Join the Celebrations!
Artwork by April Whitlow, 18
Missouri
Many cultures around the world have unique initiation or coming-of-age ceremonies for girls becoming women. Often these rites include ritual words and symbolic hair styles, special food and clothing, community participation, and individual preparation. Some are centuries old, and others are newly created for each girl. Many also include joyful celebrations: dinners, dancing, music, or revelry. Here are some of the many rites of passage:
- Jewish Bat Mitzvah: Bat mitzvah literally means "daughter of the commandment" so, technically, the girl is becoming a bat mitzvah, but it is commonly said that a girl has her bat mitzvah. This rite of passage happens on the first Shabbat* after a girl's 12th birthday. During the Shabbat, she demonstrates the skills she has studied by reading from the Torah* or reciting the haftarah*. After the ceremony, the family and friends often hold a dinner and give thanks and speeches. The girl often gives a speech that begins with, "Today I am an adult" and recognizes responsibility for her future actions.
- Moslem Veiling: When she reaches puberty, a Moslem girl might begin wearing hijab or "traditional Islamic clothing." Depending on her family, nation, and beliefs, she might put on a head scarf (khimar), long scarf (dupatta), face scarf (niqab), or a robe that covers the entire body (burqa). She must also begin the adult Islamic tradition of praying five times a day.
- Navajo Kinaalda: This four-day rite of passage molds a girl into a woman once she gets her first period. The girl gets dressed and has her hair tied and then is massaged by her sponsor who presses the characteristics of Changing Woman, the first woman, into her body. The girl learns important skills such as killing a lamb, grinding corn, and making Alkaan (a ritual corn cake) as well as attitudes like serving others and enduring hardship. Each morning, she runs in one of the four directions, screaming to wake up her people and crying, "My child is heard!"
- Latina Quinceañera: This celebration involves two main rituals: the exchange of the shoe and of the tiara. The girl's father replaces her ballerina slippers with high heels to represent her lift into womanhood. The girl's mother replaces the flower crown with a tiara to represent the girl's becoming a queen in charge of her own life. The family celebrates a special church service to emphasize spiritual growth, and then holds a party where the girl is presented to the community. She dances with her father, then with a partner accompanied by her court of other young people.
- African-American Rite of Passage: These ceremonies are often designed for individual girls or groups of girls. Before their celebration, which might include candles, prayers, and/or pledges to God and community, the girls often take time to studying traditions from African culture as well as African-American communities. These studies often emphasize teamwork, leadership, responsibility, morals, freedom, and the lore of their ancestral African lands.
- Pagan Rite of Passage: In this initiation ceremony, the community welcomes the youth into their group. Two representatives of the community pose a riddle for the girl to answer. After she answers the riddle, she describes and perhaps displays or demonstrates the skills that she brings to the community and they confer upon her a new name of her choice. Finally, they offer her gifts as a symbol of adulthood.
- Japanese Seijn-Shiki: In this coming-of-age celebration, all of the people who have turned 20 during the year gather at a government building to celebrate Coming of Age Day. The young women wear the most formal type of kimono-the furisode-a kimono with long swinging sleeves. They listen to speeches by government officials who conclude by giving each young person gifts of money.
*Shabbat: a Hebrew term meaning "period of rest," observed weekly from sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday.
*Torah: a Hebrew term meaning "teaching" or "law" which refers to the most important document in Judaism. This document includes the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud (a written collection of Jewish laws and teachings).
*Haftarah: a selection from the books of Nevi'im ("The Prophets") which is read publicly in the synagogue after the reading of the Torah on each Shabbat, and on special Jewish festivals and fast days.
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Have you gone through a coming-of-age ritual? How did it make you feel?
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For More Info:
Quinceañera: The Essential Guide to Planning the Perfect Sweet Fifteen Celebration, by Michele Salcedo
Make Your Own Bar/Bat Mitzvah: A Personal Approach to Creating a Meaningful Rite of Passage, by Rabbi Goldie Milgram
Rituals for Life: Create Your Own Sacred Ceremonies, by Brenda Knight
Quinceañera, by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
Kinaalda, Navajo Rite of Passage, Women Make Movies, 2000
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