Ritual

The ritual event that I have chosen is Jewish Circumcision known as brit milah. In Hebrew the word brit means covenant and in Yiddish form it is known as bris. I will go over the origins, laws and details of the ritual along with the person who performs the ceremony. I will also go over the location and the time in which the ritual takes place as well for the reasons this ritual is performed and what the significance of the ritual is. The brit milah is a life-cycle event that takes place right…

Religion and relationships between Gods and mortals in Archaic Greece is often a central focus to scholars studying the period. This is due to the popularity surrounding early Greek poetry through the extraordinary images of iconic Greek Gods and Goddesses, and how these figures are dominant in the lives of Greek people during the Archaic period. In terms of early Greek poetry, Homer’s Odyssey and the Iliad, along with Hesiod’s Theogony tend to be the most popular and useful in studying both the…

their economy is based on the fruits of their natural habitat and partly because their nation “originated [from] a cultural hero, Notgnihsaw” (Nacirema Ritual, pg. 503). Another aspect of their language shows the importance of the medicine men in the culture. An “ancient and secret language” is used by the medicine men and herbalists (Nacriema Ritual, pg. 504). They use this power and elitism to exploit those who believe and count on the medicine men’s ability and…

physically affected if they are cursed, bewitched or otherwise subject to magic (Lévi-Strauss 167-168). Lévi-Strauss then offers a qualification to Cannon’s assertion by saying that there are three elements which must be present in order for a magical ritual to have the desired physical effect. “[…] first, the sorcerer’s belief in the effectiveness of his techniques; second, the patient’s or victim’s belief in the sorcerer’s power; and, finally the faith and expectations of the group, which…

country where certain rituals…

Rites of passage can be a large part of many cultures and vary all over the world. The rituals followed mark important times in an individual’s life in various different ways which they transcend from one status to another. The first culture’s ritual I’ve chosen to study is African tribal coming of age, being as rites of passage are extremely critical to them. Each rite of passage helps by placing someone in their title in the community and setting their social and or spiritual position. The…

misrepresentations in Díaz del Castillo’s reports and the bona fide extent in which human violence in the Aztec society was executed. “Human Sacrifice/Debt Payments from the Aztec Point of View” details the Aztecs’ perspective on the ritual killings. Carrasco reasonably argues that the ritual killings of…

In A Discussion of Rites, Hsun Tzu discusses human desires and the way in which they are satiated through ritual. When a person is in constant struggles to fulfill their desires, that person loses control of their life. Since ancient times, rulers have noticed this, so they “established ritual principles… to train men’s desires and to provide for their satisfaction” (89). These kings also recognized that desires and material goods matter greatly to man, so “ both desires and goods were looked…

problematic it is to examine the traditions of a society as an outsider. At the beginning of her analysis Heidenreich prefaces this portion of the chapter with a narrative of a religious ceremony that the reader assumes is some sort of aboriginal ritual. Following this description Heidenreich reveals that the ceremony is actually a Protestant service she witnessed as a child, a service considered “traditional” in Western society. Throughout the rest of the chapter Heidenreich goes on to describe…

attention given to the Nacirema culture, especially within higher academic circles, several aspects of their ethos have remained elusive and enigmatic. Of particular interest are the mysterious rituals undertaken by the Nacirema which often reveal the inner workings of their society as a whole. One such ritual is the daily attendance of a building known as a myg. Prior to firsthand study of myg buildings and those who attended them, practically nothing was known of the importance or use of the…