Ritual Is A Ritual

Rituals and rites are required in almost all religions because they hold meanings spiritually and emotionally. Reaffirming faith and practicing traditions are important parts of adherents' personal and religious life. Christian sacrament and Jewish rituals are derived from their religious stories and histories that represent symbolic stories of the origin and their sacred destiny (Esposito, 18) yet Judaism hold means of obedience to and gratitude for God, whereas Christianity is accepts "divine grace or aid through the incarnation of God" (Esposito, 23). Christians and Jews have religious expressions that have a beginning and an end (Esposito, 22) which corresponds with their rituals and rites providing the "assistance through every stage of life, from birth to death" (Esposito, 180).

A ritual is defined by anthropologist as actions that are intended to symbolize cultural events and myths for a specific purpose. The Aztecs had a ritual of sacrifice for their sun god, who was believed to eat humans . When these sacrifices were made the aztecs would use an obsidian knife in the shape of a tongue to represent the sun god eating his sacrifices. In turn for their sacrifices the sun provides seasons and good harvest. Horace Miner, an anthropologist, writes of American underlying morals in a different light intended to convey American idealistic thoughts.

Every Culture has a set of rituals that they partake in, that are often constructed over a long period of time. Simple Actions, and special moments contain so much meaning and make everlasting memories. All rituals despite the locations they originate from, or the location they are carried out in contain the same components, they are repetitive, symbolic, remind a certain group of people about their values and beliefs, and these rituals commemorate a significant moment. For example christians commemorate the birth of christ by attending mass, and many other cultures celebrate this moment in many different ways that have in depth symbolic meaning. In the book “Guests of the Sheik” by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea rituals play a major role. Fernea’s husband Bob is an anthropologist studying the occupants of a small village named El Nahra and their culture. Fernea has documented her experiences, and adventures, and her perspective of the many rituals that the townspeople participate in such as, Ramadan, Muharram, weddings, and pilgrimages. In Muslim culture pilgrimages are immensely important and can even lead to an elevated status. Such as the pilgrimage to Mecca. Fernea is able to participate in a pilgrimage to Karbala with a couple of the towns women she had befriended. The Pilgrimage to Karbala is a symbolic, and cultural ritual in the aspect that it is reenacted every year, and is full of symbolic meaning, commemorates an important occasion and reminds a culture about their

Now that I am able to draw a parallel with something I am familiar with, Greek organizations, I understand the importance behind religious rituals. Although it can be easy to question the practices as an outsider, I know first-hand what it feels like to be better connected with other members and the institution as a whole through participating in ritual. I now realize that although some aspects of ritual might seem to be extreme, individuals often come out on the other end with a greater sense of purpose and devotion. As individuals participate in ritual, group morale is often augmented; just like a baseball player’s confidence and enthusiasm might be improved through participating in a daily routine. Reading Gmelch and Sosis’s articles consecutively allowed me to better understand the common elements of a given ritual. Gmelch’s article helped me attribute a humanistic aspect to religious ritual, since I previously understood sports superstition at a deeper level. By combining an idea with which I was familiar with an idea I did not have extensive knowledge of, my understanding of both topics

Rituals play a significant role in all cultures. A ritual ‘is the practice or embodiment of beliefs expressed in structured action or prescribed procedures that often link to the sacred.’ Rituals are created by taking events from everyday life and giving them some sort of symbolic meaning. As one of the founding concepts of our discipline, ritual has long been a cornerstone of anthropological thought: from the works of Emile Durkheim through Arnold van Gennep, Victor Turner and Terry Lovat. Within this presentation I will be outlining the similarities and differences between Bar Mitzvah and Confirmation, and I will also explain the impact which the ritual has on the individual and society

The American society tends to feel very high and superior to other cultures in the world. The Unites States is the home to multiple revolutionary technological, medical, and numerous advances. The country is in a developed state that other countries tend to look at in order to know how to grow and advance. However, when looked at from the outside, things that are done everyday, “rituals”, can seem strange. Horace Miner wrote the essay “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” in order to highlight actions people do everyday in a way that opens the eyes of the reader. Although the rituals seem strange out of place, Miner had a specific purpose to give a new perspective and to leave a lasting effect of thought and change on the reader.

Throughout the novel, Ceremony, has made an imprint that there is a significance in ceremonies when it comes to the Native Americans and how it ties in with their culture. There is a decrease in seeing that there is a significance in Ceremonies and that is what Leslie Silko does throughout the novel. Noticing that any type of ceremony should not be negative only because Ceremonies is what keeps the natives going in their culture and what they believe in. One of the themes that I have seen through the novel is the use of ceremonies and how they weigh heavily in the novel and on the main character. Within the novel, Tayo, the main character goes through difficulty as he is sent off to

The Aztecs were very serious about their religion and it affected every Aztec’s daily life. Their religion revolved heavily around human sacrifices in order to please the gods. Sacrifices to the sun were essential to them because they did not want the sun to burn out on them. They do this because in their religion there was believed to be four other suns which had burned out before the sun we have now. Other than that it united its people and was what shaped the magnificent Aztec empire to what it was.

Ceremonies were also a large part in religion. Astronomy played a role within ceremonies and the worship of the gods. Religious ceremonies took place for many reasons. On of the most known is funerary practice. In order to honor the fallen pharaoh or important figure a large ceremonie, similar to a parade, would take place so individuals could worship the god and pray for their well being in the afterlife. Other processions of public celebrations or festivals where people could perform offerings and other acts of worship in order to please the gods.

Your ritual has been disrupted and something seems off all day. Rituals bring structure and consistency into our lives. Without this structure or consistency, a person will not recognize what are the important things in life, the important things about a routine or tradition.

I see ritual as one that holds all the aspects: the language and clothes, of a culture and is the glue between everything. I would also religion as a ritual in the context of providing a foundation and merit to ones actions. Religion does not have to be faith based, although it could be, but more of a constant apathy towards something – being sport, trading, or social life.

* Does the ritual seek to have practical outcomes (health, safety, prosperity)? Social outcomes (a change in status)? Emotional outcomes (feelings)?

Rituals have life cycles; they decline and gain in popularity, and new cultural rituals emerge as other ones fade. One by-product of the globalization of marketing is the emergence of global consumption rituals. Christmas and the World Cup soccer championship provide examples of the few ritualized celebrations that are

Ritual is a religious ceremony that involves a series of activities performed in a particular order by those who subscribe to the religion. Sacrifice is the act of giving something to a supernatural being to please it. The word sacrifice also means the offering given to the supernatural human being. The essay is going to discuss rituals and sacrifices in Confucianism, which is one the largest religion in China.

Similarity, the medival church did this to catch people's attention and to teach them the gospel. Another main difference between modern day theater and ritual is actors method in becoming the character. Modern actors submerge themselves psychologically and emotionally into the characters, while in this time period psychology did not exist so this sort of submergence into character did not exist. Another main difference between ritual and a theatrical performance is the belief from audience. In a play, the audience knows what is happening is an act of fiction and they understand that it might seem real but it is not. On the other hand an audience at a religious ritual believes that the ritual did happen and it is just a reenactment of a true biblical story. But like any performances, rituals do change as outside work influences the playwright of these rituals and causes small changes to the original biblical story or they create new stories that show religious morals and