Are Rites of Passage Really Necessary?

Share thoughts and ideas regarding what can be done to meet contemporary humanity's need for rites of initiation and passage.

Moderators: Clemsy, Martin_Weyers, Cindy B.

Lizpete
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Post by Lizpete »

Andrew T.O. wow, you wrote so much, its taken me a bit.

First:
n our classifications, there is no in between state: One is a child, or a youth, or an adult etc. There may be many such classes/states, but there is no gradual continuum. There are discreet differences in our minds. Our minds say "this is where a youth stops and and an adult begins", and unless there is a similar demarcation in our actual lives, the subconscious may be tricked into thinking no transition has taken place.

I find this passage contradicts itself. You find no gradual continuum even in many graduated classes? Since there are "classes" as you say, (ie: youth and adult) aren't there demarcations in our actual lives- no tricking the subconscious...

I agree 100% with you about the arbitrariness of these demarcation rituals. That is their one flaw, as Prof Campbell also seems to suggest. To my mind, this is another challenge modern society has to overcome: finding a way to reconcile the varying time frame of development among humans with the need for transition rituals.

I find that idea of the arbitrariness of demarcation rituals interesting, can you tell me where to find it in Campbell's writings? Taking the point as stated: Perhaps one (ie: a child) has to wait until someone else (an adult) decides that the test and the ritual/rite can take place? The adult has to have some confidence in the child, but is it arbitrary? Our modern society has sought to remedy that problem a little with law. And of course schooling with tests and such.

Only when we have thoroughly soaked our new technological/societal environment with rich, coherent mythos, can we expect to draw any kind of benefit from it.

If the technology is important to the society and the individual maybe. I think its interesting that the technology is being soaked in old traditions and old images or traditional images. Puttering towards something new.

But, I at least am benefiting now and I hope you are too.

I have run out of time here at the library. Hope this does for now. [/quote]
All human wisdom is contained in these words: wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas <br>America: The call that every generation must improve itself. *Member Generation &quot;X&quot;*

AndrewT.O.
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Post by AndrewT.O. »

Lizpete wrote:Andrew T.O. wow, you wrote so much, its taken me a bit.

First:
n our classifications, there is no in between state: One is a child, or a youth, or an adult etc. There may be many such classes/states, but there is no gradual continuum. There are discreet differences in our minds. Our minds say "this is where a youth stops and and an adult begins", and unless there is a similar demarcation in our actual lives, the subconscious may be tricked into thinking no transition has taken place.

I find this passage contradicts itself. You find no gradual continuum even in many graduated classes? Since there are "classes" as you say, (ie: youth and adult) aren't there demarcations in our actual lives- no tricking the subconscious...


I was insufficiently clear. The problem is that there are still some cases that "fall into the cracks" between the graduated classes. For instance, there are many people who are not quite a child, by their own definitions, and yet not quite, say, an adolescent (if that's the next graduated step in their thinking).

Yes, there are actual demarcations, but they are multiple. For instance, a child needs a babysitter while a youth does not. A youth can grow facial hair, and a child cannot. But there are some people who no longer need a babysitter, but who still cannot grow facial hair. So you see, they do not meet their full definition of "child" or their full definition of "youth". The spectrum is too fluid. (This example was drawn from my own culture, and may not agree with all experiences, but I am sure one can find many such incomplete progressions in any culture/outlook).

Lizpete wrote:
I agree 100% with you about the arbitrariness of these demarcation rituals. That is their one flaw, as Prof Campbell also seems to suggest. To my mind, this is another challenge modern society has to overcome: finding a way to reconcile the varying time frame of development among humans with the need for transition rituals.

I find that idea of the arbitrariness of demarcation rituals interesting, can you tell me where to find it in Campbell's writings?


In the "power of myth", chapter 1, Prof Campbell talks about the lack of uniform rituals across society that let kids know when they are now adults. He started with a specific example (short pants if memory serves), and went on to generalise.

Prof Campbell gave an interesting example in "Power of Myth" (only one I can think of right now), in the chapter about sacrifice and bliss (I think). He mnentions how for girls in primitive cultures, menstruation is a clear demarcation btwn childhood and adulthood, but for boys no such cclarity exists, and that the society imposes a ritual at some determined point. Elsewhere in the same work, he mentions the bar-mitzvah as a standardised time of passage that does not take into account how close to manhood the boy is, but instead places a given "here you go" point. The idea here is to develop a standard practice, identify said practice as the gateway ritual, and let the kids know that this is what they are going through.

