Ritual practices and cultural significance

religious ritual PRACTICES

Regardless of where it is practiced, nearly every religion in today's modern world contains some form of ritual. These are usually referred to as ceremonial actions that are "repetitive in nature and which people perform as a part of their religious behavior" (Swift, 34). This is very closely linked to worship which suggests that there is a divine being or beings who deserve to be worshipped. However, not all religions worship divine beings, although they do participate in other rituals. Religious rituals almost always involve some kind of worship mixed in with prayer, chanting, meditation, the lighting of candles, pilgrimages and the devotional reading of religious books like the Holy Bible and the Quran. Some religious rituals are held in public places, while others are performed by individuals in a private setting. Thus, regular participation in a religious ritual is often more important than reflecting upon religious beliefs and plays a major role in the lives of those who participate.

In Roman Catholicism, the most important religious ritual is known as the Sacraments, usually called mass, and involves seven specific sacraments which stand as "signs and symbols by which God acts" upon man and the universe (Harvey, 123). The first of these ritualistic sacraments in baptism which for Catholics is necessary for personal salvation. Baptism is also necessary for the inborn sin that is found in all human beings simply because they are human. Most Catholics are baptized when they are babies or children, but when this sacrament is performed on an adult it is often called "the Rite of Christian Initiation which points to its other function as the ritual of incorporation into the church" (Salomane, 435).

After baptism, another sacrament is known as confirmation which symbolizes that the baptized person is now an adult in the eyes of the church. Usually, the person being confirmed is anointed on the forehead with oil that has been blessed to signify the seal of the Holy Spirit. This sacrament is believed to provide the grace which is necessary to live a mature Christian life within the church. As part of the central act of Catholic worship known as the mass, the liturgy of the Eucharist re-enacts in words and actions Jesus sharing bread and wine with his disciples at the Last Supper.

With the sacrament of the Eucharist, the bread and wine actually becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ when the priest speaks the words of consecration, being "This is my body, this is my blood" which symbolically reflects the words that the Gospel record as to what Jesus said to his disciples at the Last Supper (Hall, 218). Of course, the most ritualistic action associated with the Catholic faith is the ordination to the priesthood, a ritual which "sets a man apart for the official sacramental ministry of the church" and which gives the priest "the grace required to carry out the demands of his priesthood" (Grissom, 242). Only men are allowed by the Catholic Church to become priests, partially because sacrament or Holy Orders is a mission entrusted by Christ to his apostles, the sacrament of apostolic ministry which can only be conferred upon men (Grissom, 242).

With Hinduism as practiced mostly in the nation of India, religious ritual is very closely linked to certain festival days in which each god and goddess are celebrated with ritualistic worship at a specific temple dedicated to each deity. Under most circumstances, weekly worship of these gods and goddesses are also held and are often fitted into the more common Sunday morning time period for those individuals who practice some other form of religious devotion. The priests associated with these temples also perform life cycle rites such as birth rituals, weddings and funerals for Hindu families. Most practicing Hindus celebrate the five day-long festival known as Pancha Ganapati between December 21st and the 25th, similar in nature to the Christian holiday of Christmas.

This festival is dedicated to Ganesha, "a deity who is revered as a remover of obstacles in a person's daily life." As a way of compensating this deity for assistance, families may construct a shrine in their private homes and then decorate it with pine boughs, ornaments, tinsel and lights, much like a Christmas tree. Gifts are also placed before this shrine on a daily basis and on December 25th, these gifts are opened with much festivity and celebration (Harvey, 175).

One particular world religion which has perhaps the most religious ritual attached to it is that of Islam which is the third of the major Semitic monotheistic religions along with Judaism and Christianity. Islam is most closely affiliated with the people and cultures of the Middle East and is practiced by Muslims, the followers of Allah and the prophet Muhammad. Islam is second only to Christianity in its number of worldwide devotees and wherever Muslims may live, they all must practice very specific rituals known as the Five Pillars of Islam.

The first pillar is based on pure faith and is symbolized through the repetition of the creed known as Shahadah which goes "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah." Devout Muslims repeat this affirmation of pure faith on a daily basis which is meant to "help keep the major principles of their faith at the center of their lives" (Thorson, 140).

