Religious Rituals

Question 1

ritual vs religious rituals

Answer 1

ritual: a patterned, recurring sequence of behaviours
religious ritual: a ritual that involves the manipulation of religious symbols
- such as prayers, offerings, sacrifices, and reading scared literature
rituals can be both private and public
- public rituals reinforce group acceptance and facilitate group belonging

Question 2

religious ritual

Answer 2

2 elements of religious practice
- ritual
myth

Question 3

types of rituals

Answer 3

prescriptive rituals: a ritual that a deity or religious authority requires to be performed
- ex. marriage, last supper, baptism
situational rituals (AKA crisis rituals): a ritual that arises as needed, frequently in times of crisis
- ex. healing, fasting, moments of silence
periodic (AKA calendrical rituals): rituals that are performed on a regular basis as part of a religious calendar
- Christmas, Easter, lent
occasional rituals: a ritual that is performed when an occasion arises

Question 4

classification of rituals

Answer 4

1) technological rituals: attempts to influence or control nature
- the hunting and gathering rites of intensification functions to influence the tribes quest for food
- protective rituals: rituals designed to protect the safety of people in dangerous activities
- divination rituals: rituals that seek information about the unknown
2) therapy rituals: rituals that deal with healing, illness, accident, or death
- ethnobotany: medical plants
- anti therapy rituals: rituals that cause illness, accident, or death
3) ideological rituals: serve to maintain status quo
- the social rite of intensification is a type of ideological ritual that are usually prescribed and periodic
- regular church attendance, prayer, pilgrimage
4) salvation rituals: these focus on the religious experience of an individual
- confession, possession
5) revitalization rituals: these focus on the elimination of alien customs and a return to native/traditional way of life
- associated with revitalization movements, a movement that aims to bring about change in a society

Question 5

rites of passage

Answer 5

a ritual that involves the transition from one status to another. this ritual serves to legitimize the new status and to imprint it on the community’s collective memory

• often public
• religious or secular
• ex: baptism, marriage, and graduation
  status: a social position that is defined in terms of appropriate behaviour, rights, and obligations, and its relationship to other statuses
• husband, wife, child, adult, teacher, student, graduate

Question 6

rites of passage: phases

Answer 6

phase 1: separation - removal from former status
- engagement
phase 2: transition - the process of moving from one status to another
- liminal state
- from the time you are engaged to the end of the wedding day
phase 3: incorporation - the individual is reintroduced to the community in his/her new status
- changing last name

Question 7

rites of passage: coming of age

Answer 7

female:

• childhood to adulthood usually marked by her first period
• some rituals include female genital mutilation
• Apache video:
• myth= creation myth
• separation= preparation in the tent with only close others
• transition= running to the basket, dancing all night, showing no emotion, pollen=fertility
• incorporation= receiving new name, reintroduced with new name
  male:
• don’t have physical marker of puberty
• rituals can involve male circumcision, physical/mental exertion, or other body alterations like tattooing or scarification (crocodile scar)

Question 8

female genital mutilation

Answer 8

clitoridectomy 
infibulation
serious implications:
- infection
- painful menstruation
- pain during intercourse
- childbirth complications
- infertility
- trauma
- death

Question 9

pilgrimage

Answer 9

a journey to a sacred place or a sequence of sacred spaces at when rituals are performed