The second reason for the gap between the old life and the new is that the process of disintegration and reintegration is the source of renewal. As van Gennep noted in his seminal Rites of Passage: Although a body can move through space in a circle at a constant speed, the same is not true of biological or social activities. Their energy becomes exhausted, and they have to be regenerated at more or less close intervals. The rites of passage ultimately correspond to this fundamental necessity.
