermore. those funeral ·rites which incorporate th e dew

ceased into th e world of th e dead are most extensively

elaborated an d assigned th e greatest Importance.

Once agam I must be satisfied WIth a few brief sugges

tions. Everyone knows that funeral rites vary widely among

different peoples an d that further v a r i a t ~ o n s depend on th e

sex, age. an d social position of th e deceased. Howeve_T.

within th e extraordinary multIplicity of detail certain

dominant features may he discerned. an d some of these I

shall class together.

Funeral rites are further complicated when within a

single people there are several contradictory or different

conceptions of th e afterworld which may become i n t e r ~ mingled with one another, so that their confusion is reflected

in th e rites. Furthermore, man is often thought to be c o m ~ posed of several elements whose fate after death is no t th e

same-body, vital force, breath-soul. shadow-soul, midget

soul, animal-soul. blood-soul, head-soul, etc. Some of these

souls surVIve forever or fo r a time. others die. In th e d i s ~ cussion that follows I shall abstract from al l these v a r i a ~ tlOns, since they affect th e formal complexity of rites of

passage but no t their internal structure.

Mourning, which I formerly sa w simply as an aggregate

of taboos an d negative practices marking an isolation from

sOClety of those whom death, in it s physlCal reality, ha d

146

FU N ERA LS

placed in a sacred. impure s t a t e ~ . L now appears to me to be

a more complex phenomenon. I t is a transitional period fo r

th e survivors, an d they enter it through rites of separation

an d emerge from it through rItes of reintegration into society

(rites of th e lifting of mourning). In some cases, th., transi

tional period of th e living is a counterpart of th e transitional

period of th e deceased, 2 an d th e termination of th e firstsometimes coincides with the termination of th e second

that IS, with th e mcorporation ofthe deceased into th e world

of th e dead. Thus among the Hab" of th e Niger plateau

"the period of widowhood corresponds, It IS said, to the

dUl'ation of th e Journey ofthe deceased's wandering soul up

to the moment when it joins th e divine ancestral spirits or

is reincarnated."3

During mourning, the living mourners and th e deceased

constitute a special group, situated between th e world of

th e living an d th e world of th e dead, and how soon living

individuals leave that group depends on the closeness oftheu relationship with the dead person. 'Mourning r e q u i r e ~ ments arc based on degrees of kinship an d are systematized

by each people according to their speClal way of calculatmg

that kinShIp (patrilineally, matrilineally, bilaterally. etc.)

I t seems rIght that widowers an d widows should belong to

this special world for th e longest tIme; they leave it only

through appropriate rites and only at a moment when even

a physical relationship (through pregnancy, for example) IS

no longer discernible. The rites which lift al l the regulations

(such as special dress) an d prohibitions of mourmng should

be considered rites of reintegration into th e life of SOCIety

1 Van Gennep, Tabou et toUimisme a Madagascar, pp. 40, 5B-77, aa, 100-103,

338-39. 342.

2 This is what George Alexander Wilken had already secn about IndoneSia

(" Uber das Haaropfer: Dn d clOige andere Trauergebrauche bei den Volken indo

~ e s l e n s , " Revue coloniale mternationale, 1886 and 1887. see P. 254); he hus been fol

lowed by Robert Hertz, who generalizes his pomt (" ContributIOU ii une etude sur

la representation collective de In mort," Anniie sociologique, X r1905-6J, 82-83, 101,105, 120). In reality, tile duration of mourmng depends more often, as IS stated

below, on two other factors.

3 DespJagnes, Le plateau central mglirien, p. 221; on beliefs concerrung the other

world, see pp. 262-68.

147



I,

RITES O F PASSAGE

as a whole or of a restricted group; they are of th e same

order as th e rites of reintegration for a novice.

During mourning, social life is suspended for all those

affected by it , an d th e length of th e period increases with

th e closeness of social ties to th e deceased (e.g., for widows,

relatives), an d with a higher social standing of th e dead

person. If th e dead man was a chief. th e suspension affectsth e entire society. There is public mourning, th e proclama

tion of holidays, and, following the death of certain petty

kings of Africa. a "period of license." At this very moment

(1908) in China, new political, economic, an d administrative

necessitles tend to mitigate th e considerable effects on th e

society of th e Emperor's an d Empress Regent's deaths.'

Formerly, socmllife even in the households in China was

completely suspended on such occasions for many months

a suspension which in ou r time would be simply catastrophic.

Th e transitional period in funeral rites is first marked

phYSICally by th e more or less extended stay of the corpseor th e coffin in th e deceased's room (as dunng a wake), in

th e vestibule of his house, or elsewhere. But this stay is only

an attenuated form of a whole series of rites whose Impor

tance an d ulllversality has already been pointed ou t by

Lafitau. "Among most savage nations, the dead bodies are

only in safekeeping in the sepulchre where they have

initially been placed. After a certain time, ne w obsequies

ar e gIven them, an d what is due them is completed by

further funeral dutIeS.n2 Then he describes th e rites of th e

Caribs: "They are convinced [that the dead] do no t go to

th e land of souls until they are without flesh." Th e existence

of a transitional period also interested Mikhailowski.' Th e

chief rite of this period consists of either removing th e flesh

or waiting until it falls off by Itself. On this idea are based,

fo r Instance, th e ceremonies performed by the Betsileos of

1 [Both died in November, 1908. Van Gennep must be referring to the considerabl . mternal turmoil in China due to economIc and political reform nnd to the often

un>latlsfactory relatlOns with European powers. '

2 Lafitau, Mreurs des sauvages ameriquains, II , 444.

3 M. M. Mikhailowski, Shamanstvo, fasc. 1 (St. Petersburg, 1892), p. 13.

148

FUNERALS

Madagascar. who have a first series of rites while waiting

fo r th e corpse to decompose m its abode (where it s putrefac

tion IS accelerated by a great fire) and then a second senes

fo r the burial of th e skeleton.I

Fo r others. th e transition stage is sometimes subdivided

into several parts, and. in th e postliminal period, it s exten

sion is systematized in the form of commemorations (aweek, tw o weeks, a month, forty days, a year, etc.) similar

in nature to rites of th e anniversary of a wedding, of birth.

an d sometimes of initiation.

