initiation rituals
Membership crossing rites
Initiation rituals are ceremonies marking entry into a group, status, or phase of life.
They range from formal religious rites like baptism and bar mitzvahs to fraternity hazing and gang initiations.
The ritual typically involves symbolic acts—tests of endurance, oaths, physical marking—that separate initiates from outsiders: The initiation rituals were kept secret from non-members.
- rite of passageTransition-marking ceremony
- bar mitzvahJewish adulthood ceremony
- baptismRitual water purification ceremony
- coming-of-ageYouth becoming adulthood
- ordinationClergy appointment ceremony
coming of age ceremony · sworn in · vision quests · sweat lodge · naming ceremonies · confirmation · anointing · tribal ceremonies · ordeal · crossing the line · coronations · ancestral rites · circumcision · blood oath · sacred vows · scarification · sisterhood · neophyte
- Central African culturesKongo, Congo Basin, Gabon, rainforest tribes, ancestor veneration
- Melanesian beliefsancestor spirits, ancestral spirits, mana, sorcery, taboo
- Tantratantra, shakti, mandala, kundalini, chakra
- FreemasonryMason, Masons, Freemasons, Freemasonry, lodge
initiation ritualsgraduation ceremonies
Formal diploma-awarding events
defrocking · dishonorable discharge · funeral rites · disbandment
initiation ritualsopen-door policy
Unrestricted access principle
unconditional acceptance · universal access · open enrollment · public access · free admission
initiation ritualsblackballing
Group exclusion practice
ostracism · shunning · excommunication · disfellowshipping · social exile