Rites of Passage

Rites of passage are ceremonies or events that mark transitions from one social or developmental stage to another. Births, deaths, coming of age, marriage, initiations & inductions into groups, and other significant life changes are often accompanied by celebrations, ceremonies, and rituals. Some of these experiences are entirely symbolic, while other times they involve real challenges that the individual must overcome to make their transformation real and transition into their new role.

Anthropologists have studied rites of passage in various cultures around the world, highlighting their significance in shaping individual and collective identities. These rituals often serve to reinforce social norms, values, and cultural traditions, while also providing a sense of belonging and community. But more than that, they help individuals understand and navigate the changes they are experiencing in their lives.

In the context of mentoring and youth development, understanding what rites of passage look like and the role they can play in helping young people transition into adulthood can really enhance the work that we do as mentors, coaches, teachers, and community members. Many of us are probably already creating these kinds of experiences for the young people in our orbit without even realizing it. But being conscious of these patterns and intentionally incorporating them into our work can create more & better opportunities for reflection, growth, and learning, allowing young people to navigate the challenges and uncertainties of life with greater confidence and resilience.

One of the key players in in studying rites of passage was Arnold van Gennep, an anthropologist who first coined the term and was one of the first to systematically analyze these rituals. In his seminal work, "The Rites of Passage" (1909), van Gennep identified three distinct phases in rites of passage: separation, transition, and incorporation. Individuals undergoing a rite of passage first separate from their previous social roles and identities, go through some sort of transitional experience, and finally are incorporated back into society in their new roles or as their new selves. These transitional experiences tend to be heavy on symbolism and structures that help individuals navigate these transitions and integrate into their new social roles. There also has to be some sort of authentic challenge, with at least some degree of danger or risk of failure, that the individual must overcome to successfully complete the rite of passage.

Building on van Gennep's work, Victor Turner further explored the key aspects of rites of passage and refined the concept of liminality - a state of ambiguity and transition that individuals experience during that transitional phase. In these liminal states, normal social structures and norms are suspended and replaced by something unique to the experience, allowing individuals to explore new possibilities and identities. Turner emphasized the importance of this liminal state as a time for reflection, transformation, and the development of new social roles and identities. Embracing this liminal state requires a great deal of courage and vulnerability, as individuals must let go of their previous identities and embrace the uncertainty of the transition, but it's also where the most profound growth and transformation can occur. Ritual elders - individuals who maintain the boundaries of the experience and guide individuals through rites of passage - also play a crucial role in helping individuals navigate these liminal states and emerge with a renewed sense of identity and purpose. Turner also highlighted the communal aspects of rites of passage, noting that these rituals often involve collective participation and shared experiences that reinforce social bonds among those that have shared in the experience.

I've noticed some strong correlations between the structure & elements of these properly designed rites of passage, particularly the ones that are focused on individuation as opposed to preparing participants for a specific social role, and Dabrowski's theory of positive disintegration. These experiences provide a scaffolded trip around the growth spiral, helping individuals navigate the challenges of disintegration and reintegration in a supportive, structured environment. The separation phase aligns with the unilevel disintegration stage, where individuals are presented with challenges that disrupt their existing beliefs and identities. The liminal transition phase corresponds to the multilevel disintegration stage, where individuals explore new possibilities and identities in a state of ambiguity. Finally, the incorporation phase mirrors the multilevel integration stage, where individuals emerge with a renewed sense of self and purpose.

van Gennep claimed that we can't put on proper rites of passage in modern society. He believed that society had become too fragmented, rational, and all of the wrong kinds of both individualistic and collectivist, making it hard to create shared experiences that can effectively mark important life transitions - and again, this was in the 1910s. I think that Dabrowski's claim that most people never get beyond a unilevel mindset and van Gennep's claim that we can't do rites of passage in modern society are two sides of the same coin. I fully agree with Turner's refined perspective that we definitely can be creating meaningful rites of passage in modern society - but it does take intentional effort and, for the most part, we're just choosing not to.

Modern "rites of passage" often incorporate bits and pieces of these traditional frameworks, but fall short of the full depth and complexity required to facilitate deep, meaningful transformation. We tend to downplay or entirely skip over the liminal "meat" of the experience. By stripping away the challenging, the risky, and the flat out weird aspects, these modern rites have all but lost the transformative power that comes from navigating the complexities of change. Turner coined the term liminoid to describe these experiences that mimic authentic liminality but don't quite check all the boxes. Liminoid experiences may provide some of the benefits of a rite of passage, and typically provide some sort of credential or social recognition at the end just like traditional rites of passage do, but they don't create the same kind of deep, personal transformation.

If we can create meaningful rites of passage that help individuals navigate the complexities of change and develop new social roles and identities, we can help more people get past The Unilevel Loop of Increasingly Uncomfortable Stagnation and into higher levels of personal growth and development. We don't need to go as far as some traditional societies did in creating rites of passage, sending our youth off into the wilderness for months at a time to prove their worthiness for their first job or requiring them to beat their teachers in a sword duel as part of their high school graduation ceremonies or anything of the sort. But we can and should be doing more to create structured, meaningful experiences that help young people navigate the challenges and uncertainties of adolescence and transition into adulthood. As mentors, coaches, and community leaders if we really want to put on transformative experiences for the young people in our orbit, we need to be willing to embrace this concept, take on that ritual elder role, and construct our own liminal, transformative spaces for our kids.