Thank you stopping by. All your comments and views are greatly appreciated. Wiki: Rituals of transformation may be considered basic expressions of human nature. Evidence for this extends back to the Paleolithic era cave painting find at Les Trois Freres, France. There, the image of a man disguised as an animal suggests the early use of masks to gain access to the realm of spirits. Animistic magic, an aspect of shamanism, has continued through time to include the masquerade with "rites of passage," such as birth, initiation, marriage, and attaining a rank. Mortuary rituals, the final transformation, often include masks. This use may, by extension, be seen as a function of ancestor worship. People interpret non-verbal meaning from the facial cast. By recapitulating and exaggerating features of the face, masks become powerful vehicles for the expression of what Jungian psychology terms persona. Wearing a ritual mask animates a new persona, transforming the participant into the being invoked- deity, demon, animal totem, or ancestor. These essential images, shared by diverse cultures throughout time, suggest common roots, which have been termed "archetypes". Masking rituals present myth as real life interactive experience, both concealing and revealing.