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Rituals

Rituals. Chapter 4. Part I. Introduction. Ritual can be defined as patterned, recurring sequence of events When these acts involve religious symbols, prayers, reading or saying sacred words, etc. it is a religious ritual. The Basics. Religious rituals are a lot like plays. They have:

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Rituals

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  1. Rituals Chapter 4

  2. Part I

  3. Introduction • Ritual can be defined as patterned, recurring sequence of events • When these acts involve religious symbols, prayers, reading or saying sacred words, etc. it is a religious ritual

  4. The Basics • Religious rituals are a lot like plays. They have: • Actors (shamans or priests) • Words (prayers, spells, sacred text) • Sets (altar, church, mosque) • Props (incense, masks, robes) • They also have music and dancing

  5. The Basics • So what makes a play not a religious ritual?

  6. The Basics • So what makes a play not a religious ritual? • It is to entertain • The audience actively participates

  7. The Basics • Religious practices most commonly have ritual and myth • These are tied to worldview • Audience participates and rituals help stabilize society and unify the group

  8. The Basics • What are some familiar religious rituals?

  9. The Basics

  10. Types of Rituals • Prescriptive rituals: required to be performed • ex. Commandment to keep Sabbath holy • Situational rituals: spontaneous, can be during times of crisis • Sept. 11th

  11. Types of Rituals • Periodic/Calendrical rituals: performed on a regular basis • ex. Sunday church, Passover, Ramadan • Occasional rituals: performed when the need arises • Marriage ceremonies, funerals

  12. Classification of Rituals • Anthony Wallace created categories of types of rituals • Pg. 79 • Include rituals that try to: • Control nature • Heal the sick • Maintain peace in a community • Rites of passage (stages in life cycle)

  13. Technological Rituals • Attempt to control or influence nature • Used with hunter/gatherers or people who rely on nature for survival • Common among Native American groups • Ex. Thanking an animal that you have hunted for its meat and skin

  14. Technological Rituals • For the Inuit (pg. 81) • Seal hunts are part of their survival • Success depends on Mother of the Sea • Seals have souls and rituals pay respect to seals they hunt • Creation myths, world views influence rituals

  15. Lakota buffalo ritual

  16. Protective Rituals • Are used before dangerous activities • May be done before each activity or when an unexpected event occurs • Ex. The Vikings ‘blooded the keel’ of a new ship (human sacrifice) • Today we break a bottle of champagne on a new ship

  17. Remember… • Rituals can belong to more than one category • Just try to have one good example for each category

  18. Social Rites of Intensification • These maintain normal functioning of society • Teach good/evil; moral/immoral; how to act/how not to act • Ex. Sabbath, Easter, Rosh Hashanah • Ex. Jewish practice of reciting kaddish at someone’s funeral • Reaffirms their faith

  19. Offerings and Sacrifices • Many rituals try to communicate with deities • People give gifts, bribes, money, etc. in the hopes the gods will return the favor • The difference is that in a sacrifice blood is shed and in an offering gifts are exchanged

  20. Offerings and Sacrifices • Human sacrifices have been common through history • Aztecs fed human blood to the Sun so the world would not end • Those sacrificed believed they would become gods • Would cut open the chest and remove victim’s still-beating heart • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk2E1CoGe98

  21. Assignment • But did they really rip a still-beating heart out of the victim? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQKJRnPpIxw • Top Ten Human Sacrifices

  22. Healing Rituals • Cultures have different explanations for what makes people sick • Ethnobotany is using medical plants to help cure people • We have made many common drugs out of medicinal plant knowledge

  23. Healing Plants • In fact, much of our knowledge of medicinal plants also comes from watching apes use them • Example: Virnonia amydalina (bitter pith) to prevent malaria • They swallow Aspilia plant to get rid of parasites