Since funeral stages already have been closely studied fo r

Indonesia,2 I shall use instances from data pertainIng to

other regIOns. Th e ceremonies of th e Todas are similar to

th e I n d o n e ~ i a n rites. 3 They include cremation, preservation

of the relics an d burial of th e ashes, an d th e erection of a

circle of stones around them. The whole procedure lasts

several months. The dead go to Amnodr, a subterranean

world. an d there they ar e called" Amatol "; the route is no t

th e same fo r al l th e clans, an d it IS surrounded with ob

stacles. Th e ' ~ b a d " fall from a thread which serves as a

bridge into a stream on whose shores they live for a while,

mingling with individuals from al l sorts of tribes. Th e

buffaloes also go to Amnodr. The Amatol walk a great deal

there, an d when they have worn their legs up to th e knees

they return to earth. Among th e Ostyak of Salekhard,' th e

house is stripped of al l it s contents except th e utensils of

th e deceased, who is dressed an d placed in a dugout canoe.

1 See reference in va n Gennep, Tabou et toMmisme Ii Madagascar, chap. VI,

pp.277-78.2 ~ e r t z . "L a representation coUecttve de la mort," pp. 50-66; a collection of

detailed descnptlOns of the world beyond the grave, journeys to reach it, etc., ma y

be found in Krnijt, lIet A m m ~ s m e in den Indisch{Jn Archipet, pp. 323-85, a work

ba:ed on th e theones and pomts of view of Tylor, Wilken. an d Le Tourneau.

See Rivers, The Todas, pp. 336,404; for a descnptton of Amnodr see pp.

397-400); for a descnptIOn of the ntcs, see also Thurston. Etluwgraphic Notes InSouthern India, pp. 145-46, 172-84.

<1 I will keep the name gIven by th c informant, although the Ostvak of Salekhard

are a mIxture of true Ostyaks and Samoveds: see Arnold van Gennep, .. Origine et

fortune du nom de peuple Ostiak," K e l e l ~ Szemte: Revue onerna/e pour Iss EtudesO u r a l o - A l t a ~ q u e s (Budapest), II (1902), 13-22.

149

I';I,

1'1! I:



'I

;

i I


A shaman asks th e deceased why he has died. He is taken to

th e burial place of his clan an d deposited in th e boat on th e

frozen ground. with his feet facing north. surrounded with

al l th e things he will need in the next world. Th e deceased

is thought to partake of a farewell meal eaten on th e spot

by the mournerS. who then al l leave. Th e female relatives

make a doll in the image of th e deceased, an d they dress,

wash, an d feed It every da y fo r two an d a half years if th e

dead person was a man. or for two years if it was a woman.1

Then th e doll is placed on the tomb.

Mournmg lasts five months for a man and four months

fo r a woman. The dead go by a long and tortuous route

toward th e north. where th e dark and cold land of th e dead

IS located.' The length ofthe journey seems to coincide with

the penod durmg which th e doll is kept. Thus there is a

series of preliminary rites, a transitional period, an d a final

funeral when the dead person reaches his final abode.

The Northern Ostyaks place th e land of th e dead beyond

the mouth of th e Ob, I I I th e Arctic Ocean;3 it is illuminated

only by th e light of th e moon. No t fa r fro';; that world th e

road divides in three forks which lead to three entrances.

one for th e assassinated, th e drowned, th e suicides, et c •

another fo r the other sinners. an d a third for those who have

lived a normal life. Fo r th e Irtysh Ostyak, th e other world

IS I I I th e sky. I t is a lovely country reached by ascending

laddcrs each three hundred to one thousand feet long, or by

climbing up a chain; from It th e gods, th e sacred hears

"- Gondattl, Sledy wzychestva U HWTodtsev SeveTo-Zapadnoi Sibirii ("Traces of

Pagamsm among the Natives of Northwest ASia") (Moscow, 1888), p. 43; be states

that the doll is kept for 8lX months. I f the deceased was a man, the widow sleeps

next to it ; among the Irtysh Ostyak, according to Patkanov (Die Irtysch-Ostialten.p. 146), the doll has :in recent times been replaced by th e pillow and undergarments

of t.he deceased.

2 V. Bartenev, "Pogrebalnvia obvchai Obdorskikh Ostiakov" ("The Funeral

Rites of th c Ostyak of Obdorsk rSalekhard]"), Shivma Starina, V (1905). 478-92;

Gondatt.i, p. 44.

3 I do no t understand why Gondattl, followed by Patkanov (Die Irtysch-Ostiaken.p. 146), later says of this world that It 18 underground when itls underwater. Inciden

tally, there IS no doubt that there was some ChrIst.ian mfiltration lUto the beliefs of

th e Vogul sn d the Ostyak (the devil, hell, punishment).

150

F U N E R A L S

(totems perhaps),! an d th e dead sometimes come back to

ear th-or so sa y th e ancient legends of th e epics. 2I t seems

to me that there must be a relationship between th e length

of t imedurmg which th e dolls ar e kept an d th e supposed

duration of th e Journey into th e other world.

