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1、Ritesofpassage Islifejust"onedamnedthingafteranother",astheAmericanauthorElbertHubbardwroteahundredyearsago,takingaratherfatalisticviewpoint?Orisitanobstaclerace,inwhichthecontestants—humanbeingseverywhere—havetoshowtheirworthatcertaincrucialstagesoftheirlives?2 ThesadclownJacq
2、uesinShakespeare'splayAsYouLikeItsuggeststhatthereare"sevenages"toaperson'sexistence,andthephenomenonofritesofpassageinalmosteverysocietyconfirmsthatweprefertothinkoflifeintermsofthesestages,suchaschildhood,middleageandoldage.3 Ariteofpassageisaformalrecognitionofchange,imposed
3、bysociety,ofamovefromonestagetoanother,themostuniversallyrecognizedonebeingthetransitionbetweenchildhoodandadulthood.Thiscantakeverydifferentforms.Forexample,inJewishtraditiononeofthemostimportantmomentsinaperson'slife,markedbyareligiousceremonyandafamilyfeast,istheBarMitzvah,whenc
4、hildrenbecomeresponsiblefortheiractions—attheageof13.Thisisroughlythesameagethatchildrencanbeheldlegallyresponsibleinmanycountries.4 AverydifferentriteofpassageisthetraditionofthepromattheendofAmericanhighschool.Thisisadancewithadifference.Studentshavetowearformalclothes—manyfo
5、rthefirsttimeintheirlives—anditisusualtohireanexpensivelimousinetoarriveattheprom.Itisasif,foronenight,theybehavelikeadultstwicetheirage—oratleastlookolderthantheyreallyare.5 PerhapsoneofthemostinterestingritesofpassageisthewalkaboutofAustralianaborigines,whenadolescentswouldbe
6、requiredtospendaboutsixmonthswalkingalonethroughthewilderness,followingthepathsoftheirancestorsalongtheage-old"songlines"whichmappedoutthecountry.Insodoingtheypenetratedtheheartofaboriginalculture—theoldestcontinuouscultureintheworld—and,intheprocess,discoveredthemselvestoo.通过仪式
7、 生活是否如同对生活持宿命论看法的美国作家阿尔伯特 • 哈伯德在一百年前所描述的那样，是“该死的事情一桩接着一桩”？抑或是一场障碍赛跑，其间每个参赛者，即世界各地的人们，不得不在生命的各个重要阶段展现自己的价值？ 莎士比亚的戏剧《皆大欢喜》中那个悲伤的小丑雅克认为，人的一生要经历“七个年龄段”，几乎每个社会都有的通过仪式也证明，我们往往是把生命分为这几个阶段来看待的，比如童年、中年和老年。 通过仪式是社会对个人从一个阶段走向另一阶段的正式的认可，其中被广泛认同的是由少年步入成年时举行的成年礼。成年礼有多种形式。例如，在犹太传统中
8、，人生最重要的时刻之一就是“犹太男孩成人仪式”，人们
