Learning Through Rites of Transition

    All societies have rites of passage from one status in life to another.  Marriage ceremonies are an almost universal rite of transition from unmarried to married life.  Baptism is a rite of transition into the Lord's body.  Many societies have rites of transition from childhood to adulthood.  Some have rites from a warrior class to an elder class or from one elder class to another.  Funerals, already discussed under learning during times of crises, are understood by some as rituals which symbolically transfer the spirit into the world of the spirits or free the spirit to make this journey.  The Masai of East Africa have not only birth, marriage, and death rites, but also transitional rites between stages of life.  The rites of passage separating childhood and adulthood are of special importance:  After initiation the male becomes a warrior, and the girl becomes a woman and is allowed to marry.  Usually these rites of transition are times of cultural indoctrination when cultural values and worldview perspectives are especially explicit.  In animistic societies rites of transition intimately tie the living to the spirit world.  Unlike some secular ceremonies in the West, all animistic rituals carry significant religious meaning.

    Among American Indian tribes, such as the Crow, Comanche, and Shoshoni, a young man achieved power to become great in life only after receiving a special vision.  In this vision some spirit would come to the young man to give him phenomenal strength, extraordinary wealth, or the power to lead.  Achieving this vision became a rite of passage into successful life.  Frequently the spirit came in the form of an animal or bird who then became the young man's personal totem.  Although a few received their visions in their sleep or without much effort, most achieved them only after much effort through an planned vision quest.  At the approximate age of eleven a boy began training for his vision quest.  He observed taboos, underwent rigorous physical training, and supplicated the Sun.  During the vision quest itself, he "mortified his flesh" to induce a vision.  It was common to fast for four days, cut off one finger at the joint as a sacrifice to the Sun, and pray for horses (Lowie 1948, 35). 

    The nature of a man's vision determined his role in life.  If his totem appeared invulnerable, he would become an invincible warrior with a reputation of reckless daring.  Or, if his empowering totem demonstrated the use of herbal medicine, he would become a wealthy healer/diviner.  A man without a vision was destined for poverty and ill-repute (Lowie, 1948, 6-9). 

    Once the centrality of the vision quest becomes apparent, other basic cultural motifs also become evident.  (1) Endurance is required in a life of struggle.  As a man could not obtain a vision without struggle, so the Indian could not survive without struggle.  (2) Power, prestige, and fame come from visions and dreams.  (3) A totem spirit guards the strong man.  (4) An ideal man, although strong and self-sufficient, is helped by spirits (Hiebert 1983).  Without understanding the role of the vision in Indian society, the missionary could not understand the culture.

    Among the Kipsigis of Kenya circumcision is the rite of transition into adulthood.  During these month-long rites each December, Kipsigis youths are circumcised and taught what it means to be a Kipsigis.  From the time that they emerge from these rites, they are expected to act as adults.  These rites are extremely valuable for social and cultural identity.  In a short time Kipsigis youth go through an identity change that American young people uncertainly accomplish with much anguish over a longer period of time.

    Since these rites conflict with the teachings of Christ, Christians cannot participate in them and remain faithful to God.  Even non-Christians realize this.  Circumcision is the time when the young are indoctrinated in the traditional animistic way of life.  Ancestral blessings are frequently used.  Sexual promiscuity is expected.  Initiates are taught how to curse those who wrong them.  When an outsider studies what is taught to traditional circumcision initiates, he sees distinctive features of traditional Kipsigis culture.

    Strong local churches in Kipsigis have created viable Christian alternatives to the traditional rites.  Christian blessings are used.  The purity of a Christian lifestyle is taught.  How a Christian Kipsigis functions in an animistic world is communicated.  Where local churches have not creatively devised a cultural substitute, reversion to paganism is extremely high.  Where churches are strong, a cultural equivalent is devised and frequently accepted by the village.

    By studying rites of transition, a missionary overtly sees cultural motifs otherwise hidden.  Christian alternatives to these rites show how the teachings of Christ have been contextualized in the new culture.

Work Cited

Lowie, Robert H. 1948. Primitive Religion. New York: Liveright.

Copyright ©2000 by Gailyn Van Rheenen -- excerpt from Communicating Christ in Animistic Contexts (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1996)

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