Abstract
In Christian cultures, the rites of initiations and anniversaries were celebrated in religious communities, according to patterns established by religious institutions. Beside this, a different type of rites of initiations evolved in various cultures. Either as an ack nowledgement of processes of secularization or with a conscious intention to speed them up, state organs and/or social organiza tions developped the non-religious variants of these rites. A cer tain form, called «socialist ceremonies in the familly» is conti nuously spreading in Eastern Europe.
