It thus appears that in certain minds initiation is regarded as a necessary preliminary to the exercise of the powers and privileges of maturity8 in the sexual or in any other sphere of life. At the same time, however, the phantasy of initiation is often made the means of surreptitiously bringing about a satisfaction of the old, prohibited, and largely superseded9 desires of infancy10. Thus there are frequently clear indications that it is not only initiation into sex life in general that is required, but initiation Initiation and Incest into the incestuous form of this life which was characteristic of the first object-love of the child. Indeed the very persistence11 of these infantile desires constitutes one of the principal motives13 of the initiation phantasy; it is just the fact that all the sexual trends[80] are to an appreciable14 extent still tinged15 with the atmosphere of the repressed incestuous tendencies, which makes the removal of the inhibitions and prohibitions16 attaching to these tendencies to be felt as necessary, before sex life of any kind can be enjoyed with freedom. Thus a boy may dream of "initiation" at the hands of his father, because this signifies to him a removal of the prohibition imposed by his father on all sexual activity on the part of the boy—a prohibition imposed (as is readily recognised by the Unconscious) in virtue17 of the boy's original direction of his love towards the mother: without such sign of approval and change of attitude on the father's part[70], the boy may feel that the original prohibition is still too powerful to be overcome and that his sexual life will remain for[81] ever under the ban of the strong inhibitions aroused by a sense of parental18 disapproval[71].
Similar considerations apply to the non-sexual aspects of life, in which at maturity the youth takes his place as an equal of the father, to whom he has hitherto looked up as a superior.
The important and far-reaching changes in general conduct Initiation ceremonies and, more particularly, in the attitude to be adopted toward the elder members of an individual's own family, on the attainment19 of full growth—involving as they do the overcoming of many habits and inhibitions formed during the long period of human infancy and childhood—are not of a kind to be accomplished21 without difficulty and conflict. With a view to diminishing this difficulty and to overcoming the conflict of motives which the accomplishment22 of these changes necessarily involves, there exists a well nigh universal tendency to endow the transition from childhood to maturity with something of a solemn or religious character, calculated at one and the same time to reinforce the motives proper to maturity and to impress the now full grown members of the community with the privileges and responsibilities of their new condition. This tendency has found definite and elaborate expression in the rites23 and ceremonies of initiation which are to be found in societies of every stage of culture and in every part of the world. These ceremonies are of very considerable interest and importance for our present purpose, for here, as so often elsewhere, the results obtained from the study of racial and social customs on the one hand and from the investigation of the unconscious mental tendencies of the individual on the other, serve very largely to amplify24 and corroborate25 one another, leading ultimately to a degree of certainty and precision which it would be difficult or impossible to attain20 by the pursuit of either discipline alone.
Since the change from childhood to maturity involves readjustments Initiation and re-birth of such a fundamental kind as to constitute to some extent an entrance into a new phase of life, it is not surprising that the initiation ceremony has often in one or more[82] of its aspects taken the form of a symbolic26 process of re-birth; the re-birth phantasy, as we have seen, being closely associated with the idea of moral or spiritual conversion27 or regeneration. The process of re-birth in these ceremonies may indeed on occasion be represented by something actually approaching an imitation of the act of birth, as in the case of the Kikuyu of British East Africa, who "have a curious custom which requires that every boy just before circumcision must be born again. The mother stands up with the boy crouching28 at her feet, she pretends to go through all the labour pains and the boy on being reborn cries like a babe and is washed. He lives on milk for some days afterwards[72]." Elsewhere the novice29 is swallowed by a monster and again disgorged, thus simulating the return to the womb and the re-birth therefrom[73]. In still other cases a drama of death and resurrection is enacted30 by the novices31 or played before them[74]. Frequently an essential part of the process of initiation consists of a more or less prolonged period of seclusion32 about the time of puberty[75]; girls especially being often confined in small huts for weeks, months or in some cases years, at or before the time of their first menstruation[76].
These initiatory33 rites would seem, like the womb and birth General and sexual objects in initiation phantasies which we have already studied, to have in the main two principal objects in view; first, an introduction of the initiated34 into the rights and responsibilities belonging to an adult member of the community; secondly35, an introduction into sexual life.
As a means to the former end, the novice usually receives instruction in the laws, customs, religious beliefs and ceremonial practices of his tribe, or undergoes certain (often very severe) trials of capacity and endurance with a view to ascertaining36 his fitness to enter into the privileges of maturity.
