Category Archives: Initiations

Marine Corps Blood Stripe Ritual


Background on Informant:
My informant is a Marine Corps veteran who lives in the Inland Empire and now owns an HVAC business. I spoke with him over the phone about Marine Corps traditions and rituals. He explained that when Marines are promoted, especially within infantry units, they sometimes take part in what is known as the “blood stripe” ritual. He described it as a tradition where Marines line up and the Marine being promoted walks through a gauntlet while others use their knees to strike his thighs, symbolically earning the blood stripe worn on the dress uniform. He experienced and witnessed this during his time in the Marine Corps.

Text:
Interviewer: Can you tell me about the blood stripe ritual?

Informant: Yeah, so when you get promoted, all the Marines line up to form a gauntlet, marines are on either side of you. As you pass each one, they knee you in the thigh. Like a serious Charlie horse these guys aren’t letting up their goal is to make it so you cant walk properly for a few days to a week.

Interviewer: Why do they do that?

Informant: The Marine Corps is a special collection of men, ALL believing in the traditions of survival of the fittest and steel sharpening steel. In this way as you are promoted you must be made worthy physically and mentally, But it also symbolizes the blood from the men who fought in Montezuma.

Interviewer: What is that like, does anyone refuse?

Informant: Hell, it’s like walking through Hell, each step you get closer but each step the pain increases. In my unit and during my time in. It was pretty common, at least in infantry units. I never saw anyone refuse; however, I did see certain units not implement it, some command called it damage of Government property.

Analysis:
This is a clear example of occupational folklore and a rite of passage. This ritual functions to mark a Marine’s transition from junior enlisted to NCO (non commissioned officer), which reflects what we learned in class about rites of passage. During the ritual, the Marine is in a liminal state, no longer holding their previous rank but not yet fully recognized in the new one. The act of being struck by fellow Marines creates a shared experience of pain, which builds communitas, or a strong sense of group unity. Overall, the blood stripe ritual reinforces key values of Marine Corps culture, such as toughness, endurance, and belonging.

First Sale: Bell Ringing

OB: At the Real Estate firm that I interned at, they have this massive brass bell in the lobby that no one is allowed to touch. When a new agent closes their very first deal, the entire office stops working and the intern rings the bell as hard as they can. We weren’t allowed to decorate our desk or put up our nameplate until the bell was rung.

Context: The informant is a senior majoring in business who I met during a group project. He witnessed and eventually participated in this ritual of initiation in a formal business setting. To him, the bell ringing felt like a public and declaritive validation of his professional worth.

Analysis: This is a ritual of initiation as well as a transformation ritual. He not only was initiated into a new group of people with shard folkloristic practices, he was also transformed into an official worker for the company, marking a period in which he became a legitimate member of a community. This status elevation ceremony transitions him from a state of dependency to a state of agency.

The Shotgun

Age: 21

Collected 4/22/2026

Context:

My roommate, who is of Irish-American descent, told me the story of when he first went shooting. We met in high school and have been friends for about 8 years now. He told me in our apartment kitchen after asking about his family traditions.

Text:

His family first immigrated to New York in the 1800s. About a century later, he told me that his great-grandpa bought a “classic Baretta double-barreled shotgun like you’d see in Red Dead” for hunting ducks in Maryland. Nowadays, my roommate and his dad often go hunting in the woods in Montana, and he fondly remembers that core memory with his dad of when he first learned to shoot.

My roommate told me that back when he was 15, his dad took him to a gun range in Lake Piru, California, to learn how to shoot. The event wasn’t specifically on his birthday or any particular day, as he can remember. But it was sometime soon after he turned 15. In his family, “each male for the last 3 generations has learned to shoot the same double-barreled shotgun.” The shotgun is a family heirloom that he suspects his Irish immigrant great-great-grandfather bought, for hunting and it’s been passed down steadily from father to son.

While at the range, his dad started with gun safety. Essentially, just the basics, like “don’t aim it at people or things you don’t wanna shoot.” He also learned to respect the weapon, “don’t treat it like a toy,” and not to throw it around or handle it roughly. As far as he knows, the shotgun has been largely kept in good condition, and most, if not all, of the parts are original. The wood stock and grip are lacquered with oils to keep it clean and in good condition. When it finally came time to shoot, his father showed him how to stand and helped him aim. When he pulled the trigger, the gun went off, but he found out that it was loaded with a blank. He told me that he and his dad first shot a blank to get a feel for the recoil.

