Ritual Decalogue

Blindly following society’s norms can lead to consequences that negatively affect the lives of the followers. Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery begins with a focus on the villagers gathering for a lottery. The people begin to wonder where Tessie Hutchinson is who shows up late. Once the lottery begins, Mr. Hutchinson draws the marked paper leading to Tessie being chosen. She attempts to reason with the people claiming “it isn’t fair” (Jackson 6), however the villagers ignore her pleas and attack…

relatives and friends who have passed away. Such altar is decorated with candles, flowers, food and special drinks as a way to remember the deceased ones. For someone who is not familiar with such ritual, everything that is display on the altar are merely common objects found in a banquet. However, such ritual is based on symbolisms of the catholic and Mexica tradition, which belong to the syncretism of the Mexican culture. For example, the marigold flowers are known as zempasuchitl, and in the…

spaces from earthly materials. The Olmecs also established a very advanced drainage system and a social organization with an emphasis on religious symbolism. These accomplishments served as a base for later cultures and their beliefs, structure, and rituals. The Classic period is considered the peak of the Maya civilization, it is remembered as a time where they had distinctive writing and calendric systems, and amazing architecture with pyramids, palaces, and ball courts. “Recent studies…

introduces me to her parents back straightened, hair finally combed, strangled by a tie, ...” the quote shows perfect evidence about the the ritual and cliche of meeting the parents for the first time, this was a very big deal to American parents during the 1950’s. Marriage and The Sleepover Question propose the idea of the 1950’s American culture and rituals that are seen as formalities to the American and Dutch the meeting the parents, getting married, family and the idea of marriage in…

of the wo’gey and humans. The most likely reason that the Yurok revere Wohpekumeu above all of the other spirit beings in their culture is that he shows the greatest potential and worst pitfalls of being a human. Like humans have with language and ritual, Wohpekumeu can speak things into being and transform them, yet at the same time, he is gluttonous and constantly lusting after women. The Yurok can relate to Wohpekumeu on a deep level because he has made horrible choices and paid the…

without a negative thought. Some of the times, Josh feels compelled to perform several repetitions of the behavior without a negative thought in order to make-up for that exsisting bad thought. Besides negative nature of the ROCD, these repeating rituals can have a positive nature too. For instance, Josh has thoughts of religious figures when perforimng certain behaviors that he believes should not be associated with religious thoughts. In these circumstances, he feels compelled to repeat an…

The Ayahuasca is the hallucinogenic drink made from two separate plants in the Amazon. In the Ayahuasca, is the psychoactive drug DMT, which is the reason for the psychedelic effects. The shaman is an important presence within the ritual and is someone, “who mediate between people and supernatural beings and forces” (201). In the case of the natives from the amazon, their shaman is the one who can both make, and administer the Ayahuasca. These shamans drink the Ayahuasca with others…

II. Introduction “I could remember how my father used to say that the reason for living was to get ready to stay dead for a long time.”(40.2) Through this novel and the quote above the difficulty and life long process of preparing for death is revealed. Whether it is ours, or someone we love we are never truly prepared. As I Lay Dying , is set in the fictional adaptation of the author’s, William Faulkner, home town of Lafayette County (Yoknapatawpha County) in Oxford,Mississippi. Here the…

I determined that the central theme of this weeks reading is the Potlatch within the Natives of the Northwest Coast community. The reading addressed Potlatch, which was associated with most celebrations of the Northwest Coast communities. The name Potlatch it originated from the Nuu-chah-nulth tribe meaning to give. This ceremony would take more than year to plan this change normally associated with a persons change in status, such as, death, birth, marriage and coming of age. Some potlatch’s…

There is multiple and varieties of cultures and beliefs in the world that represent who and where everyone comes from. “The medicine Bag “ and “Rite of Passage” both have many things in common and many things the main characters do differently in their cultures. Watching the video is very differently from reading the story, they both give completely different perspectives of the topic. In the story “ The medicine Bag” and in the video “Rite of Passage” there is a variety of similarities…