Th e funeral ceremonies of th e Kol of India furnish a good

example of a combination of known prophylactic rites WIth

rites of passage. 3 TheIr order runs as follows: (1) Im

mediately after death th e corpse IS placed on th e ground

"s o that th e soul should more easily find it s way to th e home

of th e dead," which is under the earth. (2) Th e corpse is

washed and painted yellow to chase away evil spirits who

would stop th e soul on It s Journey. (3) Fo r th e same purpose

th e assembled relatives an d neighbors utter pitiable cries.

(4) Th e corpse is placed on a scaffold with th e feet facing

forward so that th e soul should no t find th e way back to th e

hut, an d for th e same reason th e procession travels by

detours. (5) Th e cortege must no t include either children or

girls: th e women cry; th e men are silent. (6) Each man carries

a piece of dr y wood to throw on th e pyre. (7) Rice and th e

tools of th e deceased's sex are placed there. an d I I I th e

mouth of th e corpse there are rice cakes an d silver coins

for th e journey, since th e soul retalls a shadow ofthe body.

(8) Th e women leave, and the pyre is lighted;' the litter is

also burned to prevent th e deceased's return. (9) The men

gather th e calcified bones, place them in a pot, and bring

the pot back to th e deceased's house where it is hung from

a post. (10) Grams of rice are strewn along th e route, an d

food is placed in front of th e door so that th e deceased,

should he return in spite of al l precautions. will have something to ea t without harming anyone. (11) All th e deceased's

1 See my summary In th e Revue de l'histoire des religions, Vol. XL (1899). of th e

monograph by N. Kharouzine, Le 8erment par l'ours et te culte de l'ours chez les Ostiak

et les V ogout.2 Patkanov, Die Irtysch-Ostiaken, p. 146.

a See Hahn, EinfilhTung in das Gebiet der Kolsmisswn, pp. 82-88.<1 If t is raining too hard, the corpse IS burled according to specific rItes so that it

may be disinterred after th e harvest and cremated; In this instance th e ceremony

takes place In three st.ages.

151

III

II"

.... 1



RITES OF FASSAGE

utensils are carried far away, because they have become

impure an d because th e deceased may be hidden in them.

(12) The house is purified by a consecrated meal. (13) After

h f "b h I " '" fcertaIn time t e ceremony 0 etrot a . or unIOn 0

th e deceased with th e population of th e lower world," is

performed. MarrIage songs ar e sung, there is dancing, an d

th e woman who carrIes th e po t leaps with joy. (14) A marriage retinue with music. etc., goes to th e village from wh ich

th e deceased and his ancestors have originated. (15) Th e

po t containing th e bones of th e deceased is deposited in _a

small ditch, above which a stone is erected. (16) On th e .

return the participants must bathe. All those wh o have

been mutilated or who have died because of a tiger or an

accident remain evil spirits and cannot enter the land of th e

dead. That land is th e home of the ancestors to which only

persons who have been married can gO. l They return to the

earth from time to t i m e ~ an d when they wish they are

remcarnated in th e first-born (this holds especially for

grandfathers and great-grandfathers).'

This is no t th e place fo r a comparative description of

worlds beyond th e grave.3 The most widespread idea is that

of a world analogous to ours, but more pleasant, and of a

society organized in th e same wa y as it IS here. Thus every

on e re-enters again th e categories of clan. age group. or

occupatIOn that he ha d on earth. I t logically follows that

th e children who have no t ye t been incorporated mto th e

society of th e livmg cannot be classified in that of th e dead.

On this subject, see p. 133, above.

2 I mentIOn this document because it proVides proof for what has been said above(p. 52) about ih e nte in which th e newborn are placed on th e ground (also

performed by the Kat; see Hahn, Einfilhrung m das Gebiet der Kolsm/.$swn, p, 72),

as are corpses. Dieterich (Mutter Erde, pp. 25-29) has collected parallels for th e

latter practlce, which he explalns as "a return to th e bosom of Mother Earth",

it can be seen that here, at'least, this theory IS no t acceptable, I would like to add

that the Kol burY dead children bu t do no t hurn them "because thcy dO not have

souls" (the Kol acqUlre a soul only on their wedding day) and do no t have the right

to go to thc land of their ancestors, the purpose of cremation being to gIve a c c e ~ s to it. Another of Dieterich's theorIes (Mutter Erde, pp. 21-25) also collapses on thiS

pomt. . . ...3 See, flmollg others, Tylor, Primmve Culture, Chap. xm .

152

FUNERALS

Thus, for Catholics, children who die without baptism for

ever remaIn in the transition z o n e ~ or limbo; th e corpse of a

semicivilized infant not yet named. circumcised or other

wise ritually recognized, is buried without th e usual cere

monies. thrown away, or burned-especially i f th e people

in question think that he did not yet possess a soul.

Th e journey to the other world and the entrance to itcomprise a series of rites of passage whose details depend on

th e distance an d topography of that world. First I should

mention th e Isles of the Dead to be found in th e beliefs of

ancient Egypt.' Assyro-Babylonia.' th e Greeks m various

times an d regions (cf. Hades of Book XI of the Odyssey),'

th e Celts.' Polynesians.5 Australians. an d others. These

beliefs undoubtedly are th e reason for th e practice of giving

the deceased a real or miniature boat an d oars. Some peoples

see th e other world as a citadel surrounded by walls (such

as Sheol, th e underworld abode of th e dead in Hebrew

tradition which has bolted doors' or th e Babylonian Aralu),8

as a region with compartments (for instance. the Egyptian

Duat), as situated on a high mountain (as do th e Dyaks),

or in th e interior of a mountain (as in Hindu India).