Lizpete wrote: Taking the point as stated: Perhaps one (ie: a child) has to wait until someone else (an adult) decides that the test and the ritual/rite can take place? The adult has to have some confidence in the child, but is it arbitrary? Our modern society has sought to remedy that problem a little with law. And of course schooling with tests and such.


In all these rituals, the person always has to wait for someone else.
The model you suggest works, as long as the child understands it to be the case. The idea is for the person undergoing the rite to come to some sort of understanding. The ritual should, based on their prior understandings of their culture, give them the uncoscious realisation that they have passed a threshold.

Lizpete wrote:
Only when we have thoroughly soaked our new technological/societal environment with rich, coherent mythos, can we expect to draw any kind of benefit from it.


If the technology is important to the society and the individual maybe.


And the technology is critically important to our modern society and to our modern lives. We cannot live lives in any recognisable manner without it. Some people may rely on it less than others, but the amount of variation is minuscule compared to the underlying presence of technology in our daily lives (I live half the year in Africa and the other half here, and the difference would be staggering to all but the most committed luddites).

When I consider the activities prof Campbell cites as the basis for ancient societies' myths (hunting, planting etc), I am surprised we are adjusted to our society/lives at all. These were survival activities, much like working the 9-5, driving, or grocery shopping are today. Yet the symbols of these and other basic activities in the industrial world are scarcely to be seen in our mythos.

Lizpete wrote:I think its interesting that the technology is being soaked in old traditions and old images or traditional images. Puttering towards something new.


True. Puttering puts it best. I watch the development with wide-eyed hope.

Lizpete wrote:But, I at least am benefiting now and I hope you are too.


I do my best to draw what I can out of life. It's worked so far :)

Lizpete wrote:I have run out of time here at the library. Hope this does for now.


A lot of food for thought, definitely. Hope to hear from you soon.

Lizpete
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Post by Lizpete »

Hi Andrew T.O.! Thanks for responding!

Sorry to have left that post as it was, but sometimes I think its unfair to really change a post "in conversation" after its been read. Let me just move forward and respond to your new one.
The problem is that there are still some cases that "fall into the cracks" between the graduated classes.
Yes, but is that why there would be a "rite" of passage- to let you know you've made it to the next grade, er, stage.
For instance, there are many people who are not quite a child, by their own definitions, and yet not quite, say, an adolescent (if that's the next graduated step in their thinking).
I think this goes back to the tribe's contribution to the rites of passage. That it is not all individually determined.
Prof Campbell talks about the lack of uniform rituals across society that let kids know when they are now adults. …
I think that lack of uniform rituals statement is also Clemsy's main point (so far) in this discussion. My reaction is what size "society" do you need to have? Hobbes found that Kingdoms (his best form of government) would work only if very small. Even our smallest American states would be too big for one of his Kingdoms. Our 13 original states given their different sizes and geographies wanted their own autonomous societies, which has become more cohesive over time, but education remains still very local.
Prof Campbell gave an interesting example in "Power of Myth" (only one I can think of right now), in the chapter about sacrifice and bliss (I think). He mentions how for girls in primitive cultures, menstruation is a clear demarcation between childhood and adulthood, but for boys no such clarity exists, and that the society imposes a ritual at some determined point.
I think I must note that Campbell was discussing primitive societies and disagree with his application towards modern American society. As a woman, I'll say that I got my period in my early teens, but there was no way I was prepared to become a mother at that time. I also underwent confirmation as a teen and became an "adult" in the church, but I was not an adult and could not support myself. I was still learning about my society at that point.

These are older traditions, I believe, and not fit for the new lives we live in the US today. (I realized after I posted Andrew T.O. that you come from a different nation, so perhaps my discussion is too US focused for you- unintended by me.)
All human wisdom is contained in these words: wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas <br>America: The call that every generation must improve itself. *Member Generation &quot;X&quot;*

Lizpete
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Post by Lizpete »

Andrew T.O.

I think you got a bit ripped off by my last posts here- I was hurrying as I'm hurring right now. Sorry, sorry.

The first couple of points you had I think Noman and Clemsy had addressed. You might take a second look at their posts. Your perspective seems similar to the Cove to me on the idea of number and perhaps randomness of rites. I'll also take another look.

