Among early Africans the deciding factor in giving a boy the status of manhood was called a Rite of Passage (Rites of Transition, Life Crisis ceremonies). It served as a physical, social, and religious marker of the leaving behind of childhood to enter adulthoodâ€"i.e. from being a passive to an active member in the community.
To memorialize it, starting perhaps 30,000 years ago, the initiates' body were marked. Some underwent painful operations to scar their skins as a symbol of their courage, physical prowess, and tribal identity. Other body markings were done to communicate virility, social and religious values, one's occupation, group membership, rank, status, social role, and prior achievements. The tattoo procedure was done by repeatedly cutting the skin in the same place so, upon healing, a raised scar would be left. The instrument was a "needle" made of bone or shell or with an awl (a sharp metal instrument).
Across Africa there was a remarkably similar pattern of rites, even in widely dispersed tribes. A description of these phases is as follows: Phase I is the Commencement of Participation, including circumcision among all members of an Age-Group and the choosing of a leader. Phase II is the Withdrawal (or Separation) of the boy from society and the routines associated with earlier life by living alone in the forest or in specifically prepared huts away from the villages. Phase III is the Transition where upon each boy learns the history and legends of his African ancestors. These are explained and remembered according to names.
In addition, they receive secret instructions in such things as the art of communal living. Decisive physical and symbolic steps are taken to extinquish the old childhood status and kill the old selfhood. Phase IV is Rebirthâ€"the formalized symbolic experience of the process of dying and living in the spirit world. It conveys the concept in dramatic fashion that the young men are now newâ€"possessing a new selfhood and perhaps acquiring completely new names.
By rejoining their families and being introduced into adult life, the young men are allowed to share in the full privileges of the community. To enter the state of responsibility means inheriting adult rights, obligations, and duties; stepping into the life of the living-dead and into the life of those yet to be born; and being prepared to shoulder the consequences of everything happening in matters of sexual life, marriage, procreation, and family.
The human drama of the rites of passage is seen in the Egyptian myth of Osirisâ€"the myth fundamental to the ancient world, including China, India, Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome. The Osirian cycle consist of divine birth embodiment, a tragic death, spiritualization in death, and a rebirth resurrection into the realm of light (divine intelligence) by way of love, loyalty, and commitment (Bynum, African Unconscious p. 169, 241) for the purpose of regeneration (Ashby, African Origins p. 566).
The major function of rites of passage is to give communal recognition to the entire complex of new or altered relations and not merely to the changes experienced by the individuals. Many other people must adjustâ€"parents, grandparents, siblings, and Age-Mates. In addition to puberty there are rites of passage for birth, marriage, parenthood, advancement to a higher class, occupational specialization, and death. References: Mbiti (African Religions p. 158); Kenyatta (Facing Mt. Kenya p. 129); Cultural Anthropology by Plog (p. 371); by Harris (272) and by Haviland (p. 369).
website: jablifeskills.com
Joseph A. Bailey, II, M.D.
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