Which scholar coined the phrase "rites of passage" and identified its three stages in 1909?
Choose an answer, then check it.
Religious Studies · Foundations
Ritual
On this page 9 sections
In 30 seconds
Ritual A patterned, repeatable sequence of formal acts that carries symbolic meaning for a community and is learned and shared rather than invented by an individual. Full entry → is patterned, repeatable religious action: formal, structured acts that carry symbolic meaning for a community. Scholars study rites of passage, which mark life transitions in three stages first described by Arnold van Gennep; calendrical rites, which recur with the year; rites of intensification, which renew group bonds; and Pilgrimage A journey undertaken for a religious motive toward a place that is regarded as sacred, often by association with a divinity or holy person. Full entry →, a ritual journey to a sacred place. Rituals build community, mark time, express and shape belief, and help communities manage life's changes, and the same forms appear in secular ceremonies.
Why this matters
Ritual is one of the most observable features of religious life and a natural entry point for comparative study: festivals, worship, life-cycle ceremonies, and journeys are all public, patterned action that researchers can describe without judging which beliefs are true. Learning the standard categories, rites of passage, calendrical rites, rites of intensification, and pilgrimage, gives students a precise vocabulary for noticing what a practice does, who it involves, and when it happens. It also exposes the boundary between religious and secular ceremony, a distinction that matters in civic life. Later lessons on individual traditions will build on this groundwork.
The college version
What counts as a ritual
Ritual is one of the most visible things a student of religion can observe, because it is action: people doing something, together, in a patterned way. Anthropologists and sociologists describe rituals, also called rites, as performative acts by which practitioners carry out their beliefs. Rituals follow a formal order or sequence, sometimes called a Liturgical order The formal sequence of acts and words that structures a ritual performance. Full entry →; they are performed in a setting set apart as sacred during the time of the performance; and they are inherently social. A ritual is learned and shared rather than invented by an individual. Even a person praying alone is usually performing a learned pattern that connects them to a wider community. Scholars also stress that rituals carry symbolic meaning. The acts matter not only for what they accomplish practically but for what they communicate: a candle, a bow, a shared meal, or a set of words can stand for relationships, values, and commitments that the community holds. Because rituals are public and patterned, they can be described and compared across traditions. That is why they are a useful starting point for comparative study: a researcher can document what people do and when, and can ask participants what the actions mean, without having to adjudicate the truth of any belief.
Kinds of ritual
Scholars sort rituals into broad categories. Rites of passage mark a change in social status for a person or group and are commonly associated with birth, coming of age, marriage, and death. The French anthropologist and folklorist Arnold van Gennep coined the phrase rites of passage in 1909 and argued that they unfold in three stages. In Separation The first stage of a rite of passage, in which participants are symbolically detached from their previous status. Full entry →, participants are symbolically detached from their previous status. In transition, or Liminality The middle stage of a rite of passage, an ambiguous in-between state; the term comes from the Latin limen, meaning threshold. Full entry →, they occupy an ambiguous in-between position; the term comes from the Latin limen, meaning threshold. Victor Turner, who studied liminality in detail, described the liminal person as betwixt and between statuses, and noted that a cohort passing through together shares a bond he called communitas. In Incorporation The final stage of a rite of passage, in which participants are formally welcomed into their new status and assume its rights and responsibilities. Full entry →, participants are publicly welcomed into their new status and take on its rights and responsibilities. These stages are analytical tools, not a checklist every ceremony follows identically. A second family of rites recurs with the calendar. Calendrical rites, sometimes discussed under the broader heading of rites of intensification, affirm and strengthen the bonds of a community on a stable, repeating schedule: daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly festivals tied to the cycle of the seasons. Rites of intensification are marked by repetitive structure that participants can follow easily, and scholars see them as building and renewing group solidarity. Pilgrimage is often treated as its own kind of ritual: a journey undertaken for a religious motive toward a place regarded as sacred. Scholars note structural similarities across traditions: pilgrims separate themselves from ordinary life, travel at fixed sacred times, and often perform ritual movements once they arrive. Other categories exist as well, including rites of affliction, concerned with healing, and rites of rebellion, which temporarily invert social norms.