What is lmportant to us in these cases is that. since th e

deceased must make a voyage. 9 his survivors are careful to

On the subject of th e fields an d islands of Aaru, th e JUdgment andjournev of the

dead, see Gaston Maspero, Histoirc andonne des peuptes de l'OTiern c t a s s ~ q u e , I

(Paris: Hachette, 1895), 180 ff., with hibliography.

2 Ibid., pp, 574 fT.

a See, among others, Ervin Rohde, PsycM (2d cd.; TiibiQ,gen: J. C. Mohr, 1898);

Albrecht Dieterich. Nekyia (Leipzig: B. C. TeUbner, 1893); A. J. Reinaeh. "Victor

Berard et l'Odyssee," Les essais, 1904, pp. 189-93,

4. K. Mever, The Voyage of Bran (London, 1895).

(> Johannes Zemmrich, "Toteninseln und verwandte geographische My hen,"

Internattonates An;hivjilr Ethnographic, Vol. IV (1891).6 See Carl Strehlow and Leonhardi, DifJ Aranda und L u r i t j a ~ S t i ' i m m e in Zentrat

Australia (Frankfurt am Main: Volker·Museum, 1907-8). I, 15; II , 6.

7 See Schwally, Das Leben nach 8em Tode: Naok dem Vorstellung die alter Israel

in dem ]udcntus einschliesslich Volkglaubens m Zeitale Chris# (Giessen, 1892).S Maspero, Histoire annenne, I. 693 if.o Regarding th e world of the dead according to Sabian beliefs, sec Sioufli. Etude

sur ta religwn des Soubbas, pp. 156-58; on the roads which lead there and join

together, pp. 126-29; and on the corresponding funeral rItes, pp . 120, 121 n.,

124-26, The soul requires seventy-five days to mak.e the Journey, bu t mourning

lasts only sixty days; th e communal meal an d th e meal of eommemoration are

153



..

RITES OF PASSAGE

eqUlp him with all th e necessary material obJects- such as

clothing, food, arms, an d tools-as well as those of a magico

religIOus nature-amulets, passwords. signs. etc.-which

will assure him of a safe journey or crossing an d a favorahle

reception. as they would a living traveler. Thus, in some

particulars. these rites are identical with those discussed

in chapter III. Th e Lapps, fo r Instance, took care to kill areindeer on th e grave so that th e deceased might ride it

during th e difficult journey to his final destination l Some

believed th e journey lasted three weeks, while others said

three years.

A great many similar customs could be mentioned_ Th e

passage is Inarked, fo r instance. by the anCIent Greek rite of

"the obol (coin) for Charon."2 This rite ha s also been en

countered m France, where th e deceased was gIven th e

largest COIn available. "so that he would be better receIved

In th e other world."3 Th e practice persists in modern Greece.

Among th e Slavs th e money fo r the deceased is intended topay the expenses ofthe trip, but among Japanese Buddhists

it is given to th e old woman who runs th e ferry across th e

Sanzu; th e Badaga use it fo r the passage over th e thread of

th e dead. Moslems cannot cross th e bridge formed by a

sharpened sword unless they are pure or "good." In th e

Zend-Avesta dogs guard th e bridge of Chinvat Just as in

th e Rig-Veda Y ama's dogs, who are spotted an d have four

eyes, guard th e paths that lead to on e of the ancient Hindu

abodes beyond th e grave. a sort of cavern, "a closed and

covered enclosure" which is reached through a dark under

world.'

absolutely obligatory; th e rite of the "last mouthful" provides th e deceased in the

other world with" something more than his ordinary rabon, which IS ordinarily

insufficient."

iN . Kharuzin. Russkie Lopary (Moscow, 1890), p. 157, and for more mformatIOn

of the same kind, Mikhailowski. ShamansivQ, pp. 19-24.

2 See Richard Andree. Totenmilnze (2d ed.; 1889), p. 24. Also M€lusme, passim.

3 J. B. ThieJ:s, TraiM des superstitions (Paris, 1667); for other French parallels,

see Sehillot, Lefolk-Iore de la France, I, 419, where information can be found on the

crossing of the sea (inside the earth) to reach hell.01 See Oldenberg, La religw n du Veda, pp. 450-62; another abode IS In the sky.

Oldenbcrg IS right in believlllg these two conceptIons to be independent and juxta-

154

FUNERALS

Sometimes s p ~ c i a l powers-magicians, evil spirIts, deities

- a r e charged WIth showing the dead th e way, or with lead

lllg thelll in groups. (Those of ancient Greece are known as

psychopompoi-guides of souls to the afterworld.) This role

of ISIS and of Hermes-Mercury is quite well known. Among

the M ~ s k w a k i (commonly known as Fox) at the lifting of

mournlng th e deceased is guided toward the prairies of th enext world by a young warrior who takes th e name of the

deceased. gallop_s fo r several miles. makes a detour, an d

returns. He retaIns that. name henceforth an d is considered

th e adopted child of the relatlves of the deceased.'

