Emerging From the Chrysalis: Rituals of Women's Initiation

Emerging From the Chrysalis: Rituals of Women's Initiation by Lincoln, Bruce. paperback edition. ISBN: 8580000615043.

Now reissued in an expanded edition, this unique book offers the first full-length treatment of womens initiation rites in five cultures. Asserting the critical importance of such rites in a world dominated by men, Lincoln shows that in these societies womens initiation involves not only a transformation of the self but also of the cosmos. Considering initiation rites among the Tiyyar of South India, the Navajo, the Tiv of West Africa, and the Tukuna of the Northwest Amazon, Lincoln argues that unlike mens rites, womens rites do not impart a change in hierarchical status, but rather a "cosmic" change which offers religious compensation for womens generally low socio-political status. Lincoln concludes with a brilliant reconstruction of ancient Greek initiation rites based on his original interpretation of the Demeter and Persephone myth. With a new chapter and bibliography, Emerging from the Chrysalis will be stimulating reading for those interested in ritual and its cultural impact.