R I T U A L
“Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books.”
GEORGE GURDJIEFF
GEORGE GURDJIEFF
Most people regard, for all practical purposes, the words 'ritual' and 'ceremonial' as interchangeable; but they're not; there's a vital difference between these terms (which will serve the useful purpose of focusing us on the true nature of ritual).*
Let me explain. A ceremony is an event; it can be as matter-of-fact and fleeting as a handshake or as protracted and grandiose as a coronation; but an event none-the-less. A ritual is also an event; but (here's my point) it's a causal event. The presupposition of the participants of a ritual is that they are setting in motion a chain of causality with the ultimate objective of modifying some aspect of reality.
A ceremony marks an event; and a ritual is an event which instigates a process of cause and effect.
To further hammer home the point, psychiatrists say that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) sufferers engage in 'ritualistic' behaviour - they don't say that they are engaging in 'ceremonial' behaviour. This is because OCD patient's are irrationally fixated on performing an action in a particular way because they believe that any deviation from their routine will produce a negative outcome in some area of their lives which is logically unconnected with the perceived cause.
Confusion is created because a 'ceremony' and a 'ritual' can (and many times do) look alike. It is important to understand that the difference is in the intention of the officiates and participants not in the structure of the event. It's perfectly possible, for instance, that a wedding can be a 'ceremony' for the audience and a 'ritual' for the priest, bride and groom. You can apply the same split-level significance to a coronation; ostensibly a glamorous expression of national pride; but with a core of pure magic which is understood by the key participants (and those who recognise the arcane symbolism). Or you could say that a coronation (or a wedding) is a secular ceremony which 'encapsulates' a sacred ritual.
Let me explain. A ceremony is an event; it can be as matter-of-fact and fleeting as a handshake or as protracted and grandiose as a coronation; but an event none-the-less. A ritual is also an event; but (here's my point) it's a causal event. The presupposition of the participants of a ritual is that they are setting in motion a chain of causality with the ultimate objective of modifying some aspect of reality.
A ceremony marks an event; and a ritual is an event which instigates a process of cause and effect.
To further hammer home the point, psychiatrists say that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) sufferers engage in 'ritualistic' behaviour - they don't say that they are engaging in 'ceremonial' behaviour. This is because OCD patient's are irrationally fixated on performing an action in a particular way because they believe that any deviation from their routine will produce a negative outcome in some area of their lives which is logically unconnected with the perceived cause.
Confusion is created because a 'ceremony' and a 'ritual' can (and many times do) look alike. It is important to understand that the difference is in the intention of the officiates and participants not in the structure of the event. It's perfectly possible, for instance, that a wedding can be a 'ceremony' for the audience and a 'ritual' for the priest, bride and groom. You can apply the same split-level significance to a coronation; ostensibly a glamorous expression of national pride; but with a core of pure magic which is understood by the key participants (and those who recognise the arcane symbolism). Or you could say that a coronation (or a wedding) is a secular ceremony which 'encapsulates' a sacred ritual.
A Japanese tea ceremony on the other hand (as the name suggests) is definitely a 'ceremony'. Beautiful and powerful and precise though they are there is no expectation on the part of the participants that future events will be directly influenced by the process.
This distinction is clearly articulated by Derek Walcott (Saint Lucian poet and playwright; Nobel Prize for Literature 1992) who said, "Any serious attempt to try to do something worthwhile is ritualistic." (That is, has the intention of creating change.)
In the magical arena rituals are precisely defined actions and speech used as a prelude to, and to create context for, a magical working. Rituals themselves can also be the act of magic - the medium can be the message (or rather 'messenger'). And ritual also serves the important function of creating a safe psychic environment within which to enter alternative states of consciousness aimed at accomplishing objectives by non-rational means. A Christian sacrament falls into this category.
Ritual is the cornerstone of magical practice; in a group situation a ritual synchronises the perceptions of the participants and acts as a lens to concentrate intention on a common objective serving to 'temporarily adjust the participants' psychology'; every aspect of ritual should act on the physical senses towards a specific predefined purpose. A well constructed and executed ritual will elevate the participants' incrementally from everyday consciousness to the level where magic is optimally possible.
Listed below are extracts of fascinating opinion from the world's leading authorities on ritual - historians, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, and theologists. (You may note with glee, starting with the redoubtable George Gurdjieff, that even these luminaries have a tendency to confuse the terms.)
