It is believed among these people that young girls form romantic attachments to water spirits. Before they are considered marriageable and allowed to receive mortal suitors, they must first free themselves from these attachments. This is accomplished by the coming together of the girls at the river on successive dawns to sing the songs they have learned. On the final day, the initiates return to the riverbank and the

Such periods often involve long stretches of intense play. The play harkens back to the games of very young childhood. The games take place in the educational environment, where one's prowess as a student will be tested so there is always an atmosphere of lurking tension in the air. Moreover, because one is interacting with one's fellow students, there is a sense that one's future social skills and mettle

RITES OF PASSAGE' The poem 'Rites of passage' says a lot about the way society conditions young girls and boys to behave in a manner befitting their gender. This is not exactly a poem celebrating a young boy's birthday party, but it actually focuses on the way society and environment conditions people in a gender specific manner. The poem appeared in Sharon Olds' collection titled The Dead and the Living published

Rites of Passages of puberty followed by Eskimo and Australian Aborigines. The indigenous cultures of the past have always held a great regard for the traditional and superstitious. Elaborate rituals are associated with each aspect of life and the people celebrate these rituals as a community. The community being patriarchal in most circumstances the dominance of the male hierarchy is clearly seen and that the rituals are associated then with

The second section of the Jonah story is that which is contained in the third chapter, where Jonah preaches to the people of Nineveh and they quickly turn back to God and away from their errant behaviors. The main subject of this section is God's compassion, which is willingly bestowed upon the deserving. Whereas the previous section contained immediately present and observable threats to the very lives of the people

Neither of the above rites of passages, though both are important and definitely bound by rules of magic, are especially ritualistic in a participatory sense. In this regard, the many layers of security that Harry and his friends must get through in order to arrive at the Sorcerer's Stone is the most clear example in the book. Each trial on the way to the room that contains the Stone tests