Author Archives: Sev Krauss-McClurg

Canadian Engineering Iron Ring – Initiation Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student/Engineering Intern
Residence: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Language: English

Text:

When engineers graduate from university in Canada, they go through a ritual where they recite a specific text/speech and then are given an iron (or stainless steel) ring. The speech is about responsibility and ethics as an engineer and the importance of professional commitment. This ritual is private and the only people who can witness it are ones who have already gone through it and have an iron ring.

Context:

The informant is from the United States but goes to the University of Toronto for engineering. Before telling me about this ritual, the informant laughed about how they were warned before going to Canada that engineering there is “kind of cult-y.” The informant told me that the iron rings are given to graduates because in the past, there was a bridge made of iron that collapsed and that the original rings were made of iron from the bridge. The rings and ceremony are meant to symbolize acceptance of responsibility and acts as a reminder of what happens when engineers are not mindful of safety and ethics. The informant told me that among the people they work with, the person who wears the ring the most often is the most recent graduate. They also told me that in general, some people where it all the time and some people only wear the ring as they sign important documents. The informant told me they were apprehensive about the iron ring ceremony at first because it felt a little weird and secretive. They are now excited to get the ring but they don’t tend to wear jewelry so they think they will only wear it for specific moments. They also told me that engineers now can choose between an iron or stainless steel ring (as iron degrades over time) and they will get the iron one because it the “right” one with historical significance. The informant also told me that their partner, who is from a family of Canadian engineers, is really excited to get their iron ring but they aren’t sure if he will wear it all the time or not.

Analysis:

This ritual acts as an initiation out of university and into the workplace. By speaking the ritualized words, it marks a transition in identity and the person is given an object to show their progress. Anyone else who sees this ring knows that this person has achieved a degree in engineering. The process is very secretive and no one else knows exactly what happens. This keeps the ritual sacred within the community as something that a person has to achieve and gain access to.

The story around the ring relating to the bridge is contested online. Some people believe that the original rings were from the bridge while other people say that is a myth and the original rings were made in a factory. The creation of the story fits into the narrative that surrounds the rings. They are objects that are meant to represent responsibility and creating them from the broken pieces of something that was made irresponsibly acts as an even stronger reminder. Even if the story is untrue, it deepens the connection between the ring and the meaning for the people in the community.

This ritual also creates a second ritual within it. Some people wear the ring only as the sign important documents in order to remind themselves of their responsibility as engineers. My informant said that they want the iron one specifically because it has more meaning than the stainless steel one. The material itself creates a deeper connection to history and the responsibility that it represents. It feels almost wrong to have a stainless steel one because it wouldn’t be accurate.

The informant was worried about the ceremony at first as someone from another country and outside the culture but as they lived in the culture for longer, they have gotten more excited for the ritual at the end. The ceremony might seem weird to outsiders, but to insiders, it is normalized and is something to look forward to. Even people, like the informant, who normally don’t wear jewelry would consider wearing this ring simply because of the tradition and meaning around it.

Passover/Seder – Holiday

Nationality: Israeli-American
Age: 17
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Bellevue, Washington
Language: English

Text:

The celebration of Passover starts with the Seder which is a big community event where a bunch of people get invited over. It is a very long event where there is structured text with a melody that retells the story of Jewish people being enslaved in Egypt. The entire dinner is choreographed, the text tells you when to drink, refill your wine, when to drink, when to lift the matza, etc. There are symbolic foods, such as a hard boiled egg which symbolizes the way Jewish people went from being soft to being hard due to pressure. There is a part where a glass of wine is meant to be left outside for someone from the story. At the end, there is a lot of singing after everyone has drunk four glasses of wine.

Context:

The informant was raised Orthodox Jewish and grew up engaging with their family’s Passover and Seder traditions. They say they enjoy it but the kosher matza that is used tastes bad. There is also a moment where the youngest child (which they are) has to stand on a chair and sing, which they also dislike. The informant says that the reason that the glass is left outside is because historically, people who were antisemitic would leave bodies outside the homes of Jewish families because they believed Jewish people drank blood. By opening the door in the middle, the group can check if someone had left a body outside. The informant mentioned that their grandmothers would argue about which melody was correct because each family had a different tune for the words.

Analysis:

This holiday is a community event, meant to bring people together. The purpose is to remember the past and commemorate the strength and perseverance of the Jewish people. Remembering the past of a culture is a way of remembering who the people are. In the case of Passover and slavery, remembering the past is a way of preventing it from happening again. As the Seder dinner is a historical retelling of the events, the purpose is to commemorate the people who came before while celebrating the survival of the people now.

Since the event happens at sundown (the start of the Jewish day), it is centered around food. The story itself incorporates the food into the process, connecting it to events or people. This entwines what people are eating with the story they are telling, allowing them to still eat during the event.

