Initiation Rituals Summary

In his paper “The Ritual Experience: Pain and the Transformation of Consciousness in Ordeals of Initiation” Alan Morinis explores the use of pain in adolescent initiation rituals. Initiation rituals that adolescents so frequently take part in are rituals used to symbolize the transition from childhood into adulthood; however Morinis notes that all over the globe these rituals are intrinsically associated with pain (Morinis 1985). While these initiation rituals have been studied extensively over the course of human history, with anthropologists and psychologists such as Durkheim, van Gennep, and Freud all having taken a stab at attempting to interpret these rites of passage, Morinis argues that there is still a crucial piece of the puzzle missing

(Morinis 1985). He argues that the place of the direct sensory experience of pain, or rather “the ordeal” as he calls it, has been grossly overlooked throughout the extensive studies on this subject. “The pain experienced as part of the ordeal has generally been considered as a by-product of symbolic and social functional processes” (Morinis 1985). However Morinis argues that his preceding academics overlooked the real function of pain within the ritual; this being that the pain itself has a crucial role in achieving the principle goal of the initiation, or in other words “the human capacity to experience has been exploited in order to accomplish the sociocultural goals of the rites” (Morinis 1985).
To build the basis of his argument Morinis pokes holes in some of the significant theories which present the use of pain as playing a less central role in the initiation process. Van Gennep made the point that the purpose of pain was most likely to leave a permanent mark on the adolescent which then permanently incorporates them as adults, Morinis counters that not all painful ordeals involve permanent marking (Morinis 1985). Others suggest that the objective of pain within the ritual is to prevent conflict between the newly initiated adolescent and those with parental authority over them or perhaps that the pain experienced during the ritual is used to form a bond between the initiates, essentially severing the initiate’s familial ties in exchange for acceptance into the wider kin group. Nevertheless, as Morinis points out, there is no correlation; there is no need for pain to accomplish such social bonds (Morinis 1985). It would seem then that the experience of pain during rituals of transition from childhood to adulthood must have a greater function than a simply symbolic one (Morinis 1985). Within the discussion portion of the paper, Morinis states that “suffering itself is not a goal of the rites, but an incidental consequence of actions with other purposes” (Morinis 1985).
In examining how the experience of pain initiates the individual into society enables the understanding of why its incorporation in puberty rituals is so vital. Morinis sets two elements as being core features of the experience of pain, the first being the infliction of pain itself and the second is the manifestation of this pain in a social setting (Morinis 1985). Great importance is placed upon who it is who executes the ordeal, that is the experience of pain within the ritual; typically this role falls to an elder male member who is related to the initiate, whether it be an older brother, and uncle or someone else related by kinship (neighbours, close family friends, etc.) (Morinis 1985). Frequently multiple relatives will be involved in the entire process by providing food, gifts, guidance and support (Morinis 1985). Morinis contends that this aspect of a close relative inflicting the pain is essential to understanding the practice of adolescent initiation rituals. The author boils it down to a contradiction for the individuals being initiated: “the group that I choose membership in and which will be my sustenance throughout my adult life here and now threatens me with pain and disfigurement” (Morinis 1985). At the core of his argument is the proposition that the experience of intense pain induces a more adult self-awareness of the individual, a self-awareness that allows for the one to take on responsibility in the adult realm (Morinis 1985). He also untangles a question which arises that is if extreme experience can induce transition then why use pain as opposed to joy? This is answered by looking at the structure of society, complete integration into society demands that one is self-aware and at the same time “to subordinate their independent consciousness to the social group”; that is the newly acquired self-awareness alone threatens the stability of society. Pain is used to both bring about this self-awareness while simultaneously associating the self-awareness with an unpleasant experience; ensuring that the individual will not use this self-awareness to disrupt the structure of society.
Morinis’ use of the word “ordeal” in place of “the experience of pain” is not one that is unique.

The word ordeal has been used several times when talking about initiation rituals and it is fitting to do so. Ordeal implies an extremely serious and severe situation of test or trail, which in its simplest description fits that of initiation rituals perfectly. In fact several anthropologists have used the word ordeal to describe the events of initiation rituals, while most do not limit their use of the word to only the experience of pain but rather the ritual in its entirety. When describing the Gisu circumcision rituals Suzette Heald brings to the reader’s attention clarity of the ordeal like nature of initiation rituals. Within the Gisu community this rite of passage for adolescent males is described as being a test of the individual (Heald 1982). The process is drawn out over several months of preparation, the earliest stage involving the preparation of costumes and dancing; this stage of the ritual is associated with “searching for imbalu” or in other words the gradual awaking of intent in the individual, boys have the opportunity to drop out at this stage without the consequences of societal disgrace (Heald 1982). The costume is especially significant as its purpose is to make the boys appear ‘wild’ (Heald 1982), and thus plays an important role in the liminal stage of the ritual (Morinis 1985). The liminal period is essential when it comes to the infliction and

experience of pain. Liminality refers to the transitional portion of a rite of passage in which the initiate has no social role and is completely unattached to society; this is removal from society is furthered by the purpose of the costume to make the initiate appear more wild. A connection can be made here to the contradiction Morinis describes at the heart of his paper, “on one side stands society while on the other, in unresolved conflict, stands the fully autonomous individual” (Morinis 1985). This conflict is resolved by the introduction of pain.
The introduction of pain during the liminal state is what gives it its efficacy, using the example of torture allows for the exploration of why this is.

Elaine Scarry in her book The Body in Pain delves into this phenomenon; “that pain is so frequently used as a symbolic substitute for death in many tribes is surely attributable to an intuitive human recognition that pain is the equivalent in felt-experience of what is unfeelable in death” (Scarry 1987).Whether the conscious intent of the use of pain is to symbolize death can be contested, however the fact remains that pain, and therefore the recognition of death, is present within the initiation ritual. This gives new power to pain, Scarry reasons that physical pain has the ability to be all encompassing, meaning that it can obliterate all forms of psychological feeling, it has the power to “end all aspects of self and world” (Scarry 1987). Here is where the body and the individual intersect, the body is both the platform for which pain is inflicted and death is experienced as well as the place in which the individual is housed. The body is essentially the only thing that truly belongs to the individual, therefore the infliction of pain within the confines of the ritual demands that one sacrifice the self in order to be accepted within the desired societal group (Morinis 1985). The liminal state which the individual is forced into before the introduction of pain allows for the initiate to experience the new self-awareness

and sense of responsibility, the structure of the ritual is what differentiates this ordeal from that experienced by victims of torture. The confines of the ritual in conjunction with the experience of pain is also what allows the initiate to relinquish the unlimited freedom of an individual who is unconstrained by social responsibility for that of a more mature and socially acceptable human (Morinis 1985).
Within the structure of initiation rituals lies an aspect that is relatively overlooked by Morinis which is that of the interplay between the social context of the ordeal and the body, the ordeal in this case being the experience of pain. Initiation rituals are structured so that they contain a social element that is inherent to them, whether it is like that of the Gisu in which initiates undergo the painful operation of circumcision in front of the majority of their kin, or in a less public setting similar to that of the Chisungu rituals of the Bemba, all initiation rituals are inherently social.