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  • A Jewish girl performs her bat mitzvah, her coming of age ceremony, at Temple Avoda, a Reform synagogue, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA. The girl carries the holy Torah scrolls through the synagogue  after reading extracts to the congregation. Jewish tradition dictates that a girl comes of age at twelve, though in Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations they usually become bat mitzvahs at thirteen, the same age as boys.
    5479.jpg
  • The mask and castanets of El Colacho, the devil incarnate, and the drum, tophat and drumstick of the drummer, both important figures at the celebration of the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    5023.jpg
  • A girl has her hair fixed in traditional style for her shichi-go-san in Tokyo, Japan. During shichi-go-san, literally seven-five-three, parents dress their daughters aged three and seven and sons aged five in traditional costume and take them to a Shinto shrine to be blessed.
    5154.jpg
  • The masked El Colacho, the devil incarnate, chases the troublesome village youngsters, trying to hit them with his whip, during the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    5001f.jpg
  • Respectful bows from the family and the priest end a shichi-go-san ritual inside the Aoto Jinja shrine in Tokyo, Japan. During shichi-go-san, literally seven-five-three, parents dress their daughters aged three and seven and sons aged five in traditional costume and take them to a Shinto shrine to be blessed.
    5160.jpg
  • Jewish boys wearing kippah, or scullcap, during a girl's bat mitzvah, her coming-of-age ritual, at Temple Avoda, a Reform synagogue, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA.
    5487.jpg
  • A shichi-go-san ceremony ends with a miko, a Shinto shrine maiden, producing the music of the gods to impart health and good fortune, in Tokyo, Japan. During shichi-go-san, literally seven-five-three, parents dress their daughters aged three and seven and sons aged five in traditional costume and take them to a Shinto shrine to be blessed.
    5167.jpg
  • On the Monday before his bar mitzvah recital, a Jewish boy in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA, takes part in morning prayers at his Conservative Jewish synagogue. He also reads from the Torah, and afterwards the cantor (to his left) leads the congregation in singing a hymn. In Judaism, a boy comes of age at thirteen, when he becomes a bar mitzvah and assumes responsibility for his own actions.
    5483.jpg
  • On the Monday before his bar mitzvah recital, a Jewish boy in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA, takes part in morning prayers at his Conservative Jewish synagogue. He will also read from the Torah, and before he begins he carries the scrolls round the synagogue. In Judaism, a boy comes of age at thirteen, when he becomes a bar mitzvah and assumes responsibility for his own actions.
    5482.jpg
  • After the devil incarnate, El Colacho, on the last day of the Fiesta del Colacho, has jumped over the babies born during the year, the priest holds up the monstrance containing the host while young girls scatter petals over the infants, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    5020.jpg
  • The masked El Colacho, the devil incarnate, chases the troublesome village youngsters, trying to hit them with his whip, during the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    4999.jpg
  • Two young boys and their older brother just before their shichi-go-san in the Meiji Jingu shrine, in Tokyo, Japan. During shichi-go-san, literally seven-five-three, parents dress their daughters aged three and seven and sons aged five in traditional costume and take them to a Shinto shrine to be blessed. Sometimes boys perform the ceremony at the age of three, though in bygone times they were not supposed to wear hakama trousers until they were older.
    5169.jpg
  • Friends join a Jewish bat mitzvah girl in party games in New Jersey, USA. She belongs to a Reform Jewish synagogue, where Sabbath observance rules are less strict than among Conservative or Orthodox congregations, and her reception is held straight after the synagogue ceremony.
    5486.jpg
  • After giving her a prayer shawl and blessing, the rabbi talks to a Jewish girl before she goes through her bat mitzvah, her coming-of-age ritual, at her Reform Jewish synagogue in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA. After this she will enter the synagogue hall to read extracts from the Torah, the holy scriptures, to the congregation. Jewish tradition dictates that a girl comes of age at twelve, though in Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations they usually become bat mitzvahs at thirteen, the same age as boys.
    5481.jpg
  • Guided by her rabbi a Jewish girl practices reading from the Torah, the five books of Moses, in preparation for her bat mitzvah, her coming of age ceremony, in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA. Jewish tradition dictates that a girl comes of age at twelve, though in Reform and Conservative Jewish congregations they usually become bat mitzvahs at thirteen, the same age as boys.