What ritual does, and where it turns secular
Why do communities invest so much in patterned action? Scholars offer several framings, and they are not mutually exclusive. Rituals build and express community: Emile Durkheim treated shared practice as a source of social solidarity, and sociologists still describe religious rituals as reinforcing cohesion and identity. Rituals mark time: calendrical rites give the year a shared shape, and recurring festivals connect a community's present to its remembered past. Rituals express and shape belief: they carry out a community's understanding of the sacred, and the symbolism involved is learned, which means participation also teaches. And rituals manage transitions: van Gennep saw rites of passage as easing individuals through changes of status without social disruption. These are scholarly descriptions of what rituals do, not judgments about whether any belief is true. Two boundaries sharpen the concept. First, ritual is not the same as routine. A habit is idiosyncratic, instrumental, and unmarked; a ritual is learned, shared, set apart, and freighted with symbolic meaning, even when it is performed alone. Second, ritual is not confined to religion. There are secular rites of passage, such as graduation ceremonies. And scholars describe Civil religion A scholarly term, associated with Robert Bellah, for the way civic ceremonies use religious language, ritual, and sacred symbols to elevate the nation or community. Full entry →: Robert Bellah argued in 1967 that civic life borrows religious forms, so that ceremonies such as presidential inaugurations, flag-raising, and national funerals elevate the nation itself as a sacred object. Noting these boundaries helps students recognize ritual-like structure wherever it appears, religious or not, while keeping the analytical term precise.
Eli explains
The same idea, in plain words
Explain it like I’m 10
Think of a ritual as a community's shared script for meaningful action. The script tells people what to do, when to do it, and with whom: light the candles, say the words, share the meal, walk the path. Scholars study these scripts because they are public and repeatable. Some scripts mark big life changes, like birth, coming of age, marriage, or death; these are rites of passage, and they usually move people through three stages: leaving an old role, hovering in an in-between state, and being welcomed into a new one. Other scripts run on the calendar, returning each year with the seasons and pulling a community back together. Still others are journeys: a pilgrimage sends people to a special place. The actions themselves may look ordinary, such as eating, walking, or speaking, but the meaning is anything but.
Picture it like this
Think of ritual like a family's holiday meal. There is a recipe, a set of dishes everyone expects, a place at the table for each person, and words someone always says. No one cooks it exactly the same way twice, and yet everyone knows the shape of the meal, and the meal makes them a family again.
Where the picture stops working
The analogy breaks down because a holiday meal is mostly about the family itself, while ritual often points beyond the group, toward what a community regards as sacred. Rituals can also carry obligations and consequences that a friendly meal never does, and their meanings are not always warm or simple.
Worked example
Consider a graduation ceremony, a rite of passage that scholars describe as secular. In separation, graduates leave their previous role: they put on gowns and mortarboards and process in, symbolically detached from ordinary student life. In liminality, the ceremony itself, they are suspended between statuses, no longer students and not yet graduates, while speeches and instructions guide them. In incorporation, the conferral of diplomas publicly welcomes them into a new status, and the recessional, photographs, and celebration mark their return to the community in a new role. The same three-stage structure appears in religious examples, such as coming-of-age ceremonies: a phase of separation, an in-between period, then a formal welcome. The stages are an analytical tool, not a rule every ceremony follows.
Key takeaway
Rituals are formal, repeatable actions that carry symbolic meaning for a community: they mark life transitions, structure the year, renew group bonds, and can even appear in civic life. Scholars describe all of this without judging any belief.
Quick check
3 questions here, of 5 in this lesson’s practice set. Answers stay hidden until you check.
Which description best matches the working definition of ritual used in the study of religion?
Choose an answer, then check it.
Each year at the same date, a community gathers to mark the harvest with a shared meal, songs, and set gestures. Scholars would most likely classify this as which kind of rite?