A point I think that underscores the point of both your's and the Cove's post is that there is some learning that takes place prior to the rite, that I seem to be incorporating, but may not have been in earlier times. So that a rite takes place at the end of the individual learning process. (e.g. Sucessful use of a condom) The tribe then is only tangentially involved in that example. (see I listen!) So this view would say there is no real community participation in the rite itself, as its too personal/individual- right?

I was a bit pre-empatory talking about school as a rite of passage in this thread, I just wanted to get a full discussion launched. I think you must have an interesting point of view on an underlying question which is what is a rite of passage that I as an American just don't have, and would love to know more. I think this difference was what I was having trouble with in understanding your very first post on the thread- what seemed to me to be contradictory in your thinking. I believe you had a concrete example in mind that I couldn't follow because you didn't write about the example. Would you tell me more?

Stupid little timer is telling me I have 4 minutes until I get booted. So I'll end it here. Except I got back on sooner than expected. New stuff in italics

Take Care-
All human wisdom is contained in these words: wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas <br>America: The call that every generation must improve itself. *Member Generation &quot;X&quot;*

AndrewT.O.
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Post by AndrewT.O. »

Lizpete, I am quite enjoying the thread. I just have been unable to post for a while (offline world malarkey). I found no offense at all in anything you've said. In fact, this is probably the most civil webboard I have ever encountered :D

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Post by Hippy Steve »

I have read this thread with interest. I am actively involved with traditional Native American ceremony. This past week I supported several community members who were "on the hill" for vision quest ceremony by tending the sacred fire that is kept in camp to sustain the vision questers while they fast from food and water and pray inside a small altar on a hill for four days - a ceremony I have also been fortunate enough to undergo myself. Although the vision quest is undertaken for many personal reasons at any time throughout one's life, at one time it was an important "rite of passage" along with the naming ceremony.

I believe we should make a distinction between the common usage "rite of passage" which can and is applied to almost any "first" in a youngster's life, and a Ceremonial Rite of Passage. The most effective Ceremonial Rites have some unique characteristics, primarily a preparation period with quest-like tasks to be performed, the ceremony itself, and some confirmation of a new status from a source outside the individual.

The Wizard of Oz is a really good example. The characters want things like courage, intelligence, and a heart. They are sent on a quest in which they learn or demonstrate those qualities, but psychologically they still need an external power to bestow them with a medal or diploma so that they then see themselves as being imbued with those qualities they have already demonstrated.

There are few Rites in the modern world that still convey the mythological power bestowed by the Rites of old. Weddings and graduations are still fairly effective. The participants are essentially the same before and after the ceremony with the very significant exception that they now see themselves differently. The magical words are "by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you _______. Now go act that way." The words may be different or even implied, but the psychological effect is profound. A med student wouldn't even think of performing surgery one day, and the next she considers herself a doctor and acts like one.

So back to the original question "do we need rites of passage today?" I believe if properly applied they would add clarity to our lives and society. They ensure that youngsters who crave the privileges of adulthood understand and accept the responsibilities that go along with those privileges and actually earn them so they will take their own lives more seriously. This is much better than allowing our youngsters to fumble through life letting it happen to them with a victim mentality.

Peace,
steve.

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Post by littlewing »

Have just been following the thread (lurking in the background! :shock: ) till something sparked some understanding in me about major life passages... how they are acheived and the part ritual plays in marking the before and after. Hippy Steve, your post was the spark. Of course! Thank you! A real societal/individual ritual marking a major passage must be something with a difficult task involved. It has to carry a risk; no passage is guaranteed. Of course education has its benchmarks of life acheivement. Passing kindergarten and grade school is expected of most; graduation from these are really practice for the first big one: high school. And bigger rituals involve endowing the privilege to practice a career; marriage.

To acheive parenthood, a mother must successfully manage her first pregnancy and labor. Her reward is a new identity: Mother. A society can do this with little fanfare involving few more than the solitary mother: a girl can go through pregnancy with little managing; then go out in a field and come home with a baby... or not. Or, like our own society, it can be a strange group fanfare with sterile blue drapes involved and scalpels; or cameras, lots of family, a midwife, and a pool of water in a home. Strange rituals; but rituals, repeated by those who believe in them, nonetheless.

A celebration can be misconstrued to be a ritual such as a party to celebrate a girl's first menstruation. But menstruation happens; it involves adjustment; but no great risk. The goal of the party is to welcome it; not fear it. It is a milestone; but not a ritual with preparation and a significant chance of failure.