The modern addition of checking outside the house for a body is a result of antisemitism. Before, people wouldn’t have to worry about checking outside so that wasn’t part of the story. As it became necessary though, it became part of the celebration as the glass of wine was left specifically for a character in the historical story. The needs of the people were incorporated into the traditions of the ritual so well that if someone doesn’t know the context of opening the door, they might not realize it came from antisemitism.

The melodic element of the retelling comes from how Hebrew is spoken from the Torah which is in a singing-like manner. This is extended to the Hebrew spoken during this event because it is also a religious text. Melody allows for a text to be better remembered. By connecting words to a melody, it allows people to remember what to say for the whole three hour event better which would have otherwise been practically impossible. The informant’s own family had two different melodies that were used and they argued over which was correct. These melodies can become part of family identity and religious identity. This makes it hard for people to use a different melody because of how important their version is to them. Changing it would feel wrong and incorrect.

Jewish Funeral/Death/Graveyard Rituals/Traditions

Nationality: Israeli-American
Age: 17
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Bellevue, Washington
Language: English

Text:

Jewish funerals don’t use coffins and instead the body is just buried in the ground. The purpose of this is to return the body to the ground where it came from. Gravestones are lying down on the ground over the body. The ten commandments on two stones are placed where the head of the person would be. The graves all face Jerusalem. There is a lit candle at the back of the grave that symbolizes their soul. For seven days after the death (called the shiva), the entire family sits in the house of the deceased. They don’t work and don’t cook but just share stories of the person. The door is meant to always be open so that neighbors can come in to bring food and hear stories. The full mourning period is thirty days where there are other restrictions such as not shaving.

For graveyards, you always have to exit in a different way than how you entered, otherwise the spirits will follow you out. When someone visits a grave, they find a rock to leave as a gift to the deceased.

Context:

The informant is from an Orthodox Jewish family. They heard a lot of these traditions/rituals from their parents and the community around them or from visiting the graves of their family members. The Informant said they haven’t experienced a shiva before but that they regret missing it for their recently deceased grandmother. The informant likes the concept of the shiva because it is a celebration of life and remembering a person rather than being sad. They also like the graveyard ritual of leaving a different way than how you entered because it is fun, not because they believe in ghosts. The informant said that as a kid, they would paint rocks to gift to their deceased family members as a way to commemorate the things they remembered about the person.

Analysis:

The placement of gravestones on top of the body could be interpreted as them keeping the person in the ground. As the culture also is afraid of spirits following a person out of a graveyard then it is not impossible that there could also be a fear of someone rising out of the ground. Putting the person in the ground without a coffin and pointing them towards Jerusalem likely both have religious significance. A person might not be able to rest in Jewish culture unless they have no barrier between them and the Earth. Jerusalem is the promised land to Jewish people so pointing them towards the most significant place within the religion might be to help the spirit back to there in death.

The shiva is a community building event. By creating an expectation for a family to not work or cook, it forces neighbors to come by and support them. Leaving the door open means that everyone is welcome. Community has to come together in times of mourning and it makes it impossible for someone to grieve alone or for someone to die without community remembrance. The shiva is also a time for celebration rather than just sadness. Remembering a person by talking about stories and good memories helps people to feel a sense of resolution rather than tragedy. The seven day period blocks out specific time that is meant for mourning/celebration, giving the community time to process rather than forcing people to move on without working through their emotions. The longer thirty day mourning period likely acts as a reminder of who has been lost and honoring their death through daily actions. The informant felt like they had missed out on part of the mourning process because they missed a shiva, showing its importance for the processing of emotions in family members of the deceased.

Leaving a rock on the grave of someone deceased acts as a way to leave them a gift as well as a way to keep them in your mind. The visitor is meant to find the rock as they go to visit a person’s grave so they have to think about the person and what they might want. The informant mentioned how they found this to be a fun tradition, especially as a child, as it was a way to engage with death through memory and love rather than grief.

Leaving the graveyard in a different way than how you entered is an example of apotropaic magic as well as a prohibitive action. Entering and exiting the same way could bring on something bad but by changing something when you exit, you protect yourself from harm. Death is a scary concept so many people would want to protect themselves from harm while leaving a place that is full of it.

Purim – Holiday/Traditions

Nationality: Israeli-American
Age: 17
Occupation: High School Student
Residence: Bellevue, Washington
Language: English

Text:

The basis of the celebration for Purim is about a historical event. The Persian monarchy cast an order to kill all the Jewish people but the king’s Jewish wife was able to convince him to send another order for Jewish people to defend themselves. The Jewish people won so the holiday is a celebration of winning and not dying. The celebration for the Informant’s family is to create puppets of the characters in the story and then act it out for the parents. In general, the holiday is a chance to dress up, sometimes as characters in the story but in more modern celebrations, people are able to dress up as whatever they want. People also make gift baskets to give to friends and neighbors. People are encouraged to drink a lot, party, and have fun.

