Ritual

Rituals are a part of culture that can either signal initiation into a society or a changing event or to celebrate an important event. Rituals are things that can be created to honor a particular event or to cap of a ceremony. Rituals are interesting to folklorist because they have so much information within them to provide information. Typically, rituals are habitual and have symbols or meaning that relates to a culture. Rituals also contain a set of virtues that are important to a society or culture. Rituals also have a frame which is its distinguished detail that separates it from other common events, and this detail emphasizes the specific significance of the ritual. There are two types of rituals low-context rituals and high-context rituals.…

Before we explore the importance of rituals in religion and spirituality, we must first outline these two terms. Religion in a whole is best described as a set of beliefs, code, ethics, rituals, and practices, systematically organized around a doctrine and shared by a group of people (Hodge, 2011). Spirituality, on the other hand, is described as “A personal quest for understanding answers to ultimate question about life, about meaning and about relationships to the sacred or transcendent which…

Various religions approach the aspect of sacred rituals in unique and purposeful manners. According to Livingston, “a religious ritual is an agreed-on and formalized pattern of ceremonial movements and verbal expressions carried out in a sacred context” (75). Though most people link sacred rituals to animal sacrifices, it is far more than that. “Rituals range from simple gestures, such as bowing or shaking hands, to elaborate ceremonial dramas, such as the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy” (Livingston…

‘Sacred’ rituals provide a sense of community is an effective statement because it brings people together to celebrate occasions and connects with the whole tradition, like celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and getting socialised into the tradition, as shown in source 3. The image indicates that people are celebrating Christmas as a community. However, not all people engage in this celebration because it is not sacred to them or might believe in different religions, where they do not…

Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” exposes a village’s devotion to a murderous ritual. The story illustrates how thoughtlessly individuals devote themselves to a tradition simply because it has been given to them from past generations. It also shows how societies can condone the practice of arbitrarily persecuting individuals. Somehow, each villager in the story supports the annual murder as long as they are not the condemned person. This is poignantly symbolic of the attitude of many people…

In some societies, religious rituals are performed by the members of the community. In some rituals, members would hire a religious specialist to cure someone who carries an illness. A shaman is classified as one of the following religion specialists. The term “shaman” has been used in different ways by different people. According to Rebecca L. Stein & Philip L. Stein, “the term shaman actually comes from the Tungus language of Central Siberia” (Stein & Stein, P. 120). “It refers to the…

Rituals- a word that may be considered a stereotype in majority of today’s society. Although, people mislead the symbolism of what rituals can mean to one’s culture, they are an extreme influence in their beliefs. In example, initiation rituals, “harsh, painful and traumatic” rituals in which can lead transformation in an individual’s life. American culture, a more modernized society in which practices initiation rites in different manners such as young men and women joining the army or…

The psyche or self as depicted in Jane Harrison’s Themis is a ritual self which focuses on the collective identity of a tribe. Opposite of this self, the psyche or self as depicted Homer’s The Odyssey is a self which focuses on the individual. In Themis these collective selves centered around a ritualistic society are demonstrated by the way society connected with their gods through rituals which focused on initiation of young men into the tribe, a collective emotion, and the tribe’s connection…

Rituals and Festivals in Europe: What’s the point?- DBQ Essay The anxiety and eagerness with which the people of traditional Europe awaited rituals and festivals leads to the interesting question of what their true purpose in society was. Communities and members of various groups would gather to hold ceremonies covering multiple aspects of society that affected their everyday lives. Rituals can be traced back to the early churches and their original practices, but evolved over time to become…

Death Rituals According to Athenians, upon death, the spirit of the dead also referred to as psyche left the body with little puff or breathe of wind. Accordingly, proper rituals needed to be carried out for the deceased to prepare them for the burial by laid out procedures. Proper, detailed and procedural burial rites were to be conducted without omission of any rite otherwise the human dignity would be profoundly insulted. Relatives of the departed, primarily women, directed and conducted the…