    5480.jpg
  • Performing the traditional  horah, where everyone dances in a circle and holds the boy up in a chair, a Jewish boy's bar mitzvah is celebrated the day after the ceremony was held in his Conservative synagogue in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA. Since the ceremony was performed on a Sabbath the party could not be held on the same day. In Judaism, a boy comes of age at thirteen, when he becomes a bar mitzvah and assumes responsibility for his own actions.
    5485.jpg
  • Sprinkled with rose petals, an infant lies on a mattress after being jumped over by El Colacho, the devil incarnate, during the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi, and the jumping over children born during the year is intended to protect them from illness and misfortune.
    5021f.jpg
  • Holding the monstrance with the host, the priest leads the congregation in a procession through the village streets during the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    5011.jpg
  • Worhisppers receive the consecrated bread known as the Eucharist, at the celebration of mass during the Fiesta del Colaco, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    5009.jpg
  • Several times a day during the Fiesta del Coalcho, the Christian brotherhood in charge of the festivities walk through the streets of Castrillo de Murcia, in Burgos province, Spain. In front of them walk El Coalcho, the devil incarnate, banging his large castanets to symbolically disturb the Christian ceremonies. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    4989f.jpg
  • The masked el Colaco, the devil incarnate, during the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    4987.jpg
  • A family holds down infant from balcony to a sculpture of the town's patron saint, San Isidro, for good luck at the Fiesta de San Isidro in Periana, Spain.
    3057f.jpg
  • Celebrating the bar mitzvah of a Jewish boy the day after the bar mitzvah ceremony was held in his Conservative synagogue in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA.  Since the ceremony was performed on a Sabbath the party could not be held on the same day. In Judaism a boy comes of age at thirteen, when he becomes a bar mitzvah and assumes responsibility for his own actions.
    5484.jpg
  • On the last day of the Fiesta del Colacho in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain, el Colacho, the devil incarnate, jumps over the children born during the year, removing the evil he represents, while parents hold their babies still. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi, and the jumping over the children is intended to protect them from illness and misfortune.
    5018f.jpg
  • El Colacho, the devil incarnate, chases the troublesome village youngsters, trying to hit them with his whip, during the Fiesta del Colacho, in Castrillo de Murcia, Burgos province, Spain. The Fiesta del Colacho is held every year at the time of the Catholic feast Corpus Christi.
    4997.jpg
  • An Apache girl dressed in buckskin dress dances at her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girl holds a cane that symbolises longevity. The Sunrise Dance is supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.The ceremony is also an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4532.jpg
  • A dead woman carried on a bier through the narrow streets and alleys to Manikarnika Ghat, the main cremation ghat of Varanasi, India. To be cremated in the sacred city of Varanasi means a straight passage to heaven, many Hindus believe.
    4497f.jpg
  • Newar girl in ceremonial clothes at her Ihi ceremony, a mock marriage to the Hindu god Vishnu, in Patan in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Among the Newars, who are the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, every girl goes through this ceremony sometime between the age of five and ten. The Ihi makes the girl a full member of her father's family and caste and is also said to make sure that she will never become a widow, even if later on her future human husband would die, since she will forever be married to the god Vishnu. The Ihi is therefore for the Newar women a protection against the stigmatization of widows otherwise common in Hindu culture.
    4518.jpg
  • A monk shaves the head of a Shan boy during Poy Sang Long, a yearly ceremony at which boys are ordained as novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. The shaving takes place inside the Buddhist temple Wat Hua Wiang. Practically every Shan boy goes through this three-day ceremony sometime between the age of eight and fourteen. After the ordination, the boy spends about one month in a Buddhist monastery and then usually returns to normal life again.
    3975.jpg
  • Two cousins dressed up as princes and their attendants leave the house of a relative during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    4006.jpg
  • Attendants dance with boys dressed up as princes on their shoulders on their way to the house of some relatives during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. One of the relatives throws rice on them as a blessing.