Adulthood is not really marked in our society by graduation; or a career name. Sometimes it is marked by parenthood; but that passage is subtle. That is the question of this thread. Are we missing something? A rite of passage into adulthood must be a hero's journey. The tribe's group hunt required each boy to risk life and limb in a battle with an animal who could win the fight; or get away and leave him returning home emptyhanded... a failed provider. His reward was the respect and responsibility bestowed by the tribe as an adult. The party afterward was the celebration; the hunt was the ritual.

I do think, as others here have suggested, we are missing something. The reason I suggested the young wannabe rappers is that I think those kids are fantasizing such a passage. The danger involved in proving yourself to a gang is seen as a ritual into respect of a brotherhood. Any mother in a ghetto (or suburban mom of a wannabe) can tell you this is not the ritual we want our kids to have! But I think it's important to understand why these gangs exist, to the extent of what their attraction is to young boys. It is the seeking for the hero's journey: a ritual into adulthood. How can we deny we are missing something when our own children grab at something that looks like it??

lw

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Post by Hippy Steve »

Thank you littlewing for making the point about gang involvement more clear. Kids with more affluence demonstrate that same need in college through fraternity and sorority initiations.

I think this points out a greater innate need that is rather lacking today, and perhaps a reason why rites of passage have fallen by the wayside. People crave community and a sense of belonging. For communities to be solid, members must live up to certain standards and have a common bond. Effective Rites of Passage can provide both, and mark the transition from someone who is cared for by the community to someone who has earned his place in the community and helps to care for others. Without them kids carry a sense of entitlement and dependence into adulthood.

The modern western world is comparatively lacking in community and therefore the need to transition youngsters from being wards of the community to full members with rights and responsibilities. The closest thing to community we have are family units. Where family units are broken you get gangs. When young adults go off to college they leave the family unit and seek that sense of community in fraternities and sororities.

I think it's also valuable to talk about the differences in the sexes. Women are innately connected to the earth, and nature provides her with ceremony and clearly defined transitions from girl to woman to mother to elder. The original peoples of this continent respected and honored them. The men were jealous and the women brought them ceremonies and medicine bundles that they could care for like babies.

Archeologists and sociologists let years of patriarchal attitudes shape their theories and suggest that the women were sent away during their moontime because they were "unclean." In a society with clear division of labor, no man would send away the person who's cooking his meals and caring for his children. The women recognized the sacred ceremonial aspects of that time and insisted on making it private.

If you look closely enough, most Native American ceremonies and rites mimic some aspect of the ceremonies given to women by nature. The purification or sweat lodge and vision quest both involve depletion of vital bodily fluids. The Sun Dance ceremony on the surface looks very macho with it's piercing element. In reality it allows men to experience giving blood for the people and that unique aspect of labor, where you find yourself in a physical predicament where the only way to escape it is to follow it to completion.

My apologies if I've sidetracked the conversation, but I do believe it important to point out that women have natural rites of passage, which help them and could help them even more if they were honored by the men and ritualized or celebrated by society. But our young men are lost and out of balance with their counterparts without similar rites, and since we live in a patriarchal society, well you see what we get.

Peace,
steve.
taospaces.com

Lizpete
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Post by Lizpete »

There are few Rites in the modern world that still convey the mythological power bestowed by the Rites of old. Weddings and graduations are still fairly effective. The participants are essentially the same before and after the ceremony with the very significant exception that they now see themselves differently. The magical words are "by the power invested in me, I now pronounce you _______. Now go act that way." The words may be different or even implied, but the psychological effect is profound. A med student wouldn't even think of performing surgery one day, and the next she considers herself a doctor and acts like one.
I take exception with the inclusion of school graduation, but your point about marriage is interesting. Its a situation where things are currently changing I believe as some institutions offer pre-maritial counselling. It could be a situation where rites are changing.

I've also heard that some people are now living together for an indefinate period of time before getting married and treating the wedding like a marker for a successful pairing. I am unsure if that concept is really working, since I've heard that many couples don't believe there was any difference between living together and married life, that is to say no fundamental change that occurred after the marriage. I'm not sure about this situation, and think it needs to be thought out more. Just that we as a society is playing around with the rite to see where it fits.

(Oh and just living together has been treated like a common law marriage. If your friends have a party to help you celebrate moving in together, sounds like a mini-wedding to me.)

