Pollywogs and shellbacks

There's a old ritual, repeated in different forms that dates back to Sumerian rituals. It's mostly known now as a kind of military tradition in the air force and navy, practiced in different ways. Crossing the line means a lot of things. Some of the way it is done now is an acceptance ritual, and for some, it's more of a religious promise. For example, drawing a line of salt between two groups of common people having to go seperate ways, but having each group step over the line and rub out the line of salt with their feet means that they will see each other again, no matter the difficulty that arises. In old seafaring rituals, uninitiated sailors were called pollywogs, or greenbacks sometimes, the experienced who have made a voyage across the equator or some other significant landmark usually call themselves shellbacks. There isn't so much salt used, except the salt in this case is sometimes used as a variation of splashing of salt water on the pollywog during initiation; it's almost a kind of hazing ritual depending on the time and captain and ship.