Rites of Passage is a timeless African tradition. It uses rituals and ceremony to guide a person’s holistic development through life’s transitions and helps him or her build healthy and just communities.
Rites of Passage is culture specific, not universal. It is based on the multi-cultural premise that a group must recognize and affirm itself before it is able to share and appreciate the differences of others. Rites of Passage also recognizes that entry into adult life involves the realization of social obligations and the assumption of responsibility for meeting those obligations. Initiation brings individuals into formal and explicit relations with their fellows. It also reaffirms basic social ties. Rites of Passage provides self-development and cultural awareness, as well as a sense of belonging; adolescents and adults will become part of community life – not persons alone, lacking support, sanction, and purpose.
Important criteria for Rites of Passage:
- Culture and identity development is central
- Importance of place (place-based)
- Use of ritual and ceremony
- Intergenerational and coed
- Connection to the natural world (nature -based)
- Value-driven (African value principles, including Nguzo Saba)