Th e Lmseno Indians of California have a dramatlc cere

mony which has th e direct effect of sending the spints of

the; dead ~ w a y from t h ~ earth and" attaching," or fastening,

them, as , f by a phYSIcal bond, to th e four sections of th e

sky and particularly to th e Milky Way. 2

Because of the familiar themes combined in the Haida's

ideas about th e next world, I shall describe them I I I some

detail. The road to the afterworld leads to th e banks of a

sort of bay; on th e other side of it is th e land of souls from

which a self-propelled raft is sent by a soul to the d e c ~ a s e d . When he has arrived on th e other bank, th e deceased begms

th e s ~ a r c h fo r his wife. which takes a very long time. Slnce

th e villages are scattered like those of the Haida and each

dead person has only on e wife assigned to him. When he is

dying, a ma n indicates in which village he wants to live,

an d ~ e s s e n g e r s are sent to guide hi m on his voyage. Each

offermg to th e deceased multiplies for his use, an d th e

funeral songs help the deceased to enter his village WIth his

head held hIgh. The dead send riches to their poor earthly

relatIves. In th e land of the souls sacred dances ar e p e r ~ formed, an d everyone amuses himself. Beyond that land

posed on,one a n o t h ~ r . bu t they are not elements In n dualistic system. This coexIst

ence .of dril'erent belIefs m ~ o n g a people IS n frequent oecurrence, and when there IS

10ealizatIOn of_some dead In one of these worlds, and others in the other worlds. it is

of:en on a soeml and muglco-religiou6 basis rather than on an ethical one.2 Owen, Polk-lore of the Musquakie Indians, pp. 83-86.

DIl BOIS, Tho Religwn of the Luisemo Indians, pp. 83-87.

155

li1"I

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RI ,TES OF PASSAGE

lives a chief called Great Moving Cloud, who is responsible

for the abundance of salmon. After some time in the land

of souls th e deceased equips a canoe, reassembles his be

iongings. an d amid th e lamentations of his companions goes

away to a country called Xada. This is his second death, an d

he also goes through a third an d a fourth. Upon his fifth

death he returns to earth as a blue fly. Some think the fourdeaths occur only after several human reincarnations. There

are different countries for th e drowned, fo r those dead by

violent means, fo r shamans. and so forth.

Th e funeral ntes for a person who dies in th e ordinary

way are given below. Th e face of the deceased is painted, a

sacred headdress is placed on his head, an d he is seated on

th e bier. where he remains fo r four to si x days. SpeClal

magical songs are sung, recited first by th e members of the

clan an d then by those of th e opposite clan. All sorts of

food and drink and tobacco leaves are thrown mto a

~ ' c r y i n g f i r e . ~ ' These

becomemultiplied many times an d ar e

taken by th e deceased to th e other world. Relatives pu t on

th e signs of mourning-they shave their heads and stain

their faces with pitch. Th e coffin is carried ou t through a

hole in th e wall an d is taken to th e grave house, where only

th e deceased of th e same clan can be placed.

Fo r te n days the widow fasts. uses a rock in place of a

pillow, and bathes daily without washing her face. Then

she gathers some children of the OpposIte clan an d serves

them a meal. (The Haida are exogamous.) '.' This feast was

called' causmg one's self to marry.' The object of it was that

she might marry someone next time who ha d still more

property, and that she herself an d he r new husband might

have long lives an d be lucky. Another informant added that

th e widow went through regulations much like those of a

girl at puberty."l Briefly, while th e purpose of the rites is

to unite the corpse with those of members of his clan and to

provide him with what he will need durmg his voyage an d

l J. R. Swanton, C o n t r i b u t ~ o n . ~ to tlw Ethnology of he Haida (" PublieatlOlls of the

Jesup North Pacific Expedition,I' V, Port I fLeiden, 1905]), 52-54,;;for Haida ideas

of the afterlife see pp, 34-37,

156

FU N ERA LS

in his sojourn beyond th e grave, these rites are at th e same

time prophylactic an d animistic (the opening in th e wall of

th e house, th e coffin, th e vault, etc., prevent a return ofthe

deceased) or prophylactic an d contagiOUS (mourning, baths,etc.).

Th e funeral rites of ancient Egypt furnish a good example

of a system of rites of passage whose purpose is i n c o r p o r a ~ tion into th e world of th e dead. Here I shall examine only

th e Osirian ritual,' whose fundamental idea is th e identifica

tIOn of Osiris and the deceased on one hand, the sun and the

deceased on th e other. I think there must at first have been

two separate ntuals which were unified on th e theme of

death and rebirth. As Osiris th e deceased is dismembered

an d then reconstituted; he is dead an d is born again in th e

world of th e dead, an d so there are a series of resurrection

rites. As Ra (the sun), th e deceased dies each evening upon

arrIval at the edge of Hades. His mummy is thrown into a

c o r ~ e r an d abandoned: but th e series of rites it undergoesduring th e mght in th e sun's barge, revives him little by

little, an d in th e mornIng he is again alive and ready to

resume his daily journey in th e light, above th e world of th e

livlllg. These multiple rebirths of th e su n ritual have been

combined with th e single reconstitution of the deceased

upon his :first arrival In Hades. according to the Osirian

rit?,al, so that this reconstitution has come to take place

daily. Th e performance of th e converging rites is in accor

dance with the general idea that th e sacred, th e divine, th e

magical, an d th e pure are lost if they ar e no t renewed in

periodic rites.

Th e following is th e syncretic pattern according to th e

·Book of What /so in Hades an d th e Book of the Doors.'

i Gaston Maspero, "Etudes de mytMlogie ee d'aTcMologie € g y p t ~ e n n e , Vol. II : Compte

r e n d ~ de les h y p ~ l 5 . e e s royaux Thebes (Paris: E. Leroux, 1893), 1-:-187; G. Jequier,

Le It.VTe de ell qu d y a dans! Hades: Verswn abregee publi€ d'apres les papyrus de

Bcrlm et de Leyde avec vanahons ee traduchon -<ParIS; E, Bouillon, 1894); Alexandre

M ~ r e t " Le Rituet au cutre divin J o u r ~ a l i e r en Egypte. and La royaute pharaomque.This book was 'Wrltten to conciliate the solar theory with the Oaidan theory no t

takenInto account in the Book of What Is in 1lades; see the summary of it glyen byMaspero, Les hypogees royaux de Thebes, pp. 163-79. -

157



RITES OF PASSAGE

Different conceptions of Duat (Hades) were current in

different periods an d places. but through fusions an d com

binations th e priests of Thebes developed a complete plan.

