This page groups rituals by whether they are open to observe or restricted to initiates. Wikipedia describes Masonic ritual as being "progressively taught to entrusted members during initiation into a particular Masonic rite comprising a series of degrees conferred by a Masonic body." Browsing this way separates rituals anyone may witness from ones reserved for members who have already been initiated.
Facts
Origins
Whose Classification This IsInitiation is treated as a species of rite of passage on van Gennep's 1909 three-stage scheme - separation, liminality, incorporation - as elaborated by Victor Turner in 1969. The scheme is a comparative frame devised by its authors, not an account any tradition gives of its own rite. 2 Overview
What Defines This GroupingRites that admit a person to a status, community or degree of knowledge not previously held. The atlas records that such rites exist, who confers them and what they are held to accomplish. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2 Learn More
The Initiatory Rituals
This group holds initiatory rituals, the ceremonies by which a person is admitted into a religion, order or degree, or consecrated to a sacred role. Initiation typically enacts a symbolic death and rebirth, marking the passage into a new spiritual state.
The browser will find initiatory rituals from various traditions. The entries describe each rite's form and meaning, noting the tradition and the admission or elevation it enacts.
Closed Practice Status
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions
Catherine Bell, Oxford University Press, 1997Basic Genres of Ritual ActionView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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