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Anti-Therapy Rituals

Anti-Therapy Rituals. Meant to bring about harm Ex: The Fore (from Ch. 1) Cause of Kuru – Sorcery ritual.

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Anti-Therapy Rituals

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  1. Anti-Therapy Rituals • Meant to bring about harm • Ex: The Fore (from Ch. 1) • Cause of Kuru – Sorcery ritual. • Steal something of the victim’s, mix with leaves/bark/stones, bind into a package. Recite a harmful spell, bury into the cold, muddy ground. Victim then develops uncontrollable shaking of Kuru. • Ex: Australian Aboriginee Cursing Ritual“Bone Pointing”

  2. Ideological Rituals • Meant to maintain social order, norms, values, morals. Assist community in times of change and crisis, reasserting social order. • Ex: GHOST DANCE • Associated with the Massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 where 153 Lakota Sioux were killed during its performance. Started by Wovoka, a Paiute Native American who received a message from God that if this dance was performed, impending doom from the “Manifest Destiny” of settlers could be avoided, and harmony and peace would prevail. Social Rite of Intensification A Prescribed and Periodic Ideological Ritual.

  3. Ideological Rituals cont. • Rite of Passage: purpose is to change the status of an individual within a community and to imprint this new status to collective memory. • Status: refers to social position (i.e. brother, mother, husband, Instructor, student, policeman) not to rank • Rank: Hierarchical placement of an individual within society (i.e. Employee, Supervisor, Middle Manager, Vice President, President, CEO) • Ex: Chimpanzee politics in relation to human social groups.

  4. Ideological Rituals cont. • Rite of Passage stages: • Separation: an individual is separated from previous status • Transition: undergoes rituals (can involve initiation and/or pain ceremonies) • Often a time of mystery and metamorphosis. An individual is in a state of Liminality: ambiguous social marginality occurring in this transition phase. • Incorporation: Individual reenters society w/ new status

  5. Rite of Passage Coming of Age Rituals: Boys vs. Girls • Coming of Age Ritual: Marks transition from childhood to adulthood. • Girls: • Menarche usually marks the beginning. • Since time of menstruation is different for each girl, the Coming of AgeRitual is usually an individual event. • Ex: Yanomamö women: onset of menarche, girl is cloistered in a specific area of the home (separation). She sits here for 3 days, shaves her head, eats little and wears no adornments (transition). At the end, she cleans herself and re-enters society as an adult (incorporation).

  6. Rite of Passage Coming of Age Rituals: Boys vs. Girls • Coming of Age Ritual: Marks transition from childhood to adulthood. • Boys: • Usually initiated as an Age Set (a group of people around the same age), instead of individually like girls. • Ex: Gururumba men: group of boys are taken from their respective women/children homes (separation) to the men’s house. Here they must wipe off the polluting sweat obtained from the women’s hut, are psychologically and physically hazed to test their fortitude and learn secret knowledge meant only for men, including flute-playing (transition). Once they have accomplished this, they are then presented to the community as men (incorporation). • Since boys often go through Coming of Age Rituals together, communitas, or a sense of community and camaraderie, develops.

  7. Alterations of the Human Body • Some rituals require alteration of the body/certain body part(s) in the liminal state (Transition phase). Can be permanent and indicate completion of the ritual. • Clothing and body paint • Ex: Wedding Gown, Tuxedo (Wedding), Uniforms/Haircuts (Law Enforcement/Military) • Tattooing/Piercing • Ex: piercing/cutting the skin, inserting ink/pigment • Ex: Earrings/plugs/weights • Ex: Cicatrization (Scarification) • In West Africa, used in initiation and as a sign of bravery. Usually done with razor blades. http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/benin/benin-scarification-dest.html • Ex: Stretching of the Neck/Lower Lip/Neck • Paduang tribe from Thailand. Girls begin to wear coils right before puberty (Coming of Age Ritual). http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/thailand/thailand_brassshackles.html • Ex: Piercing: nose, eyebrow, lips, tongue, nipples, genitalia • http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/places/countries-places/indonesia/indonesia_teethchiseling.html (teeth chiseling)

  8. Genital Alterations • Sometimes performed as a Right of Passage • Male Circumcision • Cutting of the Foreskin. In Judaism termed “Berit Mila”. May also include official naming of the child. For girls, only the naming ceremony and not circumcision is performed. • Subincision: Underside of penis (and sometimes part of the urethra) is cut. • Female Circumcision • 3 major types: • Clitoridectomy: Clitoris/part of clitoris and sometimes part/all of labia minora. • Infibulation: Clitoris, labia minora and majora. • Pharaonic Infibulation: entire clitoris, labia minora, majora and remnants sewn together to form small openings for bodily functions. Wound reopened for sexual intercourse. • Not as widely accepted as Male Circumcision, considered by many outside cultures as a breach of Universal Human Rights: • (Google news broadcast): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sBhTYEE030 • Themes: Attempting to observe and understand, but not to judge. Question, how to balance Cultural Relativism with Human Rights?

  9. Salvation Rituals, Revitalization Rituals and Pilgrimages • Salvation Ritual: in which an individual is changed in some way • Ex: Spirit possession (temporary), initiation of a Shaman (permanent), Altered States of Consciousness Rituals (next chapter). • Revitalization Rituals: Elimination of foreign/recently introduced customs in order to return to a more traditional way of life. • Ex: The Amish • Pilgrimages: Journey to a sacred place, or a series of rituals that are associated with a sequence of religious sites. • Ex: Muslim (Kaaba in Mecca, the Hajj). • Ex: Navaho, Aborigine sacred landscape. Physical features of the environment (boulders/rivers/lakes) part of mythology that is still tangible (i.e. touched/seen).

  10. Tabu! • Not quite Ritual, but they are still Religious Obligations • Tabu: objects/people/actions that are off limits. Dishonor, bad luck or something else negative would result for the one who breaks Tabu. • Ex: Judaism (Uzzah steadies the ark to prevent it from capsizing but is smote dead by God for touching this most sacred of objects). • Ex: Mana (Polynesia) an impersonal supernatural force found concentrated in people, objects and the landscape (like “The Force”). Chief has so much Mana that he may pose a threat to others. Tabus are put in place to protect others (i.e. cannot touch the chief/use his items). • Tabu in our culture?

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