Context:

The informant is from an Orthodox Jewish family and engaged in this holiday while growing up. They learned about it from their parents and the community around them. The informant said they enjoy the party aspect and they liked having two Halloweens as a kid. When they were younger, they also dressed up, at first as characters from the story but eventually they did other things like being a cat. They mentioned that since this is basically the only Jewish holiday that is about Jewish people winning rather than remembering tragedy, they’ve always enjoyed it.

Analysis:

The holiday is meant to be a celebration with drinking and partying. Allowing people to celebrate through fun costumes both historically and in modern times gets them into the story of the celebration even more. Historically, the Jewish people would have celebrated winning the fight and surviving. By dressing up as the characters who would have been celebrating, Jewish people are able to tie themselves back to that period and the emotions that would have been felt at the time.

Although historically, people would only dress up as characters from the story, this has changed to be a more broad costume party in modern times. This might have been influenced by Halloween as the two holidays spread throughout cultures towards each other. The informant even mentioned how they were always excited to have two Halloween celebrations.

This holiday is also a community event where people come together to celebrate the victory of the past. Along with the celebration, people give gifts to each other to continue the social connections they have. Giving gifts is present in many Jewish traditions and this one is no different. Gifting something is a way of telling someone you care about them, that you are thinking about them, and that you want them to have something from you.

The informant mentioned that when they were younger, the kids of the family were expected to perform the story through a puppet show. This is a fun way of teaching children the story of the holiday while also making it fun for them to engage with it. As this holiday is one of the few that commemorates a victory, the parents would want to tell children the full story with all the details.

Canadian Engineering Frosh Week Purpling – Initiation Ritual

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: University Student/Engineering Intern
Residence: Ajax, Ontario, Canada
Language: English

Text:

Freshman orientation (also called Frosh week) is a week at the beginning of the semester where new students at the University of Toronto are toured around campus/city, doing various team building activities and getting to know other new students. As an engineering student, the informant had some engineering specific activities but the main one is called “purpling.” During this ritual, freshman engineering students get sprayed with purple dye in whatever amount they feel comfortable (some limbs or the full body). After, the new students go wash the dye off in a specific fountain nearby campus.

Context:

The informant is from the United States but goes to college at U of T for engineering. They learned about this tradition as they did it when they came to the school as a freshman. As an American engaging in this, they were a little apprehensive about it because they didn’t grow up in the culture where this was normal. The informant told me that their partner is from a family of Canadian engineers and they was really excited about the ritual. The informant only got purple dye on their arms but their partner did their full body. Even though the informant was a little worried at the start, they see it as a good introduction to the community where everyone bonds over sharing in the history as well as the ritual. It also works to introduce people to Canadian engineering which the informant says has a very strong and tight community bond. The informant told me that the ritual harkens back to history as the reason it is done is to honor engineers of the past. They told me that engineers in the military would wear purple armbands and as they sweat, the purple dye would dye their skin. If engineers died during the war, the purple dye was the way they were identified.

Analysis:

The apprehension that the informant felt about the ritual likely comes from the fact that they are a newcomer to this culture. As an American, they did not grow up with the culture of Canadian engineering, unlike their partner. After getting to Canada and getting this very sudden introduction into the culture, they were slow to embrace it but did still engage by getting the dye on their arms. In contrast, their partner, who grew up with the culture and most likely already knew about the tradition, fully embraced it and got the purple dye on their whole body. It is possible that their partner also felt a deeper connection to the historical aspect as their family has a lot of engineers so they might feel a responsibility to honor them by getting more purple dye. Additionally, they could have felt already part of the culture of engineers and therefore wanted to show their dedication to the community by getting fully covered in dye.

The ritual as an initiation is very effective as it immediately brings everyone together with a very unique experience that no other group has. It also ties new people to the history of the group as there is historical basis. It teaches newcomers to celebrate and honor the engineers before them. As the informant said, Canadian engineers have a very tight bond and this experience helps to bring them together by engaging in an activity together that commemorates the bond of engineers before them. It also acts as an introduction to anyone who is unaware of the community, like the informant. As this happens before classes even start, it tells anyone new that this is the type of thing to expect out of engineering culture in Canada so they are prepared for this level of connection and team building. For the informant, it worked well to introduce them to what to expect and they enjoyed their experience.

It is important that the dye is purple because of the armbands that the military engineers wore. By connecting new engineers to their past, the ritual tells the new generation what their past was. It connects people across generations as every engineer is marked by the fact that they got purple dye on their skin. Engineers in the past were given a purple armband as they began their careers in the military, engineers now are covered in purple as they begin their education. In both cases, the purple marks the beginning of an important step in an engineer’s path.