*Check out the dictionaries; for the most part they are as muddled as the general populace on the subject. You can also add the following to the muddle-list: festival, celebration, dedication, rite, sacrament, conventicle, observance, service.
This distinction is clearly articulated by Derek Walcott (Saint Lucian poet and playwright; Nobel Prize for Literature 1992) who said, "Any serious attempt to try to do something worthwhile is ritualistic." (That is, has the intention of creating change.)
In the magical arena rituals are precisely defined actions and speech used as a prelude to, and to create context for, a magical working. Rituals themselves can also be the act of magic - the medium can be the message (or rather 'messenger'). And ritual also serves the important function of creating a safe psychic environment within which to enter alternative states of consciousness aimed at accomplishing objectives by non-rational means. A Christian sacrament falls into this category.
Ritual is the cornerstone of magical practice; in a group situation a ritual synchronises the perceptions of the participants and acts as a lens to concentrate intention on a common objective serving to 'temporarily adjust the participants' psychology'; every aspect of ritual should act on the physical senses towards a specific predefined purpose. A well constructed and executed ritual will elevate the participants' incrementally from everyday consciousness to the level where magic is optimally possible.
Listed below are extracts of fascinating opinion from the world's leading authorities on ritual - historians, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, and theologists. (You may note with glee, starting with the redoubtable George Gurdjieff, that even these luminaries have a tendency to confuse the terms.)
*Check out the dictionaries; for the most part they are as muddled as the general populace on the subject. You can also add the following to the muddle-list: festival, celebration, dedication, rite, sacrament, conventicle, observance, service.
'"While pyramids, temples, cathedrals, and skyscrapers were built and fell into decay, languages and religions came and went, and innumerable wars were fought, the Vedas and their ritual continued to be transmitted by word of mouth, from teacher to pupil, and from father to son."
JOHAN FREDERIK STALL
JOHAN FREDERIK STALL
Johan Frederik (Frits) Staal (Emeritus Professor of Philosophy University of California, Berkeley)
Staal's specialised in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras, and the scientific exploration of ritual and mysticism. He is also a scholar of Greek and Indian logic and philosophy and Sanskrit grammar. His recent study has been concerned with Greek and Vedic geometry. Staal has argued persuasively now for decades that the ancient Indian grammarians, especially Panini, had completely mastered methods of linguistic theory not discovered again until the 1950s.
Staal's specialised in the study of Vedic ritual and mantras, and the scientific exploration of ritual and mysticism. He is also a scholar of Greek and Indian logic and philosophy and Sanskrit grammar. His recent study has been concerned with Greek and Vedic geometry. Staal has argued persuasively now for decades that the ancient Indian grammarians, especially Panini, had completely mastered methods of linguistic theory not discovered again until the 1950s.
"[the ritual is]...a straightforward and far from miraculous process: the slaughter and consumption of a domestic animal for a god."
WALTER BURKERT
WALTER BURKERT
Walter Burkert (German scholar of Greek mythology and cult, 1931)
Burkert argues that myth and ritual serve a 'socializing function.' He suggests that hunting took on a sacred, ritualistic aura once it ceased to be necessary for survival: "Hunting lost its basic function with the emergence of agriculture. But hunting ritual had become so important that it could not be given up." By performing the ritual of hunting together, an ancient society bonded as a group, and allowed members to vent their anxieties over their own aggressiveness and mortality. Greek Animal Sacrifice.
Burkert argues that myth and ritual serve a 'socializing function.' He suggests that hunting took on a sacred, ritualistic aura once it ceased to be necessary for survival: "Hunting lost its basic function with the emergence of agriculture. But hunting ritual had become so important that it could not be given up." By performing the ritual of hunting together, an ancient society bonded as a group, and allowed members to vent their anxieties over their own aggressiveness and mortality. Greek Animal Sacrifice.
"In imitating the exemplary acts of a god or of a mythic hero, or simply by recounting their adventures, the man of an archaic society detaches himself from profane time and magically re-enters the Great Time, the sacred time."
MIRCEA ELIADE
MIRCEA ELIADE
Mircea Eliade (Romanian historian of religion; professor at the University of Chicago, 1907 – 1986)
Eliade considers one important function of myth is to provide an explanation for ritual. Eliade notes that, in many societies, rituals are considered important precisely because they were established by the mythical gods or heroes. Societies claim that many of their rituals were established by mythical figures, thereby making the rituals seem all the more important. "When [ritually] enacted myth acts as a time machine, carrying one back to the time of the myth and thereby bringing one closer to god."
