e.g. among the adherents of a religion.22 The transition is often connected with negative descriptions of that which is left behind: it can be characterised as death, chaos, darkness, dirt, or misery, while the new status is described in such terms as new birth, life, light, cleanness, salvation.23 Like other ceremonies, water rites and cleansings have their particular meanings determined by the context, not least their ritual context. When the ceremony is a transition or initiation, this context