  24. Healing Rituals • Therapy rituals focus on curing those who are sick • Anti-therapy rituals are those that try to bring illness, accident, or death to others • Ex. Fore of New Guinea take a something associated with an enemy, recites a spell and buries it. They believe this will cause person to develop kuru

  25. Video • Taboo: Creature Cures • http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1oo9uh_national-geographic-taboo-s02e05-creature-cures_techWhat types of healing rituals are in the videos? • What elements from lecture are demonstrated? • Do these rituals ‘work’? Explain your answer

  26. Assignment • Review study guide for quiz on Monday • HW 2 (The Adaptive Value of Ritual) is online and due next class

  27. Part II

  28. Salvation and Revitalization • Salvation rituals involve a person changing in some way, usually being possessed or having altered state of consciousness • Revitalization rituals aim to return to the traditional way of doing things

  29. Rites of Passage • These are rituals that mark a certain life stage or the transition of status • Ex are birth, naming rites, puberty, marriage, death • In some societies naming rites are delayed because of high infant mortality • Other examples: circumcision, bat mitzvahs, quinceaneras,

  30. Rites of Passage • These can also be coming-of-age rituals, especially to mark puberty • Also called initiations • Girls are usually separated from the group • Initiations are usually more complex for boys than for girls • Rituals involve separation, modifying body, wearing different clothes, getting a different name, etc.

  31. Rites of Passage • Initiations have important phases: • Liminality : ambiguous phase during the change • Usually there is communitas, or the bonding of everyone going through the same phase • Rites are very difficult and show that the person can be an adult (pain, separation) • In the US, military initiation is a rite of passage. Describe why

  32. Initiation with Pain • Taboo: Initiation • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2GmB5sNZeQ • Questions: • What is the purpose of the initiation ceremony? • What aspects from lecture are demonstrated?

  33. Altering the Body • Can be temporary or permanent • Often during rites of passage • Includes tattooing, piercing, and scarification

  34. Permanent Altering • Tattooing, branding, stretching, circumcision • Tattoo is Tahitian for “to mark or strike” • What are social implications in the US about tattoos? • They can mark social identity

  35. Horimono tattoo: Some African tribes use Scarification Pay homage to ancestors stretching to show wealth as initiation

  36. Video • If time, Taboo: “Marks of Identity” • Questions: • How do the neck rings and tattoos mark these groups’ cultural identities? • How are these considered rituals?

  37. Genital Cutting • Circumcision is very common and also accepted in Western cultures • What is the reason for doing it? • Male circumcision is a common rite of passage • Though much older and no anesthesia or scalpels • Initiations should show pain tolerance

  38. Genital Cutting • There is one practice that is almost universally condemned • Female circumcision or clitoridectomy in which the clitoris and/or labia are removed • Vaginal opening can be sewn almost shut • Keeps a woman “pure” until her husband has sex with her • Female domination, health issue, human rites issue

  39. In-Class Assignment • ICA #3: Article on FGM

  40. Pilgrimages • Sacred places occur in creation myths and these become places worshipers visit • Muslims  Mecca • Jews and Christians  Jerusalem • Hindus  River Ganges • May also be sites of miracles

  41. Religious Obligations • Actions performed by a group or individual • Saying grace, kissing a mezuzah (on doorway), lighting a candle • We know of behaviors that are appropriate for religious rites, but how do we know what is inappropriate?

  42. Tabu or Taboo • Tabu (or taboo) means things that are restricted, forbidden, or off limits • In marriage, incest is usually a tabu • In a Polynesian chiefdom, the chief is sacred because he was given power by the gods. Everything he touches is sacred, so he is carried everywhere • Jewish tradition of keeping kosher • Prohibits pork • Rules for slaughter and preparation

  43. Discussion • 1. What are rituals performed in your own culture (at school, work, at sporting events, religious ceremonies, etc.)? • 2. Discuss a rite of passage you have had or have attended. Identify the phases. • 3. How do we identify adulthood in the US? Is there a specific rite of passage for this? Is there a formal marker of adulthood?

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