Our life course, the period between birth and death, is defined by a number of different transitions known as rites of passage. Biologically one's life course is defined by five stages (infancy, childhood, juvenile, adolescence and adulthood), and every society celebrates some or all of these stages through different through different rituals. .
Different societies throughout the world celebrate rites of passage. As one transitions from one stage in life to another, often times sacred rituals are held for that person. Although some societies may not turn this transition into a grand event, some embrace it with meaningful and sacred rituals. Take for example the indigenous peoples of New Guenea. They believe that although a girl transitions into womanhood unassisted, boys require extensive training and help to become men. Young boys as young as 10 or 12 years of age are taken away from their mothers and fathers and are brought to the secret "Men's Home." Here, they will go through a sequence of sacred rituals to help them transition into strong, healthy warriors. The first things boys are told here are to keep everything they see and do secret because these rituals are very sacred. Also, it is forbidden for these boys to return home to their mothers or other women, from here on out they are confined to this area until they reach manhood. Some rituals these boys go through include sucking the semen from older boys and other men. They believe that boys are not capable of producing their own semen so in order to begin this process, boys must drink the semen of older males. This will also ensure a healthy growth pattern for the boys so that that may become strong warriors. Boys also pass through a narrow hall-like passage while other men beat them with certain plants. This signifies many things. First, this narrow passage represents the mother's birth canal and it symbolizes a sort of rebirth.
