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"[initiation's] function is to reveal the deep meaning of existence to the new generations and to help them assume the responsibility of being truly men and hence of participating in culture." "it reveals a world open to the trans-human, a world that, in our philosophical terminology, we should call transcendental."
Initiation rites are seen as fundamental to human growth and development as well as socialization in many African communities. These rites function by ritually marking the transition of someone to full group membership. [18] It also links individuals to the community and the community to the broader and more potent spiritual world.
Many cultures practice or have practiced initiation rites, including the ancient Greeks, the Hebraic/Jewish, the Babylonian, the Mayan, and the Norse cultures. The modern Japanese practice of Miyamairi is such a ceremony. In some, such evidence may be archaeological and descriptive in nature, rather than a modern practice.
The Upanayana rite of passage was also important to the teacher, as the student would therefrom begin to live in the gurukula (school). [34] Upanayana became an elaborate ceremony, that includes rituals involving the family, the child and the teacher. A boy receives during this ceremony a sacred thread called the yajnopavita to be worn.
The various phases of the life cycle were described by David Lancy [2] as belonging to six practical categories: 1) Birth and early infancy, which Lancy describes as ritually being the least important given the doubt over the child's survival; 2) Joining the community when the infant's survival is confirmed, usually denoted by a naming ceremony ...
Other classes of rituals include divinatory rituals; ceremonies performed by political authorities to ensure the health and fertility of human beings, animals, and crops in their territories; initiation into priesthoods devoted to certain deities, into religious associations, or into secret societies; and those accompanying the daily offering ...
The Catholic crusaders were apprehended under pressure from Pope Clement V over allegations that new recruits to the order were being forced to spit on the cross, deny Christ and engage in ...
Ulwaluko, traditional circumcision and initiation from childhood to adulthood, is an ancient initiation rite practised (though not exclusively) by the Xhosa people, and is commonly practised throughout South Africa. The ritual is traditionally intended as a teaching institution, to prepare young males for the responsibilities of manhood. [1]