    4333.jpg
  • Attendants dance and carry boys dressed up as princes on their shoulders at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    3988.jpg
  • Mountain Spirits (Gaan) or Crown Dancers dance beside a big bonfire at night during an Apache Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance is the most important ceremony of the Apache Indians. It is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4606.jpg
  • An Apache girl and her helper, both dressed in buckskin dresses, dance at her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girl holds a cane that symbolises longevity. Behind her the medicine man and drummers sing and beat their drums. The Sunrise Dance is supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.The ceremony is also an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4535.jpg
  • Guests attending a reburial ceremony in Belaveno, Bezanozano Ethnic Area, Madagascar, are served food by the host family. The famadihana, the Madagascan reburial ceremony, is a custom in the highlands of Madagascar. The purpose of the ritual is to induce the ancestors to impart their blessings to their descendants, as without those blessings one cannot have a good life. The famadihana is held during the cooler half of the year, when the dead are said to be freezing in their graves and therefore need new clothing.
    5093.jpg
  • Newly circumcised, a nine-year-old boy who lives in a suburb of Istanbul, Turkey, proudly poses in his sultan outfit, which is the customary attire at circumcision. He stands beside his bed which his parents have worked hard to make fit for a sultan.
    5239f.jpg
  • Male guests, all armed with bows and arrows, run into the festival house during a sago grub festival held by a Kombai clan in Papua, Indonesia. September 2000. The Kombai are a so-called treehouse people, building their homes high up in the trees, and the sago grub festival, during which large quantities of sago grubs are consumed, is their most important religious rite.
    3041.jpg
  • Armed Kombai sentries watch as guests arrive at the site of a sago grub festival in Papua, Indonesia. September 2000. The Kombai are a so-called treehouse people, building their homes high up in the trees, and the sago grub festival, during which large quantities of sago grubs are consumed, is their most important religious rite.
    3036.jpg
  • An Apache girl, dressed in buckskin dress, runs during her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona, USA. She runs four times, each time a little bit longer. This symbolises the four stages of life. Close behind her godmother and relatives  follow, the women dressed in camp dresses. The food, snacks and drinks on the ground symbolise a life without material want. The Sunrise Dance is supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life. The ceremony is also an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4538.jpg
  • An Apache girl dressed in traditional buckskin clothes dances beside a bonfire at a Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Reservation, Arizona, USA. The figures in the background are mountain spirits (gaan) or crown dancers. The girl is not the young girl for whom the puberty rite is held, but one of four girls chosen to dance with her and the mountain spirits by the evening bonfire. The Sunrise Dance is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4607.jpg
  • A man gives rice to novice monks who walk the streets with their food bowls early in the morning, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    4078.jpg
  • Young Buddhist monks wear their new robes at Wat Hua Wiang in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, following the annual Poy Sang Long festival. Poy Sang Long is a lavish three-day festival where young and adolescent Shan boys are treated as royalty before being ordained as novice monks.
    3841.jpg
  • An attendant carries a boy dressed up as a prince down the stairs of his home after a break in the ordination ceremonies, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. The boy takes part in the Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks.
    4015.jpg
  • Two cousins about to become novice monks pose for a photograph with their families during Poy Sang Long, the ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    4009.jpg
  • Procession with young boys dressed up as princes during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. April 2003. On the horse in front rides the invisible guardian spirit of the town.
    3990.jpg
  • Attendant dances with a boy on his shoulders during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. April 2003. The boy is dressed up as a prince in rememberance of the Buddha.
    3989.jpg
  • A small Shan orchestra plays in a temple at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    3986.jpg
  • Boys pose for photgraphs after they have been dressed up as princes at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks in Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    3978.jpg
  • In rememberance of the Buddha, family members dress a boy in princely clothes inside a temple during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    3985.jpg
  • An Apache girl puts on her camp dress and moccasins in her home on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. June 2004.
