Rituals Flashcards
What is a ritual?
A solemn and sacred ceremony.
What is a ceremony?
Ceremonies follow an arranged of actions and sounds. It is unique to the cultures. Ceremonies are repeated monthly or annually. It gives meaning to an event, reaffirm beliefs of cultural group, establish the accepted behaviors
What is this solemn?
Means that the ceremony must be taken seriously and is a formal occasion
What is sacred?
Means the ceremony is connected to God and is therefore spiritual and religious
What are the origins of rituals?
Origins are lost in pre-history and we only have drawings on the cave walls. It is the earliest human record of rituals ceremonies. Humans have engaged in ritual since the beginning of time
Why did the primitive man develop worship ceremonies?
The primitive man develop ceremonies is for Gods of sky and earth. They believe God assist everyday
How are ceremonies is carried out?
Carried out the reminding, singing and dancing of myths to explain, illustrate, beliefs
Who are the people that directed ceremonies?
People directed ceremonies are known as poet, interpretations, Shaman, medicine man or Sangoma
Who are the people that are able to speak to the gods?
The directors of the ceremonies were able to speak to the gods as they knew magical/spiritual language
What is pre-history?
Pre-history is history that occurred before the invention of writing systems, records. History passed down orally
What is celebrations in a community involved?
Celebrations in a community involved forms of presentation amongst a gathering of people in a community. It is a dramatic form. It is in Hance through dance, music, speech and costumes. Involves performers, performance space and audience
What was the style of dance unique?
Style of dance was unique to the cultural group, described as imitate him. It mimics/ call Pete movement of their immediate environment such as people and animals
What is dance used to assist?
It is used to assist telling of a ritual story by physically acting out of characters
What are the three functions of dance?
- Physically create characters in ritual story
- Intensely express emotions by adding atmosphere/mood of ritual performance
- Create spectacle and excitement in performance
What is music in rituals?
Common in rituals. Instrument or simplistic and common to areas where community lived. It is handmade such as mbira, natural horn. Singing was also integrated
What are the three functions of music?
- Enhance atmosphere
- Build ritual to frenzy or spiritual passion
- Accompany singers, dancers, speaker in telling a story
What is speech and dialogue in a ritual?
Dialogue Hardly used. Perform is used predominantly vocal sounds and singing. Phrases were repeated as a question or answer structure between performers and audience.
What are the three functions of speech and dialogue?
- Tells a story which is accompanied by a song
- Verbally create characters
- Connect audience to story
What is mask and costume in a ritual?
Want to impersonate characters as animals or supernatural beings. Tried to believe spirit were attracted by their own likeliness by using masks/costume to attract and embody animal/spirit. They use make up to cover their bodies such as paint, ashes, juice from fruits. They made use of natural resources in religion and we traditional. Style match is this tribe
What are the three functions of masks and costumes in rituals?
- Hide individual performer
- But comes possessed by magic of God and use of magic to heal sick or bless families
- And atmosphere/magic to the performance
Who are the performers?
Members of the community that are highly skilled and disciplined or specifically selected due to faith or social standing.
True or false physical actions or dance were realistic
False. Physical action/dance was not realistic
What is described as mutual faith?
They only found out/understood through participation and involvement of spectators described as mutual faith
Who was the audience?
Is involved every member of the community
Why was there no distinction between the audience and the perfomers?
Everyone was equally involved in. Performances were solemn and sacred which means meet your faith was necessary to be significant and community building. It led to a greater sent on the community
What were the spatial arrangements?
It varies according to the cultural group. Often a circular area in the middle of the village. May have been a backdrop which the space usually was three sided.
Why was the circle arrangement seen as significant?
Circle is significant as it is seen as a symbol of life, unbroken and continue with. There is no end and no beginning
