Chapter 3: Rituals

1. Chapter 3: Rituals Meaning in Symbolic Actions

2. Rituals: Actions Serving as Symbols • Rituals—symbolic actions that help us concretely, or physically, express our beliefs, values, and deepest concerns. • Serve as ways of communicating what is important to us, what has meaning for us. • Like symbols, rituals have deeper meaning that what immediately meets the eye. Some Rituals include: • A handshake • Sign of the cross • The Olympic Games • Consecration of a pope

3. Practical Actions vs. Symbolic Actions • By definition, all rituals involve actions. • Actions that are performed only for specific, practical purposes are not rituals. Is this a Practical Action or Symbolic Actions (Rituals)?? • Walking to school? • Walking in a protest march? • Waking up for school? • Morning and evening prayers? • Eating? • Saying grace before a meal? • Play a sport? • Praying before a game? • Practical actions and symbolic actions do not necessarily exclude each other • They can be intertwined, and to good advantage.

4. Rituals and Routines: A Popular Confusion • Confusion over what constitutes a ritual may come about because in popular jargon an action that is repeated often or routinely is called a ritual: • Brushing our teeth at night • Riding the bus to school • Taking a shower in the morning • These are routines, however, not rituals because they are not symbolic actions.

5. Rituals: Meanings at Many Levels • Like signs, routines are one-dimensional in meaning, whereas rituals have deeper, multilevel meanings. • A blink? • A wink?

6. Keeping Rituals from Becoming Routine • Unfortunately many actions that people perform regularly at rituals become so familiar that the distinction between the practical (routine) and the symbolic (ritual) can be blurred. • We can forget what the rituals actions symbolize. • Rituals like the Mass can be experienced as a lifeless routine if they are repeated continually without any sense of its deeper significance.

7. Rituals and Play • Rituals can also be distinguished from routines in that rituals are often playful activities. • Connecting play with ritual does not mean that rituals are not serious. • Rather, it means they are not work: they are not done solely to provide physical, practical results. • They are done for enjoyment. • As playful activities, rituals enable us to pause from our daily routine.

8. Birthday Party • Gathering of friends and family • Birthday Hats • Balloons • Activities-piñata • Presentation of gifts • Birthday Cake • Singing of “Happy Birthday” • Blowing out the candles

9. School Plays • The characters being portrayed • Significant words: “Break a leg” • Creation of the sets • Acquiring or making of the costumes • The music • Applause • Celebration after the performance

10. Basketball Games • Gathering of family and friends • Support of the school (“The Mafia”) • Team Mascot • Uniforms • “Star-Spangled Banner” • Handshakes • Team huddles • Prayer before start of the game • Sportsmanship talk • Applause/Chants • Cheerleaders

11. Characteristics of Rituals • Movements and gestures • Repeated actions • Symbolic celebrations • Important events • Significant words • Linkages to the past • Communal Actions • Participation, not observation • Of course, not all these characteristics are found in every ritual. • Some rituals stress certain traits more than others do (wedding vs. birthday party)

12. Movements and Gestures • Rituals consist of movements and gestures that convey meaning. • Shaking hands • Kissing someone • Waving good-bye • Clapping hands at a performance • They are acted out, and they have meaning beyond what they express as literal actions.

13. 2. Repeated Actions • Rituals are often repeated—mostly because, as symbolic actions rich in meaning for us, they are worth doing more than once. • Ex: Anniversary of a relative’s death • Attending of a Mass • Visiting of the gravesite • Gathering at family house (food, reminisce, enjoyment of family)

14. 3. Symbolic Celebrations • Rituals can be called symbolic celebrations because they break us out of life’s routines. • Simple rituals like prayer can be seen as celebrations. • In prayer we are taking the time out to rejoice in God’s presence in our life. Olympic Games: • Opening and closing ceremonies paying tribute to all participating around the world • Striving for excellence • Commitment to a goal • Respect for culture • World Unity • Torch • Binded Rings

15. 4. Important Events • Rituals are usually connected to important events in people’s lives. • Many rituals formalize our “firsts” • Anniversaries, graduations, award ceremonies, birthdays, baptisms, confirmations call for symbolic celebration

16. 5. Significant Words • Rituals often include significant words that support the actions. • Standing and reciting the pledge of allegiance, taking an oath in office, and making the sign of the cross also combine verbal with nonverbal actions.

17. 6. Linkages to the Past • Rituals link people with their past. • Fourth of July parades and fireworks displays are meaningful celebrations in the U.S. • Festivities like these speak to people about their past, reminding them of who they are.

18. 7. Communal Actions • Rituals are often communal actions; that is, they may involve a whole group of people at once. Ex: • Christmas • New Year’s Day • Thanksgiving • Graduations • All events celebrated within a community setting

19. 8. Participation, Not Observations • Rituals require people’s wholehearted participation. • In other words, it is not enough merely to observe rituals. • Nothing is more boring than being at a ritual and not understanding or being part of it. • Ex: : Fans at a sporting event: Home court advantage—an enthusiastic and supportive crowd can actually improve a team’s performance.

20. Rituals and Worship • The historical roots of rituals go back to the pre-historic era. • Anthropologists learned through cave paintings and remains of early communities (hunt and farming cultures) • Parts of an animal would save or burn certain parts, such as the brain. • Earliest portion of the harvest would not be burned or eaten *Interpreted as ritual acts and that human society was performing religious rituals at it earliest stages of development*

21. “Doing the Holy” • For most ancient cultures, life centered on nature, and in these cultures, nature was believed to be controlled by both supportive and threatening spirits. • Rituals functioned as the primary means of communicating with these spirits. • Through rituals people thanked the spirits of nature and attempted to keep them friendly.

22. “Doing the Holy” • From the beginning, then, rituals and ritual sacrifices were linked to worship. • The word sacrifice comes from the Latin sacrum facerewhich means “to make holy” or “to do the holy.”

23. Ritual Worship or Magic? • Ritual worship is an attempt to get in touch with the spiritual world, to put oneself in harmony with spiritual powers. • Show gratitude and humility to the Divine Mystery • Magic, on the other hand, is an attempt to manipulate spiritual powers. • Magical objects or actions are “believed” to produce their effects on a person regardless of his or her motives or intentions.

24. Christianity and Rituals • The New Testament shows us that rituals have been a part of Christianity from its very beginning. • The association with Jesus’ words and actions gave rituals in the early Christian church their meaning. • Over time, the church acquired more and more rituals, and many of these were called sacraments.

25. The Sacraments • Sacraments were not just any Christian rituals but were those specially privileged moments in which Christ communicates his grace through certain words and actions. • By the end of the 13th century, the term sacrament was identified only with the rituals of: • Baptism • Confirmation • The Eucharist • Reconciliation (Penance) • Anointing of the Sick • Matrimony • Holy Orders