Choose an answer, then check it.
Study tools & related lessonsYou’ll learn to · Common mistakes · Easily confused · Key vocabulary · Related
You’ll learn to
- Define ritual as patterned, repeatable action that carries symbolic meaning for a community.
- Distinguish rites of passage, calendrical rites, rites of intensification, and pilgrimage.
- Explain van Gennep's three stages of rites of passage and Turner's account of liminality.
- Apply the ritual categories to new examples, including secular ceremonies.
- Analyze scholarly framings of what ritual does for communities and individuals.
Common mistakes
Calling every ritual a rite of passage.
Rites of passage are one category among several. Recurring celebrations tied to the calendar are calendrical rites or rites of intensification, healing rites are rites of affliction, and rites that invert norms are rites of rebellion.
Assuming ritual means repeating identical actions every time.
Rituals follow a shared form, but scholars note they are never exactly duplicated; each enactment is subtly shaped by its participants.
Equating ritual with routine or habit.
A habit is individual, practical, and unmarked, while a ritual is learned, shared, set apart, and symbolic, and it connects the performer to a community even when performed alone.
Assuming all rituals are religious.
There are secular rites of passage, such as graduation, and scholars describe civil religion, civic ceremonies that use sacred language and forms to honor the nation.
Easily confused
Ritual vs. Routine
A ritual is learned, shared, set apart, and symbolic; a routine is habitual, everyday behavior without formal or shared meaning.
Rite of passage vs. Rite of intensification
A rite of passage marks a change in status, such as birth, coming of age, marriage, or death; a rite of intensification renews and strengthens group bonds on a recurring schedule.
Religious ritual vs. Secular ritual
Religious ritual is tied to a community's sacred framing; secular ritual, such as graduation or civic ceremony, uses similar formal structure without that framing, though scholars note the line can blur.
Pilgrimage vs. Ordinary travel
Pilgrimage is a journey to a place sanctified by religious association, with ritual features such as separation and fixed timing; ordinary travel is practical movement without that meaning.
Key vocabulary
- Ritual
- A patterned, repeatable sequence of formal acts that carries symbolic meaning for a community and is learned and shared rather than invented by an individual.
- Rite of passage
- A ceremony that marks a person's or group's change in social status, commonly associated with birth, coming of age, marriage, and death.
- Separation
- The first stage of a rite of passage, in which participants are symbolically detached from their previous status.
- Liminality
- The middle stage of a rite of passage, an ambiguous in-between state; the term comes from the Latin limen, meaning threshold.
- Incorporation
- The final stage of a rite of passage, in which participants are formally welcomed into their new status and assume its rights and responsibilities.
- Rite of intensification
- A recurring rite that affirms, strengthens, and maintains a community's bonds of solidarity through stable, repetitive structure.
- Calendrical rite
- A rite tied to a fixed point in the yearly cycle, such as a seasonal festival; scholars treat calendrical rites as a form of rites of intensification.
- Pilgrimage
- A journey undertaken for a religious motive toward a place that is regarded as sacred, often by association with a divinity or holy person.
- Liturgical order
- The formal sequence of acts and words that structures a ritual performance.
- Civil religion
- A scholarly term, associated with Robert Bellah, for the way civic ceremonies use religious language, ritual, and sacred symbols to elevate the nation or community.
Sources & references
- 15.1 The Sociological Approach to Religion — Introduction to Sociology 3e — OpenStax, Rice University
- 13.4 Rituals of Transition and Conformity — Introduction to Anthropology — OpenStax, Rice University
- 13.5 Other Forms of Religious Practice — Introduction to Anthropology — OpenStax, Rice University
- Rite of Passage — Encyclopaedia Britannica (Edward Norbeck; Bobby C. Alexander)
- Pilgrimage — Encyclopaedia Britannica (Simon Michael Coleman)
EliExplains lessons are original prose written from the open, credible references above. See Copyright & Licensing.
Researched 2026-08-21
Educational content only. It is not medical, legal or professional advice. Found an error? Tell us.