Hades was "like an Immense temple, very long, divided

Into a certaIn number of rooms separated by doors an d

havmg at each en d an outside court an d a pylon (gateway

building) contiguous to both the inside world and the outside world. " 1 In th e first hour of th e night. when th e sun

was d e a d ~ he receIved in his barge th e souls which were

" p u r e ~ " that IS, buried in accordance with th e proper rites

an d provided -yvith th e necessary t a l i s m a n s ~ an d th e doors

guarded by baboons an d spirits were opened to him. Th e

dead who did no t go in the sun's bark ha d to vegetate

eternally I n th e vestibule. 2

According to the Book of the Doors, th e doors were

identical to those of fortresses an d were guarded at th e

entrance and the exit by a god in the form of a munlmy, at

th e bend by two uraei (cobras) emitting flames an d nine

mummYRgods; passage was obtained by an Incantation. 3

Th e Journey is described in the Guide for the Traveller in

the Other World.' Fo r details I refer th e reader to th e works

c i t e d ~ bu t I want to mention that each compartment was

separated from th e preceding one by doors whose opening

had to be secured by ritual means. Th e names of th e first

three and of the last aTe unknown; th e names of the fourth

and the doors follOWing It were "the one which hides th e

corTidors," "the pillar of th e gods." "the one adorned with

s w o r d s ~ " "the portal of Osins." "the one which stands

upright. motionless(?)," "the guardian of th e flood." "the

great one of beings. th e begetter of f o r m s ~ " an d "the one

which incloses th e gods of Hades." At the exit there was

also a vestibule.

.1 JeqUlcr, La livre de ce qu'il ya dans l'Ifades, p. 19.

2 Ibid., pp. 20, 39-41; Maspcro, Les hypogiies royaux de Thebes, pp. 43-44; note

th e conversation between th e gOd and cynocephalus (baboon) for the" opening of

th e doors."

3 Ibid., Vol. II , pp. 166-68; on tbe door which opens on th e place of judgment, seeLivre des morts ("Book of th e Dead") , chap. cxxv, 1. II. 52 fr.

4 Muspero, ibid., Vol. I, p. 384.

158

FUNERALS

These" openings of the doors" ha d a counterpart in th e

ritual of daily worship-the opening of the doors of th e naos

(the part of th e temple WIthin th e walls): th e cord was

broken. th e seal was removed. an d th e bolts were slid.'

Then came th e dismemberment an d reconstitution of th e

god. a rite which was also part of th e funeral (opening th e

mouth. 'etc.).

Th e second openmg of the naosreaffirmed

th efirst. Th e god was washed wIth water and incense. dressed

in sacred bands. an d anointed with paint and perfumed oils.

Then the statue was replaced in th e naos an d installed on

th e sand. just like th e mummy and th e statue of th e

deceased in the funerary ritual. The ritual closing of th e

naos which followed was th e prinCipal rite of departure from

th e sanctuary.

Thus th e divine worship ha d fo r it s object th e daily

revival of Ra-Osiris. just as th e funeral rites both (1) re

vived th e deceased and made him a god by mummificatIOn

an d varIOUS rites. an d (2) prevented a real an d final death

by a reconstitution an d nocturnal rebirth.' There are, there

fore. parallels among th e funeral rites. th e daily worship.

th e inauguration of a temple. an d th e ritual of enthrone

ment. ' The death and rebirth. simultaneously, of Ra.

Osiris, th e king, th e priest. an d every deceased ma n who

was "pure" ceTtainly constitutes th e most extreme case

known to me of a dramatic representation of th e death and

l Moret, Le rituel du cuUe divin j(Jurnalier en Egypte, pp. 35 fr.

2 Ibid., pp. 73-83, 87-89; Muspero, "L e Rituel du sacrifice funermre," Les hypogeesroyaux de Thebes, pp. 289-318.

3 Ibid., pp. 102-212 and Plate III.

4 Moret, Le ntuel du culle divin }ournalier en Egypte, p. 226; cf. pp. 10-15 andpages noted above.

/; The compartments of Hades belong to at least two origmally distinct systems.

Th e final rebirth is secured on the twelfth hour, according to the Theban rrtuai, by

t ~ e passage of the sacred barge, fromtail to head, across the glgantlC serpent "The

life of the gods"-symbol, says ]eqlller, of the renewal due to th e serpent;s abilitv

to change skins each' year (Le livre de ce qu'il y a dans l'Hades, pp. 132-33). Bu t this

does no t explam the reason for the passage across th e two bulls' heads (Maspero,Les hYPQglies rQyaux de Thebes, pp. 169-71); on the subject of th e twelfth hour, seepp.96-101.

159



RITES OF PASSAGE

rebirth theme. I t should be added that birth into life on

earth was in itself considered a rebirth i.

All these rites of rebirth prevented the deceased from

dying again each. day. Th e belief in such a possibility IS

found among many peoples. sometimes combined with th e

idea that after each death th e deceased passes from one

abode to another. as among th e Haida. Among the Chere

miss. some groups believe that the d'eceased dies only once,

but others-for example. th e Cheremiss of Vyatka-say

that a man may die seven times an d pass from one world to

another and that he is then changed IlltO a fish. 2 :The

Cheremiss rites consist of feeding th e deceased often at first

an d then, periodically through "commemorations." Th e

events of th e afterlife explain in part th e alimentary and

sumptuary rites of th e Vogul an d th e Ostyak. some of

whom believe that the soul of th e deceased lives for a tIme

I I I th e world under th e seaor II I th e skies,' then diminishes

little by little until it is only th e size of a certain small insect

or transforms itself into that insect, an d then disappears

altogether.' The doctrine of worlds superimposed on each

other is widespread in Asia an d eXisted in Mithralsm.

