The Process Of Initiation Rituals

Horace Miner’s “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” was a very entertaining essay. The essay made made fun of American culture without directly stating the name of the culture, other than including the word American spelled backwards. Miner bring to the reader’s attention the odd rituals practiced in America that the normal citizen would not find strange at all. However, by presenting his essay in this form he shows how strange American customs are from the view of someone in a different country.

Body Ritual Among the Nacirema What is the precise geographical location of this strange tribe, the Nacirema? The Nacirema is a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, though tradition states that they came from the east.

Maturity and rationalization is not yet achieved or experienced by teenagers. In the era of technology there are several distractions for drivers of any age to maneuver. Parents can play an educational role by enrolling their teen into a driver’s educational program. Some states require students to complete a comprehensive graduated drivers licensing (GDL) program prior to receiving their license. The brain function is still developing in teenagers and may impede the quick thinking process necessary to become a responsible driver. For the safety and welfare of teenagers the age requirement in Arizona for a driver’s license should be increased from 16 to 18 years of age.

Initiation Rituals are nothing new to different parts of the world or in different tribes. Different places have different initiation rituals, some far outside the norm and others mild. But the main goal is typical to go from one old status to a liminal status, and then into a new status, like for example entering Manhood. For western society, physical changes to the body through the body like the beginning of menstruation or the addition of more body hair would be some of the many physical changes that take place and signal the start of the transition to adulthood in this culture. It is not like that for everyone else, in many tribes such as the Fulani people, the people involved are put through a series or just one thing that will officially

In “The Lion King”, the Sacraments of Initiation are clearly depicted through events in the movie. The Sacrament of Baptism is shown when he first born and Rafiki presents Simba to the rest of the animals. The Sacrament of Confirmation can be seen when Simba walks over the river with Pumbaa and TImon during the song Hakuna Matata. The final Sacrament of initiation can be seen when Simba eats the bugs with Pumbaa and Timon. These are where the three Sacraments of Initiation can be seen in the movie “The Lion King”.

In the essay “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema”, anthropologist Horace Miner depicts a group of people known as the “Nacirema”, but is referring to Americans, whose cultural beliefs are deeply rooted in the perspective that the human body is prune to sickness and disfiguration. Consequently, a substantial part of their lives is spent on unusual rituals and customs to improve conditions of the body that are filled with magical components. Moreover, Miner uses the Nacirema’s unusual culture to establish his view that we simply could not judge another culture that it is different from our own, as opposed to another anthropologist Malinowski’s point that we can judge another culture since we are

After reading Horace Miner’s Body Ritual Among the Nacirema I cannot say that I would want to be part of the tribe. A huge reason would be that I could never go from my own Christian faith to the religious practices of the Nacirema. My second reason for not wanting to be part of the tribe is that I could never be subjected to the horrific medical practices and “magical potions” used on every citizen in the tribe.

Religion manifests itself everywhere around the world. Although all beings are different we come together as one transcendence being the host. Sacred rituals are performed, honoring beliefs in accordance to ones religion. Rituals are performed for a wide array of reasons, some being a sort of rite of passage, healing the sick and even birth or death rituals. Judaism, Santeria, and Christianity all have ceremonies and rituals, some carried out as different as night and day, and some for the same purposes. These religions in depth have more in common than the eye can see, devotion, transcendence and worship to a higher absolute power. All participating in Sacred Ritual.

3. Characterize the initiation ritual. How do you think it compares to the “real” ritual – if such a ritual exists?

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

Rituals around the world all teach valuable lessons that help initiates see the value and importance of life. Each culture has different rituals that provide experiences for their youth to learn these valuable lessons of life. Many coming of age rituals are intense procedures. The Amazon's Satere Mawé youth enter adulthood through the bullet-ant glove initiation, teaching courage and endurance, and the crocodile scaring ritual that the men from the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea participate in teaches them pain and accomplishment.

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

In the book “Body Ritual Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner, it describes the people of the Nacirema tribe; a North American group with a culture distinguished by their highly developed market economy as well as the immense amount of importance placed on the very specific ritual activity based around the human body’s appearance and impurities. Their customs and rituals are large part of who they are and when investigated closely this is very apparent as it gives more insight into who the Nacirema are as a whole.

“Body Rituals Among the Nacirema” by Horace Miner’s ethnography based passage centers on the isolated land of Nacirema. There, anthropologist studies studied the “odd” behavioral rituals and cultural norms that the Nacirema people have such as drilling holes into the mouth and a charm box the people bow their heads into. Seemingly being a foreign land will almost disturbing customs, the reader soon learns that Nacirema, in reality, is America and the routinely activities that is initially portrayed to be peculiar are things that we do on a daily basis. The main purpose for creating Nacirema is to provide an unbiased opinion to all, allowing the views to create their own opinion about some of the activities Americans do. Allowing the reader

Many people have experienced a Rite of Passage at least once in their lives without recognizing it. Experiencing a Rite of Passage is necessary to becoming an adult. A Rite of Passage can be both formal and informal, they both indicate a shift from one state to another. Formal Rites of Passages are weddings, Quinceañeras, and Bar Mitzvah, whereas informal Rites of Passages are a person’s first kiss, first job, and or the loss of a person 's virginity. Julia Alvarez focuses on the process and idea of Quinceañeras in her article "Selections from Once Upon A Quinceañera." Also included in this article is Jaider Sánchez that witnessed the sexual part of the ritual and Isabella Martinez Wall who talks about the benefits of the ritual on her life.Although many people believe that experiencing a Rites of Passage is not directly related to one 's self identity, these rituals both informal and formal do in fact affect one 's personal identity.