As for a med student doctor, I think the "next day" comment is a vast oversimplification. There is a lot of learning and training that preceeds someone embarking on surgery- including a licensing event.

I find rites of purification interesting. A prep for the transition, it seems to me.
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Lizpete
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Post by Lizpete »

Littlewing and HippySteve I also think you've launched into another discussion regarding women and might want to start a new thread topic based on what you've written here.

I'd also like to say that I think traditionally cultures did not celebrate menstruation, but the knowledge that the individual had arrived at adulthood, capable of being married and a parent. Modern society has put in a span of time between physical maturation and adulthood, so that probably we look at menstruation as an event along the road.

As for women being unclean. At present, socially I know of no male who is not grossed out by menstruation (excepting medical professional.) Really don't want to see it, deal with it. Kinda amusing to me in an irritating way because as a woman I have to deal with it monthly. (Usually.) Aside from that I do get calling the other (in this situation the other being the female sex) "dirty" or "unclean." Females bring out sexual desire, and from that desire the burden of a family is established, easier to blame her than the self. (The self being whole and perfect .)

Once the fair sex is the weaker one, then all sorts of controls can be put in place. Again for another discussion.
--------

One little aside that I can't help but note: I think our founding fathers in the US felt that adulthood was really achieved around the age of 21. So why did they think it was important to make sure that our President would be at least 35 years in age? Seems like there might be another span of maturation time that was apparent to these 17th century men, but that we don't talk about much. Or really recognize today.
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littlewing
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Post by littlewing »

Lizpete, I wasn't meaning to address male vrs female issues surrounding rites of passage; I separated them because I think, as far as first adulthood rites go, most societies separate them. Maybe this is an outdated concept. Maybe not, since a woman's experience of adulthood is a lot about birthing babies; otherwise, adulthood has some unisex quality to it today.

Your comment about menstruation is well taken.
(Oh and just living together has been treated like a common law marriage. If your friends have a party to help you celebrate moving in together, sounds like a mini-wedding to me.)
Perhaps a new rite is forming to celebrate that event... another nuance of marriage, analagous to many kinds of snow in eskimo-ese. :)

Marriage itself, however, whether one has lived together or not, is a compelling rite that confirms a commitment the couple was not sure they wanted to make before the rite. The change is subtle, but remarkable. It remains that living together (for a shorter time than common law... usually 7 yrs in most states in the US) is one thing; and marriage is another. Else why would a couple living together bother? I say this being, as might be guessed, one of those. Funny thing, I looked at the rites that came down when they did: we met, moved in together (no fanfare... just happened incidentally); a few months later, we found ourselves gifted with a 3 week vacation in Hawaii. Even then, I told everyone it was our honeymoon. My (now husband) thought I was joking; I was not. Couple of years later, we almost split; ended up moving crosscountry and setting up house officially together. Couple of years after that, we decided to marry. Frankly, in spite of having had a honeymoon, I never planned on marrying. Like so many other friends who married after years together (like my grown kids, who I encouraged to live together first), the desire to commit was needed. In spite of common law marriage protecting property rights, a marriage commitment is usually seen by the couple as cementing a desire to live together for life; for some, cementing a desire for monogamy. Though of course, life goes on and divorces still loom large, the commitment alone brings a comfort level to a couple that can only be explained as "married". Hey, it's not for all couples! That comfort level can be bad for some. It just is.

I think this description of a rite of passage is important to understanding what is and what isn't a significant passage:
Hippy Steve:
The most effective Ceremonial Rites have some unique characteristics, primarily a preparation period with quest-like tasks to be performed, the ceremony itself, and some confirmation of a new status from a source outside the individual.
Lizpete, you point out something else important as we reform ritual to meet modern needs. Just perhaps, though 21 may mean adulthood, there are other major passages that confer a greater ability to mix reason with experience. Else, why would we require someone to be 35 to lead the country? ...just thinking of that old classic, Passages by Gail Sheehy. :roll:

lw

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Post by hobbit »