(There were seven planetary worlds an d successive initia .

tIOns.)

Like children who have no t been baptized. named, or

initiated, persons for whom funeral rites are no t performed

are condemned to a pitiable existence, since they are never

able to enter the world of th e dead or to become incorpor

ated II I th e society established there. These are th e most

dangerous dead. They would like to be reincorporated into

th e world of th e living, an d since they cannot be, they behave like hostile strangers toward it . They lack th e means

of subsistence which th e other dead find in their own world

1 Ibid., I, 23 ff., 29. It should be noted that th e purpose of mummificatIOn IS pre

cIsely to make rebirth, the life bevond the grave, possible.

2 Ivan Nikolaevltch Smunoy, Les populationsfinnoises des bassms de la Volga et

de ia Kama, trans. PQ.ul Boyer (Paris: E. Leroux, 1898), I, 138.

a See above, p. 150 and the sources cited there.

4. Gondatti, Sliiidy iazytchestvra u inorodtsev Siev8ro-Zapdnoi Sibirii, p. 39.

160

FU N ERA LS

an d consequently must obtain them at the expense of th e

living. Furthermore, these dead without. hearth or home

sometimes have an intense desire for vengeance. Thus funeral

rItes also have a long-range utility; they help to dispose of

eternal enemIes of th e survivors. Persons included among

th e homeless dead vary among different peoples. In addition

to those already mentioned. this category may include those

bereft of family, th e suicides. those dead on a journey, those

struck by lightning, those dead through th e violatIOn of a

taboo, an d others. What I have said holds in general, but

th e same act does no t have th e same consequences among

all peoples. an d I want to reiterate that I do no t claIm an

absolute univer sality or an absolute necessity fo r th e pattern

of rites of passage.

In this connection, I want to mention th e diverse beliefs

concerning th e fate, in th e next world. of persons who have

committed suicide. Lasch isolated four categories: (1)

Suicide IS considered a normal act, and the fate of th e

person who has commItted it is the same as that of th e

ordinary dead; in case of serious illness. mutilation. etc •

SUiCide may even be a means of insuring that th e soul is

in good condition an d no t weakened or mutilated, (2) Suicide

IS rewarded in th e other world (suicide of the warrior, th e

widow, etc.). (3) The person who has committed suicide

cannot be incorporated with th e oilier dead and must

wander between the world of •he dead an d that of the livmg.

(4) Suicide is punished in the next world. and the mdividual

must wander between th e tw o worlds for th e duration of th e

time he would normally have lived. or he is admItted only

to a lower region of th e world of th e dead, or he IS punished

by tortures. etc. (as in hell).' Obviously the character ofthe

funeral rites, those pertainmg to prophylaxIs an d purifica

tion as well as rites of passage. differs with each one of th e

four categories.

Th e rites of passage are present also in rites of r e S u r r e c ~ 1 R. Lasch, "Die Vcrbleibsortc der abgcschiedenen Seclc del' Selbstmorder,"

Globus, LXXVII (1900), 110-15.

161



RITES OF PASSAGE

tion an d reincarnation. for even if a soul ha s been separated

from th e living an d incorporated into th e world of th e dead,

I t ca n also reverse th e direction an d reappear among us .

either by itself or under the constraint of another person.

Th e means are sometimes very simple. I t may be sufficient

for th e soul to be reincarnated In a woman and to reappearin th e form of a child. That is th e case, for instance, among

th e Arunta of Australia, wh o think that souls lies in wait in

stones. trees. etc.. an d that from there they leap into

women wh o are young, fat, an d desirable. Th e rites of

reintegration into the world of th e living which ensue are

those that have been studied with reference to birth and

naming_

Th e ceremomes of th e Lushae tribes of Assam furrush a

good example of the "eternal re turn ." l Th e deceased is

dressed in hi s best clothes an d tied In a sitting pOSItion on

a scaffold of bamboo, while next to him are placed th e toolsan d weapons of his sex. A pig, a goat, an d a dog ar e killed,

an d all th e relatives, friends, an d neighbors divide th e meat;

th e deceased is also gIven food an d drmk. At mghtfall he is

placed in a grave dug right next to the house. His nearest

relative says goodbye an d asks hi m to prepare everything

for those who will come an d join him. Th e soul, accompanied

by those of th e pig, th e goat, and th e dog-without whom

it would no t find It s way-goes dressed an d equipped to th e

land of Mi,thi,hua, where life is hard and painful. But if

th e deceased ha s killed me n or animals on th e hunt, or if he

ha s gIven feasts to the whole village, he goes to a pleasant

country on th e other side of th e river, where he feasts con

tinuously. Since women can neither fight no r hunt no r give

feasts, they cannot go to this beautiful country unless their

husbands take them there. After a certain time, th e soul

leaves one or th e other of these regions an d returU:s to earth

in the form of a hornet. After another lapse of time It is

transformed Into water and evaporates il l th e form of dew,

and, if a dewdrop falls on a man, that man will beget a

1 Major Shukespear, "TypIcal Tribes and Castes," p. 225.

162

FUNERALS

child who will be a reincarnation of th e deceased. 1 When

th e child is born, two chickens ar e killed, an d th e mother

washes herself and the child. Th e child's soul spends th e first

seven days perched like a bird on th e clothes or th e bodies

of his parents; fo r this reason they move as little as possible.

an d during this time th e household god is appeased withsacrifices. All sorts of ceremonies follow, an d during on e of

them th e nearest maternal relative gives a name to th e

chi ld-that is, th e child is permanently Incorporated into

th e clan.

