he dead into the other world. At this period, depending on the closeness and kinship, social life is suspended for all those affected. It also extends to the larger community if the deceased is a prominent person (recognized as such by the community) This separation of the dead is not a total one because the living and dead still communicate through commemoration and reincarnation. This communication is reflected in the prayers said before the dead is finally commended into the grave which involves asking him or her to help protect the living, to send their good will messages to the ancestral home. The food eaten, songs sang are all part of this funeral rite. The ceremony is concluded with the solemn placing of the dead into the grave. At this climax moment, there is felling of sorrow, sadness and also reflection on life by the living.

The book then addresses the other types of rites of passage which are not so profound. It tries to demonstrate that each rite of passage is really a rite of either separation, transition, or incorporation. Any rite may be interpreted in several ways, depending on whether it occurs within a complete system or in isolation, whether it is performed at one occasion or another. However, all rites which include the act of cutting, on the one hand, and of tying, on the other, hardly present material for discussion. The author explains circumcision as a rite of separation. According to him, in the rites of incorporation there is widespread use of the “sacred bond”, the “sacred cord”, the knot and of analogous forms such as the belt, the ring, the bracelet, and crown. These are common in the rites of marriage and enthronement. In chapter ten of this work which tries to conclude the ideas brought up in this work. After this research about ceremonies, we have seen that an individual is placed in various sections of society, synchronically in succession; in other to pass from one category to another to join individuals in sections, he or she must submit, from the day of his or her birth to that of his/her death to ceremonies whose forms often vary but whose function is similar.

My critique of this book is that it does a very fine job explaining the different form