Lizpete's question is valid, if not a coyote question. Part of No Mans reply to this question is also valid: repetition is not a rite of transformative passage. Yet repetition may itself be a socially sanctioned substitute for such empowering rites. By way of example:The consumer ethic that is broadcast at the American and First World populaces and has become a model for aspiring Second and Third World countries, is an example of spurious rites designed to influence actions, beliefs, values and self identity in ways that enrich dominant leaders, producers and distributors in the short term. With little or no regard for the impact on people outside of thier needed roles as consumers.
I have wondered what Campbell would have thought of the observations recently published in Jared Diamond's Collapse and Philp Zimbardo's The Lucifer Effect. Both authors illustrate the effects on socieities who A) Lack ritual, or B) Use pathological rites and rituals. In both instances, individuals and populations hungry for rites of passage that empower them and their culture/paradigm seek rites that they are unavailable or degraded.
Rites and Rituals are a necessary part of humanity's pre-history and history. Having accepted thier presence; the question then becomes are these rituals and rites empowering for an individual and his/her culture in the short/mezzo/macro term? Do the allowed and accepted rituals of a mileaux encourage awareness or conformity as measured cultural trait? Do the dominant powers recognize the healthy tension necessarily generated between the requisite poles of conformity and awareness? If not, then do they appeal to the lowest common denominator and lead to Paradigm Blindness (Kuhn's Paradigm Blindness) and its consequences?

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Post by Lizpete »

Hobbit,

I'm sorry I don't understand your reply. (Probably because I haven't read your books.)

May I ask:

1) What is a "pathological" rites/rituals.

and

2) What is an example of "[a] culture/paradigm seek[ing] rites that they are unavailable or degraded?"
All human wisdom is contained in these words: wait and hope. Alexandre Dumas <br>America: The call that every generation must improve itself. *Member Generation &quot;X&quot;*

littlewing
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Post by littlewing »

I haven't read those two books either (or heard of them!) Hobbit; but let me make a stab at understanding:
By way of example:The consumer ethic that is broadcast at the American and First World populaces and has become a model for aspiring Second and Third World countries, is an example of spurious rites designed to influence actions, beliefs, values and self identity in ways that enrich dominant leaders, producers and distributors in the short term. With little or no regard for the impact on people outside of thier needed roles as consumers.
Society (our Western one at any rate) has supplanted rites of passage with ritual of shopping; acquisition. It's empty; pathological even. It holds pretty much a disconnect with peoples' roles outside of being good consumers.

I could not find Paradigm Blindness as a term in a brief internet perusal; but did see a condition of being stuck in a paradigm; having all the burgeoning ideas and evidence that don't fit into the current "accepted wisdom"; but unable or missing some pieces to propel into the next worldview. An example would be fundamentalism not being able to see a world based on evolving organisms.

Why do you see Lizpete's question as a coyote question? I know the coyote meaning; but your point is going over my head....

lw
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Post by Boniface »

I've read a lot of the entries posted here, but not all, so if I'm repeating something already said, please excuse me. My two cents worth:

Human beings are social animals, much like wolves and other pack animals, and work best in some sort of hierarchical structure. Even "outcasts" will form new groups and develop a hierarchy within that new group.

In our society, we form groups based on a variety of criteria, but they all seem to be centered around some sort of shared experience. When a group shares a particular experience and someone desires to be a part of that group then they must, somehow, acquire that "shared experience." In the military, the shared experience is at first "boot camp" and then maybe later actual battle to become a part of a sub-group within the first group. The "rite of passage" into the military proper is then the ceremony of marching in parade at the end of boot camp with banners and honors flying.

I was in the Navy for five years and remember the very noticeable title change marked by that simple marching ceremony. We were not called "sailor" at any time during boot camp, only "recruit," and were not allowed to wear our dress uniform at all. The first time we got into our dress uniform was for that parade march and after that, all our drill instructors called us "sailor." The psychological set-up for that simple change to feel so DRAMATIC was intense and included months of hardship, but it was amazing the sense of pride of belonging to that new group called "sailors." This is a rite of passage and it is marked by ceremony, which is a recognition of the individual's admission to the group.

Now, we have many such groups actively functioning in our culture and many of us belong to these groups. So what's missing? The very clear and distinct ritual of recognition of admission. Also, we dilute the power of belonging to a group by making it easy to belong. This is the result, I believe, of the PC culture in which we don't wish to tell anyone that they didn't meet the standards of the group. We forget that anything easily gotten is not valued as much as the difficult. To belong to a group that shares an experience that was difficult to get through, is one of the strongest bonds and why the branches of the military have some of the longest lasting bonds of camaraderie.

We are social animals and function best when we know "our place" in that society, but today we have very few clear markers that tell us what that place is. We need those clear markers, which are rites and ceremonies of initiation and admission.

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