    4576.jpg
  • An Apache girl learns how to make corn bread as part of the preparation for her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. June 2004. Her mother looks out through the kitchen door. The Sunrise Dance is the most important ceremony of the Apache Indians. It is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4579.jpg
  • A mountain spirit (gaan) or crown dancer dances during a Sunrise Dance on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4616.jpg
  • An Apache girl and her godfather, who sprinkles sacred white clay around him as a blessing, dance with mountain spirits (gaan) or crown dancers during a Sunrise Dance on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4610.jpg
  • A Mountain Spirit (Gaan) or Crown Dancer dances inside a ceremonial tepee and in front of an Apache girl during her Sunrise Dance, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4619.jpg
  • An Apache girl is massaged by her godmother during her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. Behind the girl and the godmother the medicine man and his assistants sing and beat their drums. The Sunrise Dance is supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants, and the purpose of the massage is to shape the girl into a grown woman with a strong body. The rite is also an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4564.jpg
  • Apache Indians dance at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation ceremony of an Apache girl, ton the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girls herself dances in a kneeling position. During the ceremony the girl ‘becomes’ Changing Woman, the mythical founder of the Apache Tribe, and this part of the ceremony is an enactment of when Changing Woman was impregnated by the sun and gave birth to a son. Behind the girl stands her godmother and behind her the medicine man  and his assistants sing and beat their drums. The long row of cartons filled with snacks and drinks in front of the girl symbolises a life without material wants. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life.
    4561.jpg
  • Apache Indians dance during a Sun Rise Dance, an Apache girl’s first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The women are dressed in camp dresses. Behind the long row of cartons filled with snacks and drinks, symbolising a life without material want, the girl herself dances dressed in buckskin clothes. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life.
    4565.jpg
  • An Apache girl, dressed in buckskin dress, runs during her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. She runs four times, each time a little bit longer. This symbolises the four stages of life. Close behind her godmother and relatives  follow, the women dressed in camp dresses. The food, snacks and drinks on the ground symbolise a life without material want. The Sunrise Dance is supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life. The ceremony is also an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4603.jpg
  • An Apache girl and her helper, both dressed in buckskin dresses, dance at her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girl holds a cane that symbolises longevity. Behind her the medicine man and drummers sing and beat their drums. The Sunrise Dance is supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants. The ceremony is also an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4534.jpg
  • A wickiup used by an Apache girl during her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance is the most important ceremony of the Apache. It is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4599.jpg
  • In the early morning of the first day of her Sunrise Dance an Apache girl and her assistant (a friend who has already gone through the ceremony herself) bake four different kinds of corn bread on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girls are dressed in camp dresses. The Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4554.jpg
  • An Apache woman on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA, makes the traditional buckskin dress for her niece's Sunrise Dance and attaches to it a symbol representing Michael Jordan. The girl plays basketball and Michael Jordan is her favourite player. The Sunrise Dance is the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants
    4600.jpg
  • The male members of the family enter the grave and wrap the remains of the dead in new shrouds during a reburial ceremony in Belaveno, Bezanozano Ethnic Area, Madagascar. The famadihana, the Madagascan reburial ceremony, is a custom in the highlands of Madagascar. The purpose of the ritual is to induce the ancestors to impart their blessings to their descendants, as without those blessings one cannot have a good life. The famadihana is held during the cooler half of the year, when the dead are said to be freezing in their graves and therefore need new clothing.
    5101.jpg
  • A newly circumcised boy dances with relatives and neighbors at a henna party held in the courtyard outside the family home in Istanbul, Turkey, on June 24, 2006. As is the custom, the boy is dressed in a sultan's outfit.
    5247f.jpg
  • A novice monk carries a food bowl during a morning alms walk in the streets of Mae Hong Son, Thailand. April 2003. People will put food into the bowl as an offering, thereby gaining religious merit.
    4027.jpg
  • Novice monks walk the streets with their food bowls early in the morning, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. April 2003. People will stop them on the way to put food into their bowls as an offering.
    4026.jpg
  • Two girls hold bags of ”thousand year sweets”, long pieces of candy symbolising longevity, which have been given to them at their shichi-go-san, in Tokyo, Japan. During shichi-go-san, literally seven-five-three, parents dress their daughters aged three and seven and sons aged five in traditional costume and take them to a Shinto shrine to be blessed.
    5162.jpg
  • Novice monks walk the streets with their food bowls early in the morning, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. People will stop them on the way to put food into their bowls as an offering.