The second pillar is prayer five times a day which is preceded by ritual cleansing of certain body parts and is accompanied by specific ritual actions like sitting, standing and prostrating oneself with the forehead touching the floor or the ground. This ritual is always done by facing to the east toward the ancient city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the most holy city of Islam. Muslims are also encouraged to repeat these prayers more than is normally required and to add their own personal prayers to those required by their religion. These prayers are said at dawn, at mid-day, mid-afternoon, dusk and at night. Thus, by repeating these prayers, Muslims "are kept continually aware of the existence and power of Allah and for the need to submit to him," especially when prayer are said at a mosque, the Islamic place of Holy Worship (Salomane, 356).

The third pillar is the giving of alms to the needy, yet this practice is not generally considered as a pure ritual. However, the fourth pillar of fasting during the month of Ramadan is quite ritualistic, for during the month in which tradition holds that the revelations to Muhammad began, fasting means complete abstention from eating, drinking, smoking and sexual activity from just before sunrise to until just after sunset on every single day. Some type of meal is consumed immediately before and following the hours of fasting, a ritualistic activity which "helps unite Muslims around the globe, encourages empathy for those who are hungry or lacking in food and reinforces submission to the will of Allah" (Harvey, 356). This is also a period of increased spiritual awareness and often includes reading and studying the Holy Quran.

The final pillar is known as the hajj or the pilgrimage to Mecca, a journey that all

Muslims are required to make at least once in their lives as long as they are physically, mentally and financially able to do so. This pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca brings Muslims together for a long and tedious series of rituals in and around Mecca, especially at the Grand Mosque and the Kabah, "a large stone building that Muslims believe was built by the prophets Abraham and Ishmael for the worship of Allah" (Hall, 278). Most pilgrims also visit the city of Medina where Muhammad found protection after he was forced to flee from Mecca, due to death threats against him by those who thought he was a heathen. After defeating his Meccan enemies, Muhammad made a pilgrimage back to Mecca; thus, the rituals that he performed now serve as the prototypes for the same rituals done by Muslims today.

Much like the rituals associated with Islam, a set of specific rituals move individual Jews through their lifetimes, while another set of rituals paces the community through its collective life. There are many differences in the types of ritualistic observances, but all Jews "are united by these individual and collective religious practices and rituals" (Thorson, 141). Two of the best-known rituals is the circumcision of male babies and the Bar or Bat Mitzvah and as is the case with most religions, birth is the first step of the life cycle to be ritually symbolized. For a girl, it is the father's responsibility to read the Torah, the most holy book of the Jews, at a synagogue service immediately after birth; he also recites "the usual benedictions before and after reading the Torah and then officially announces the name for his new daughter" (Salomane, 367).

For a boy, this ritual is much more complicated. For example, circumcision is a major Jewish religious ritual and for Jews represents and symbolizes a visible sign of the covenant between Abraham and God which is handed down through each succeeding generation as found in the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. This ritual takes place on the eighth day after birth and the ceremony itself involves both religious and surgical elements and may be performed by a surgeon of a specially-trained Mohel who has both surgical and religious knowledge. After the circumcision is performed, a festive meal almost always follows as a symbol of thanks to God and to the prophet Abraham.

One of the most complicated religious rituals of Judaism is the Bar Mitzvah for boys and less frequently, the Bat Mitzvah for girls. These words mean "the son or the daughter of the commandment and mark the coming of age of a male or female child" (Harvey, 325) who is then seen as an adult and is responsible for observing the commandments set down by Moses and to fill adult roles in the congregation of the synagogue. This ritual traditionally occurs on the Sabbath following the child's thirteenth birthday and is preceded by intensive study of the Torah and other religious books and documents. One other important Jewish ritual is marriage which traditionally is the next life cycle ritual in the lives of most Jewish women and men after becoming an adult. The Ketubah or marriage contract which "spells out the responsibilities of both partners is signed during the ceremony" of marriage and is a legally valid document as well as a religious one, similar in nature to a conventional marriage license or pre-nuptial agreement (Hall, 215).