On the sexual side the novice receives permission to marry and generally to indulge his sexual tendencies (the process of initiation being often succeeded by a period of unusual licence), but at the same time is instructed in the numerous prohibitions[83] and taboos37 as regards persons, circumstances and occasions which are usually placed upon such indulgence.
Many of the details of these initiation ceremonies have, The abandonment of infantile tendencies on the part of the initiated directly or indirectly38, reference to the emotional attitude of the children towards their parents with which we have been concerned in the earlier chapters of this book[77]. A general effort to repress the mental attitude which the novice has at an earlier period adopted towards his parents is to be observed in the—real or feigned—amnesia[78] which so often occurs after the initiation, the newly initiated sometimes failing to recognise even their nearest relatives and being thus compelled to start life with them on a new footing. The same tendency to break loose from the old attitude is manifested in the actual separation from the parents which seems always to take place at the period of seclusion or at or before the ceremony of re-birth, the affectionate farewell which is taken before such separation (especially of the son from the mother) and in many of the symbolic prohibitions of the period of seclusion, such as that in virtue of which girls must, during their seclusion, neither touch the earth (a universal mother symbol), nor be exposed to the sun (an almost equally universal father symbol)[79].
In the cruel rites which are so often inflicted39 on the novices The attitude of the initiators towards the initiated by the elder members of the community it is possible to see a manifestation4 of that fear and hatred40 which fathers often feel towards their sons and which mothers often feel towards their daughters—feelings which often correspond in nature and intensity41 to the equivalent emotions in the children themselves (Cp. below Ch. XIV); the pretended killing42 or death of the novice being frequently of the nature of a punishment on the talion principle for the thoughts of parricide43 or matricide which the children may themselves have entertained towards their parents. Before initiation youths are often not allowed to carry arms, probably because of the fear that they may be tempted44 to hurt or kill the father; sometimes, however, before[84] they can be admitted to the full privileges of maturity, they must have killed a man—in order, probably, to work off their hostile feelings on some third person who may serve as a substitute for the father who was the original object of these feelings.
The hostile attitude of the older members of the community towards the novices, which finds an outlet45 in the cruelties practised at initiation, does not however spring exclusively from sexual jealousy46 on the part of the elders, but also to some extent from the disinclination which they feel to admitting the youths—at any rate without some payment—into the numerous secrets and privileges from which they have hitherto excluded them, and from the general tendency to grudge47 the abandonment of that superiority over the youths which they themselves have hitherto enjoyed. The manifestation of these feelings in some form of cruelty is most often rationalised as a desire to prove that the novices are worthy48 of admission to the privileges and responsibilities of the initiated and to ensure, by adding to the impressiveness of the occasion, that they will remember what they have seen and heard during the initiation ceremonies[80]. Similar motives, leading to similar manifestations, may often be observed even in highly civilised communities, where the initiation is usually one destined49 to introduce the individual not into adult life in general but into some special class, institution or society, or into some corporate50 body consisting of persons who have enjoyed some special kind of experience or mode of life. Under this head, for instance, come many of the time honoured customs and ceremonies, to which boys on entering school or joining a "gang", students on going to college, or persons joining some professional society or guild51, are made to submit[81].
[85]
In other aspects of the ceremonies, however, the motive12 of sexual jealousy stands unmistakably displayed. Thus the rites of circumcision and subincision, the pulling out of hairs from the head, face or pubic region and the knocking out of teeth, which so frequently precede or accompany the process of initiation, are all symbols of castration; a penalty which it is desired to inflict—really or symbolically—from a number of distinct though closely connected motives, the most important being:—(1) as a means of rendering52 impossible the realisation of forbidden sexual cravings, (2) as a threat to show that the power of the elders still exists and that it will be exercised should the prescribed limits be overstepped, (3) as a punishment for past incestuous desires or acts (as is shown, for instance, in the superstition53 that if the wound caused by circumcision does not readily heal it is because the youth has already been guilty of incestuous connection[82]). The same object of preventing incest is sought in the stern "avoidances" which Prohibition and licence are often practised at the same time; as, for instance, that by which a youth must keep very carefully from all contact with his mother, even to the extent of avoiding her footprints.