    4025.jpg
  • On the final day of the Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, a monk passes the orange shirt over the head of a boy, a signal that he has become a novice monk and may now put on the rest of his orange robes, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. April 2003.
    4028.jpg
  • Boys dressed in princely clothes prostrate themselves and show respect to monks inside Wat  Hua Wiang at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. The monks are holding the orange robes that the boys will wear when they have become novice monks. The princely clothing is worn in memory of the Buddha who was a prince before becoming a monk. Practically every Shan boy goes through this ceremony sometime between the age of eight and fourteen. After the ordination, the boy spends about one month in a Buddhist monastery and then usually returns to normal life again.
    4019.jpg
  • An actress and singer performs in a temple yard during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. She belongs to a traditional Shan theatre group.
    4017.jpg
  • Attendants dance with boys dressed up as princes on their shoulders at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
    4327.jpg
  • On the second day of her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, an Apache girl and her two cousins wait for the evening dance to start, the San Carlos Indian Reservation, Arizona, USA. The girls are dressed in buckskin dresses. The Sunrise Dance is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4613.jpg
  • After six hours of continuous dancing at a Sunrise Dance, an Apache girl's first menstruation rite, the girl rests in camp together with her helper and a cousin on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The girl is covered with sacred yellow pollen from the cattail plant, which has been applied as a blessing by the medicine man and the relatives. The Sunrise Dance is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4570.jpg
  • A basket filled with candy, maize and money is poured over an Apache girl at her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. This symbolises good luck and material wealth. The Sunrise Dance is the most important ceremony of the Apache Indians. It is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4567.jpg
  • An Apache girl drinks water through a straw at her Sunrise Dance, a frist menstruation rite,  on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA.  Behind the girl, who is dressed in buckskin clothes, the medicine man and his helpers, who sing and beat their drums during the dance, are having a rest. The Sunrise Dance is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4563.jpg
  • A man holds a basket that contains cigarettes and chewing-gums at a Sunrise Dance on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
    4558.jpg
  • Apache Indians dance at a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation ceremony of an Apache girl, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. Behind the girl, who is dressed in buckskin clothes, the medicine man and his helpers sing and beat their drums. The long row of cartons filled with snacks and drinks, in front of the girl, symbolises a life without material want. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life. During the rites the girl also becomes Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers.
    4556.jpg
  • The male members of a family check the remains of the dead inside a grave opened for a reburial ceremony in the highlands south of the capital of Antananarivo, Madagascar. The famadihana, the Madagascan reburial ceremony, is a custom in the highlands of Madagascar. The purpose of the ritual is to induce the ancestors to impart their blessings to their descendants, as without those blessings one cannot have a good life. The famadihana is held during the cooler half of the year, when the dead are said to be freezing in their graves and therefore need new clothing.
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  • A Brahman filing the teeth of a young man at a traditional tooth-filing ceremony in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, while female relatives hold the boy's arms and shoulder. The ceremony is a puberty rite, done after the girl has had her first menstruation or the boy's voice has broken, but can be saved until later in life, sometimes until the time of ones wedding. The six front teeth in the upper jaw are filed down to an even row, the purpose of which is to lessen six human vices, e g anger and sexual desire. Another reason is to make one look less like a fanged demon, thereby securing ones entry into the land of the dead after cremation. The boy wears ceremonial brocade clothing.
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  • A Roma berry picker from Bulgaria reveals a tattoo of Jesus on his back in the forest between the towns of Katrineholm and Vingåker in Sweden. He is an Evangelical Christian.
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  • A mother captures the moment when a photographer takes a picture of her daughter after she has gone through the shichi-go-san ceremony at the Heian Jingu shrine, in Kyoto, Japan. During shichi-go-san, literally seven-five-three, parents dress their daughters aged three and seven and sons aged five in traditional costume and take them to a Shinto shrine to be blessed.
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  • In order to give him a painkilling jab, a circumciser opens the trousers of a boy who is about to be circumcised at Kemal Özkan's Circumcision Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. Next to them a clown acts in a funny way to make the boy relax. As custom dictates, the boy is dressed up as a small sultan or prince.
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  • Boys about to be circumcised at Kemal Özkan's Circumcision Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, play games together. This is one of the many activities used to make the boys relax before the actual circumcision takes place. As custom dictates, the boys are dressed up as small sultans or princes.
