Every society has some king of ritual to symbolize an important aspect of the society. For instance, marriage is a ritual that makes society aware of a relationship between two people thus, society and the new couple will have to change some aspects of their behavior as they change their status. Society will recognized the couple as such and the couple will respond with demonstrations of fidelity, love and procreation. This is a very generalize idea of marriage, I would like to make it clear that I am aware that this is not always the case, which is what makes relationships so interesting. Many individuals members of our societies have decided to neglect that conception of marriage and understand the union of two people as an act free of social involvement and strictly personal. Nevertheless, for other societies like The Temne going trough the rite is necessary if one wishes to be recognized as a person.
The Bondo opera is the rite of passage for Temne women. There is a lot of symbolism going on in this rite but the most important idea is that the state of being a child is not the same as being a person, in order to become one people have to go trough this metamorphosis or transition into adulthood.
Ideas like denying one's identity by dressing up like men, being eaten by a serpent that will then allow women to be born again, having to honor to sit that is equivalent of being, and many other symbols show the seriousness and relevance of this event. For its nature, it shapes the individual's identity, stating clearly how men and women should be like and thus, how they should behave in their community.
This is not an easy process, that is why we can associated it with a metamorphosis, as women and men have to go trough various stages that have a psychological impact as well as a physical one.
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