Sometimes th e souls of th e dead are reincarnated directly

mt o animals, vegetables, etc., especially into th e totems. In

that case there are rites incorporating th e deceased into

totemic species.

There is no t always a special place beyond th e grave for

th e dead. At least it frequently happens that their abode is

il l th e environs of th e house, th e tomb (called "the isba of

the dead" by th e Votyak), or th e cemetery (called "village

of the dead" by the Mandan). In that case th e burial IS th e

real rite of incorporation in th e world of th e dead. Tills is

very clear among th e Cheremiss. Perhaps as a result of th e

Moslem mfluence of th e Tatars, th e Cheremiss also believe

m a next world, analogous to the Ostyak heaven, which is

reached by a pole forming a bridge over a cauldron, or by

a ladder. Th e Mordvinian dead also have their abode in th e

tomb or th e cemetery? The bond with the living, an d there,

fore th e transition. lasts for a longer time in these instances,

since, as has been pointed out, it is periodically renewed by

th e living, either by communal meals or by visits or by

feeding th e deceased (through a hole in th e ground an d

I I I th e coffin, with a reed, by depositing food on th e tomb,

etc.). But a moment always comes when this tie is broken.

after being loosened bit by bit. The last commemoration or

th e last visit completes the ntes of separation In relation to

1 This is one of the very rare cases of reIncarnation through th e father.

2 See Slll irnov, Les populations finnolSes, I, 133-44, for th e Cheremiss; pp. 357-76

for th e MordV1mans.

163

.", . , ,1



RITES OF PASSAGE

th e deceased an d th e reconsolidation of the society or

restrIcted group of the living.

The followmg is a list of rites of passage considered II I

i s o l a t i o n ~ I make no claim that i t is c o m p l e t e ~ an y more

than other lists given in this volume.

Among rites of separation. some of which have already

been r e v l e w e d ~ it is appropriate to include: th e var IOUS p r o ~ cedures by which th e corpse is transported outside; burning

th e tools. th e house, th e jewels. th e deceased's possessions;

putting to death the deceased's wives. slaves. or favorIte

animals; washings, anointings. an d rites of purification in

general; an d taboos of all sorts. In addition, there are

physical procedures of separation: a grave, a coffin. a

cemetery, a wicker mat, places in th e trees. or a pile of

stones is built or used in a ritual manner; th e closing of th e

coffin or th e tomb is often a particularly solemn conclusion

to th e entire ceremony. There are periodic collective rites

expelling souls from th e house, th e village, an d th e tribe's

territory. There are struggles for th e c o r p s e ~ widespread in

Africa, which correspond to th e bride's abduction. Their

true meaning seems no t to have been understood up to now:

it is that th e liVIng do not want to lose one of their members

unless forced to do so, fo r th e loss is a diminution of theIr

social power. These struggles increase In violence with th e

higher socia l pOSItion of th e deceased.' As for the destructlOn

of th e corpse itself (b y c r e m a t i o n ~ premature putrefaction,

etc.), it s purpose is to separate th e components. th e various

bodies and souls. Only very seldom do th e remains (bones,

ashes) constItute the new body of th e deceased in th e after-

life. whatever Hertz may think on th e matter.2Among rites of incorporation I shall first mention th e

meals shared after funerals an d at commemoration celebra-

tions. Their purpose is to reunite al l th e surVIving members

of th e group WIth each other, an d sometimes also With th e

.1 For refercnces, sce Hertz, .. La :representation collective de la mort," p. 128 n. 2.

II Ibid., p. 78; Hertz here presents a modification of Kleinpaul'& theory, which is

too absolute.

164

FU N ERA LS

deceased. in th e same way that a chain which ha s been

broken by the disappearance of one of its links must be

rejoined. Sometimes a meal of this sort also takes place

when mourning is lifted. When the funerals are observed in

two stages (provisional an d permanent), there is usually a

communion meal for th e relatives at the end of th e first,

an d th e deceased is thought to partake of it . Finally, i f th e

tribe. clan. or village is involved. convocation by drum,

crier. or messenger 'gives th e meal even more of th e charac .

te r of a collective ritual.

As for rites of incorporatlOn into th e other world, they

ar e equivalent to those of hospitality, incorporation into th e

clan, adoption, an d so forth. They are often alluded to in

legends whose central theme is a descent to Hades or a

journey to th e land of the dead, an d they are mentioned in

th e form of taboos: one must not eat with the dead, drink

or eat anything produced in their country, allow oneself to

be touched or embraced by them, accept gifts from them,

an d so forth. On th e other hand, drinking with a dead per-

son is an act of incorporation with him and the other dead,

and it consequently enables one to travel among them with-

ou t danger, as does th e payment of a toll (coins, etc.).

There are other special rites such as a club blow adminis·

tered by the dead on a newcomer's head.' the Christian

sacrament of extreme unction, or th e custom of placing th e

deceased on th e earth. Finally, the" dances of th e dead"

performed by certain American Indians. by th e Nyanp of

Africa,' by members of secret societies, an d by other special

magico-religious groups should perhaps be included in this

category.

1 Haddon. Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits, Y, 355; this

same rIte IS among those p ~ r f o r m e d at marriage (see above, p. 128).

2 See F. A. Werner. The Natwes of British Central Afri ca (London: A. Constable,

1907), p. 229; R. Sutherland Rattray, Some Folk·tore, Stories, and Songs in Chinyanja(London: S.P.C.K., 1907), p. 179 •

165

I.

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