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  • Kemal Özkan, Turkey' s most famous circumciser, greets boys about to be circumcised at his Circumcision Palace in Istanbul, Turkey, During summertime, which is the circumcision season, groups of boys, usually aged five to ten, are circumcised every day at this establishment. As local custom dictates, the boys are dressed up as small sultans or princes.
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  • Musicians play their instruments during a traditional Shan theatre performance at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks in Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
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  • Shan women wears traditional bamboo hats at a procession during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
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  • A boy puts on his princely clothes after a break in the ceremonies at Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
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  • The participants in a Sunrise Dance, the first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA, grab as much as they can of the snacks and sweets and drinks that have been placed in along row on the ground. This symbolises good luck and material wealth. The Sunrise Dance is the most important ceremony of the Apache Indians. It is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
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  • An Apache girl dances in a kneeling position during her Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation ceremony, on the San Carlos Indian Reservation, Arizona, USA. The rites are an enactment of the Apache creation myth and are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood, giving her a long and healthy life. During the rites the girl becomes Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. This particular part of the ceremony symbolises the moment when Changing Woman was impregnated by the sun and gave birth to a son.
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  • An Apache girl wears a buckskin dress at her Sunrise Dance with the symbol of her favourite basketball player Michael Jordan attached, on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona, USA. The Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite of an Apache girl, is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The ceremony is an enactment of the Apache creation myth and during the rites the girl ’becomes‘ Changing Woman, a mythical female figure, and comes into possession of her healing powers. The rites are also supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
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  • An Apache girl and her relatives visit the medicine man to give him gifts of food and bread on the first day of the girl's Sunrise Dance, a first menstruation rite, the San Carlos Indian Reservation, Arizona, USA. When they arrive the medicine man and his helpers are inside a sweat lodge, praying and singing sacred songs. The Sunrise Dance is held during the summer, within one year after the girl has had her first menstruation, and lasts for four days. The rites are supposed to prepare the girl for adulthood and to give her a long and healthy life without material wants.
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  • Hindu men pray and pay homage to the sacred River Ganges, Varanasi, India. January, 2004.
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  • Newar woman with her daughter at the daughter's Ihi ceremony, a mock marriage to the Hindu god Vishnu, Patan, the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Among the Newars, who are the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, every girl goes through this ceremony sometime between the age of five and ten. The Ihi makes the girl a full member of her father's family and caste and is also said to make sure that she will never become a widow, even if later on her future human husband would die, since she will forever be married to the god Vishnu. The Ihi is therefore for the Newar women a protection against the stigmatization of widows otherwise common in Hindu culture.
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  • Kombai men, armed with bows and arrows, dance during a sago grub festival in Papua, Indonesia. September 2000. The Kombai are a so-called treehouse people, building their homes high up in the trees, and the sago grub festival, during which large quantities of sago grubs are consumed, is their most important religious rite.
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  • Two boys pray in front of a grave during Todos Santos, Bolivia. They are afterwards rewarded with bread and biscuits by the family of the deceased. In the Altiplano of Bolivia, it is customary that a family, in which there has been a death within the last three years, call down the spirit for a three day visit, after which they go to the graveyard to decorate the grave and take farewell of their dead family member.
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  • Novice monks walk the streets with their food bowls early in the morning, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. April 2003. People will stop them on the way to put food into their bowls as an offering.
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  • Two cousins get dressed up as princes in their home after a break in the ordination ceremonies, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. The boys take part in the Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks.
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  • An old woman throws rice at one of her great grandsons while he dances on the shoulders of a relative during Poy Sang Long, the yearly ordination of novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand.
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  • Relatives dance with  boys dressed up as princes on their shoulders at  Poy Sang Long,  a yearly ceremony at which boys are ordained as novice monks, Mae Hong Son, Thailand. The princely clothing is worn in memory of the Buddha who was a prince before becoming a monk. Practically every Shan boy goes through this three-day ceremony sometime between the age of eight and fourteen. After the ordination, the boy spends about one month in a Buddhist monastery and then usually returns to normal life again.
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Anders Ryman

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