But if all love in the old direction is forbidden, sexual activity in other directions is often encouraged as a substitute, as in such instructions as the following: "Thou, my pupil, art now circumcised. Thy father and thy mother, honour them. Go not unannounced into their house, lest thou find them together in tender embrace. But have no fear of maidens54; sleep and bathe together with them"[83]. Even so, however, there usually remain, as we might expect from the general nature of displacement55, some remnants of the old incestuous fixation; such as those, for instance, which manifest themselves in the belief that after the first sexual connection of a youth, either he himself or his partner in the act must shortly die (as a punishment,[86] we must suppose, for the sin committed)—a belief which leads young men to fall upon and have forcible intercourse56 with old women (mother substitutes)[84]. Here the youth is definitely permitted some degree of (symbolic) incestuous indulgence before he finally abandons his infantile desires. A still wider permission of the same kind is, however, granted in the fairly widespread practice of removing the usual sexual taboos on all or most of the prohibited persons during "the period of revelry which follows initiation, where the nearest relationships—even those of own brother and sister—seem to be no bar to the general licence," even though shortly afterwards these same "brothers and sisters may not so much as speak to one another".[85]
The monster from whose belly57 the novices are reborn Re-birth and Reconciliation58 would appear in many cases to represent the young men's grandfather, through him their dead ancestors and ultimately the ancestral founder59 of the tribe. This rather astonishing fact as regards the supposed sex of the monster is probably due in the first place to a psychic60 identification of the child with his grandfather—an identification of very frequent occurrence and considerable significance, the psychological foundations of which can however be more appropriately discussed in a later chapter. (Ch. XIV). The novice in being born from the body of the grandfather becomes in a sense a re-incarnation of the grandfather and is endowed with all his powers and attributes.
In a secondary and "rationalised" sense, this process of re-birth from the grandfather has been interpreted as the expression of a desire to re-create the youth as the son of his tribe rather than as the son of his mother, i. e. to symbolise and emphasise61 the fact that he has now exchanged the narrow sphere of family rule and affection for the wider one of obedience62 and loyalty63 to the community; at the same time representing a means of obtaining freedom from the old fixation of love upon the mother (since he is now born not from her but from the tribal64 ancestor), and through this of becoming reconciled to the father. This same motive of reconciliation based on the renunciation of incestuous desire and on the[87] establishment of common love and interest between those of the same sex, is exemplified also in the Age Classes, Men's Clubs and Secret Societies found in so many primitive65 peoples, to membership of which women are in the majority of cases rigorously excluded.
Thus it would appear that the ideas underlying66 the almost universal social custom of the initiation ceremony are those which we have already met with in the study of the development of the individual mind in relation to the family: showing thereby67 that these ideas are to be found not only in minds of a certain constitution or of a particular age, race, or type of culture, but represent a general human characteristic, having its foundations deeply rooted in the history of mankind; a part of our mental inheritance which has to be reckoned with in all efforts at social or individual improvement, a factor for good or evil which education, instruction or upbringing may perhaps modify but can scarcely hope to eradicate68.
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1
initiation
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| n.开始 | |
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2
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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prohibition
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| n.禁止；禁令，禁律 | |
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formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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penetrate
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| v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解 | |
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maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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persistence
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| n.坚持，持续，存留 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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tinged
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| v.（使）发丁丁声( ting的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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prohibitions
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| 禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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parental
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| adj.父母的；父的；母的 | |
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attainment
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| n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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accomplishment
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| n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能 | |
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rites
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| 仪式，典礼( rite的名词复数 ) | |
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amplify
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| vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说 | |
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corroborate
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| v.支持，证实，确定 | |
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symbolic
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| adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的 | |
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conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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novice
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| adj.新手的，生手的 | |
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enacted
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| 制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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novices
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| n.新手( novice的名词复数 )；初学修士（或修女）；（修会等的）初学生；尚未赢过大赛的赛马 | |
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seclusion
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| n.隐遁，隔离 | |
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initiatory
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| adj.开始的；创始的；入会的；入社的 | |
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initiated
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| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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secondly
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| adv.第二，其次 | |
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ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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taboos
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| 禁忌( taboo的名词复数 )； 忌讳； 戒律； 禁忌的事物（或行为） | |
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indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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41
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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parricide
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| n.杀父母；杀亲罪 | |
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tempted
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| v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词） | |
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45
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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47
grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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48
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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49
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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50
corporate
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| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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guild
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| n.行会，同业公会，协会 | |
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52
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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54
maidens
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| 处女( maiden的名词复数 )； 少女； 未婚女子； （板球运动）未得分的一轮投球 | |
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displacement
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| n.移置，取代，位移，排水量 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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belly
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| n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛 | |
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reconciliation
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| n.和解，和谐，一致 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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emphasise
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| vt.加强...的语气，强调，着重 | |
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obedience
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| n.服从，顺从 | |
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loyalty
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| n.忠诚，忠心 | |
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tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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primitive
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| adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物 | |
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underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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eradicate
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| v.根除，消灭，杜绝 | |
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