RITUALChapter 5

2 BROAD CATEGORIES OF SACRED RITUAL

change of seasons(solstices, equinoxes , new

year, planting, harvest) Historical event

remembered

Life Cycle Calendar

birth puberty adulthood marriage religious initiation death

OFFERING SACRIFICES Atonement for defilement,

transgression, sin Escaping violence or maintaining peace

by transferring aggression outside of the community

Scapegoat

Syria, Greece, Israel

RITUAL dromenon (greek): a thing done to

achieve a specific end rite (latin) Just as a symbol is a meaningful sign, ritual is a meaningful action (movements, sounds)

Confucius taught that rituals from the Cho dynasty needed to be revived in order to create virtuous people and rulers. Without ritual he believed one could not have a just, ordered society or raise responsible adults. Read p. 75 (bottom)

RITES OF PASSAGE Arnold van Gennep (anthropologist)

wrote The Rites of Passage (1909) {see p. 77, bottom}

3 stages: separation, transition, reincorporation

Victor Turner (anthropologist) called the transitional stage limenal (limes= border, threshold) . He called reincorporation into the community communitas.

serve both the individual and the community

EXAMPLES OF RELIGIOUS RITES OF PASSAGE

The Hindu Brahman class observes 16 samskaras.

Try to sort the samskara cards first by a category of your choosing. Then sort chronologicaly within each category.

Do the 7 Roman Catholic sacraments fall into categories as well?

Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Penance (Reconciliation), Marriage, Holy Orders, Annointing of the Sick (Last rites – Extreme Unction)

SACRAMENTS Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox

Christians define 7 sacraments as a visible sign instituted by Christ to give grace, a sign that really effects what it symbolizes. It works ex opere operato.

Protestant Christians see sacraments more as representational symbols, and the number varies among different denominations (0, 2, 3)

SECULAR EXAMPLES OF RITUAL ACTIONS The pledge of

allegiance Exchange of wedding

rings & vows Graduation ceremonies Blowing out birthday

candles Fireworks on 4th of July Raising of the flag –

flying at half-mast Funerals - Burial

KEY VOCABULARY rites of passage liminal stage tonsure social puberty rites shamans exorcisms

seasonal/calendar rites propitiaition expiation/atonement sacrament scapegoat Akitu Yom Kippur Bar mitzvah Communitas mantra