The Cycles of Life

Ulysses journeys through rites, celebrations, and ceremonies. In every society, ancient or modern, Western or far removed from us, people have developed rituals, sacred or profane, that mark and regulate the most significant moments of life, from birth to entry into the adult world, from marriage to funeral ceremonies. Anthropologists call them Rites of Passage. In all of our lives, there are indeed moments when everything changes, when in the eyes of all of us we acquire a new role. We come of age, we get married, we get promoted at work, we become parents, we become grandparents. These are moments of transition in which society and everyone around us sees us differently and treats us differently. How does one come of age, for example, in African ethnic groups, and through what rites? Many rites of initiation into adulthood require tests of courage, self-control, and endurance of pain.