After handling the recoil, he began to shoot at the clay pigeons launched in the air at the range. He said his dad wanted to teach him how to hunt, so moving targets were a great way to get into it. After shooting, he explained that his dad showed him how to clean and take care of the gun. Later, when he turned 18, he was allowed to have his own gun under different state laws. He hasn’t shot the shotgun since; it serves as a ceremonial piece.

I asked him if there was a specific time or moment when he learned, but he can’t remember. But he did say it was a moment when he started to feel more grown up. He told me that his sister also learned how to shoot. He couldn’t say whether she got the exact same treatment. But their father took her to a local range and taught her to shoot the same shotgun.

I asked if he would continue the tradition. He told me “that he plans to “of- course man.” The shotgun will be passed to him and he plans to pass it to his kids when they’re born and ready. He feels that the passing of the shotgun and the instruction in how to shoot are a metaphor for life. He and his family “value being responsible and self-sufficient.” He said it felt pretty special to be the fifth in his family to hold and shoot the gun. As the sole male child and heir to the family name, he felt it was a really special moment to step into the shoes that his family had left. To fulfill expectations and continue the legacy.

Analysis:

This was a cool story to hear; my roommate hadn’t told me about it before, and I’ve known him for around 8 years now. It was a pretty nice story and makes sense because his family has a strong military background dating back 3 generations. Shooting, hunting, gun safety, and responsibility are all very important to him and to his family.

I think the ritual serves three main functions besides bonding. The first and more obvious is that the ritual serves as a lesson in gun safety. It’s a father teaching his son how to properly hold and shoot a weapon. He learned discipline and responsibility, and it made him interested in the responsible use of weapons at a young age. It teaches real safety skills for young people and taught him the power and potential danger of weapons.

I think an equally important purpose for this event is to serve as a passing of the family legacy. Family is a big thing for him; he cares a lot about that lineage and is proud of where he comes from. The fact that the same gun has been used by all the males in his family says a lot. It is their legacy, their transition into adulthood, and their father passed that legacy to him so he could learn what it means to be a male in their family. His sister also learned and got the same experience. But my roommate said she isn’t as interested in the legacy, shooting, or the shotgun as he is. Also, he will inherit the weapon, not his sister. By learning with that gun, he is an active participant in that tradition and now a part of that shared family history. He remarked that it felt really special to him to be part of that. I asked him, and he explained that he did have a connection to that story. But for him, the most important thing it did for him was teach him responsibility.

The gun itself is also a physical representation of that legacy. It has existed for over a century and serves as a marker of his family. Sure, other guns exist, but this is his family’s gun. He adds meaning to it by using it, continuing that legacy, and being interested in teaching his children how to shoot that gun.

A final, deeper meaning is that the lesson served as a rite of passage for young men in his family. In a way, it created a liminal space to help facilitate the transition of children to young men. The lessons it taught him about weapon safety carry over to real life. Being disciplined, respectful, self-sufficient, and responsible are all qualities that he holds dear. He and I agree that those values probably stem from the family’s deep military history. Those are all imparted to him through that event.

It’s also interesting to me that I just found out about this. I knew he knew how to shoot, but I didn’t know it was such a significant family tradition. I know a lot about him since we’ve known each other for 8 years, but that story seems to be sacred and personal. It’s also funny because at first glance, my friend doesn’t look like someone who would have traditions. He grew up in a suburban neighborhood in what our other roommate would call a “boring” neighborhood. But this just showed me how much folklore and culture are lying just under the surface. I’ve known him for so long, but all I had to do was ask, and it seemed there was more to my friend that I hadn’t learned.

It also challenges my pre-existing notion that folklore is foreign or unique to a specific identity. Folklore is all around us; we just forget to pay attention because it’s “normal” or we’re used to it. I mean, this is a dude who’s got red, white, and blue coursing through his veins, and yet he has some great traditions. This is just a great reminder that folklore is often studied from a distance because the stuff close to us blends so well into our daily lives.

