Stages – Rites of Passage
Every rite of passage includes 3 stages.
Stage 1 – Separation
“I propose to call the rites of separation from a previous world, preliminal rites” – van Gennep
Stage 2 – Liminality (threshold)
In anthropology, liminality is the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete.
Stage 3 – Incorporation
Having completed the rite and assumed their “new” identity, one re-enters society with one’s new status. Incorporation is characterized by elaborate rituals and ceremonies (in some but not all cases) and probably moreso historically.