Musical Theater Ritual

M: “So basically, when I was in high school, I did a lot of like musical theater and stuff, and we had a ritual before every show where like after warm-ups and rehearsals and stuff, we would, everyone would stand in a circle, crew, cast, directors, and then hold hands and close their eyes. 
And we did this thing. It was called, like, ‘pass the squeeze’, where you basically, one person starts, and they squeeze their person next to them’s hand, and it goes around the circle, but everyone has to keep their eyes closed. Um, and it was basically just a way to, like, calm everyone down and take their focus off of it and just focus on like one particular thing. 
And then it was also like, I think the explanation that our director gave was also to, like, connect everyone in a way before the show. We did 4 shows every year, so we would do it every time for those. But, yeah.”


interviewer: “I was gonna ask, is it usually, like, um, everyone who’s within the show? When do you learn this? And, like, who teaches?”

M: “Yeah, so we would do it, like, literally on the day. 
So, you know, by like the 2nd year of doing the shows in high school, I knew it. But the 1st year, it would be show day or technically our 1st show was like a dress rehearsal for the community. But, um, it would be that day, which was usually like a Monday. You would get in a circle, the director would be like, okay, everyone circle up, hold hands, and then she would just explain it in that moment. 
And usually on the 1st day, it took, like, 2 or 3 tries for everyone to kind of get it, but then once everyone got it, by the next couple of days, it was just, like, instinctual because it wasn’t, like, crazy hard or anything, you know? So she would just explain it in the moment.”

context: Maggie is a CS games major at USC who went to High school in New York City. She grew up in the area and was heavily involved in her school’s theatre group.

Analysis: This pre performance ritual is a rite of passage. It functions as an initiation from an “out” group to an “in” group (esoteric and exoteric). Freshman being taught this ritual are now part of this folk group once they perform at their first show, signifying their entry into the theatre community. I would argue that this is also a type of contagious magic ritual that prevents anxiety before a show. Its a transfer of energy from one person to the next through physical touch. It reinforces group identity as well.

Delta Sigma Fraternity tradition

Text

At Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), the Delta Sigma fraternity has a big-little tradition as part of their initiation process for pledges. Big-little is a mentorship program where a pledge (new member) is paired with a brother (active member), and the big (brother) helps the little (pledge) get adjusted to the new frat. As part of their initiation to becoming an official brother, the pledges are required to complete a scavenger hunt in one night, where they are tasked with various tedious tasks, such as taking a picture with a statue on one end of campus, and then having to look for an item on the other side of campus. The pledges are not allowed to return to the frat house until they complete their scavenger hunt, and once they are finished, they need to guess who their big was based on the type of tasks they were given, as each task is often representative of a specific brother. The pledges are given a punishment for wrong guesses, and are only given an official big once they complete the scavenger hunt and correctly guess their big.

Context

The informant is a 22 year old man living in Cleveland, Ohio, and a former CWRU student. He was a part of the delta sigma fraternity during his time in college, and this topic came up when I asked about if he had any interesting folklore to share about his university. The informant’s first encounter with this tradition was during his freshman year of college when he was pledging, and he remembers that it took him until 2 AM to complete this process. When asked to reflect upon this experience, he believed it was tedious at the time, but looks back at the memory as something that honors a unique tradition of his frat. Ultimately, he told me that he was glad he had this experience, as his frat was where he made some of his best memories in college and found his closest friends.

Analysis

This initiation ritual, which blends a fun activity like a scavenger hunt with real consequences, uses this contrast to function as a rite of passage for new members and a building block for brotherhood. The long and tedious tasks becomes a way to see the commitment the pledges are willing to put in, and this ritual being something every member had to go through allows it to hold its place as a significant tradition that characterizes this frat. This ritual is also a reflection of Victor Turner’s concept of communitas, as it creates a tight bond among the pledges from a shared struggle, and the scavenger items being personalized to the pledge’s big becomes a fun way for new members to learn about their new peers in this folk group.

To me, as someone who never took part in Greek life, it’s easy for an outsider to see frats as unneccesary – from the yearly dues and the weeks of doing pointless tasks as a pledge, it may seem like one is paying to get hazed and make friends. Listening to the informant’s experience, however, and through the lens of folkloric significance, I can see the camaraderie this ritual would build and its importance towards becoming an official member of a particular group where you can find lifelong connections.