Eliade considers one important function of myth is to provide an explanation for ritual. Eliade notes that, in many societies, rituals are considered important precisely because they were established by the mythical gods or heroes. Societies claim that many of their rituals were established by mythical figures, thereby making the rituals seem all the more important. "When [ritually] enacted myth acts as a time machine, carrying one back to the time of the myth and thereby bringing one closer to god."
"That the God-man died for his people, and that His death is their life, is an idea which was in some degree foreshadowed by the older mystical sacrifices."
WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH
WILLIAM ROBERTSON SMITH
William Robertson Smith (Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, 1846 – 1894)
Smith supported the position that myth and religious doctrine result from ritual (primacy of ritual hypothesis) and drew a distinction between ancient and modern religion: in modern religion, doctrine is central; in ancient religion, ritual is central. Smith argues that the ancients tended to be conservative with regard to rituals, making sure to pass them down faithfully. In contrast, the myths that justified those rituals could change and that many myths arose after the original reason for the ritual had been forgotten.
Smith supported the position that myth and religious doctrine result from ritual (primacy of ritual hypothesis) and drew a distinction between ancient and modern religion: in modern religion, doctrine is central; in ancient religion, ritual is central. Smith argues that the ancients tended to be conservative with regard to rituals, making sure to pass them down faithfully. In contrast, the myths that justified those rituals could change and that many myths arose after the original reason for the ritual had been forgotten.
"[Ritual is]...the performance of more or less invariant sequences of formal acts and utterances not encoded by the performers..."
ROY A. RAPPAPORT
ROY A. RAPPAPORT
Roy A. Rappaport (distinguished anthropologist and author of 'Pigs For Ancestors', 1926–1997)
Rappaport was known for his contributions to the anthropological study of ritual and to ecological anthropology. One of his books, 'Pigs for the Ancestors': Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People (1968), is an ecological account of ritual among the Tsembaga Maring of New Guinea. This book is often considered the most influential and most cited work in ecological anthropology In that book he coined the distinction between how a people interpret their ecological niche and how their reality actually exists.
Rappaport was known for his contributions to the anthropological study of ritual and to ecological anthropology. One of his books, 'Pigs for the Ancestors': Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People (1968), is an ecological account of ritual among the Tsembaga Maring of New Guinea. This book is often considered the most influential and most cited work in ecological anthropology In that book he coined the distinction between how a people interpret their ecological niche and how their reality actually exists.
"Magic expresses the greater value for man of confidence over doubt, of steadfastness over vacillation, of optimism over pessimism."
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI
Bronisław Malinowski (widely considered one of the most important 20th century anthropologists, 1884–1942)
Malinowski describes ritual language as possessing a high 'coefficient of weirdness,' by which he means that the language used in ritual is archaic and out of the ordinary, which helps foster the 'proper mindset' to believe in the ritual. that myths function as fictitious accounts of the origin of rituals, thereby providing a justification for those rituals: that myth "gives rituals a hoary past and thereby sanctions them."
Malinowski describes ritual language as possessing a high 'coefficient of weirdness,' by which he means that the language used in ritual is archaic and out of the ordinary, which helps foster the 'proper mindset' to believe in the ritual. that myths function as fictitious accounts of the origin of rituals, thereby providing a justification for those rituals: that myth "gives rituals a hoary past and thereby sanctions them."
"Magic acts are ritual acts, and ritual acts are in turn performitive acts whoes positive and creative meaning is missed and whoes and whoes persuasive validity is misjudged if they are subjected to that kind of empirical verification associated with scientific activity."
STANLEY TAMBIAH
STANLEY TAMBIAH
Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah (Harvard Professor of anthropology, religion and politics, 1929 )
Tambiah's interests include how Western categories of magic, science and religion have been used by anthropologists to make sense of other cultures. He notes that even if the power of the ritual is said to reside in the words, the words only become effective if uttered in a very special context of other action. These other actions typically consist of gestures, possibly performed with special objects at a particular place or time. Object, location, and performer may require purification beforehand.
Tambiah's interests include how Western categories of magic, science and religion have been used by anthropologists to make sense of other cultures. He notes that even if the power of the ritual is said to reside in the words, the words only become effective if uttered in a very special context of other action. These other actions typically consist of gestures, possibly performed with special objects at a particular place or time. Object, location, and performer may require purification beforehand.
"It should be quite clear, then, that there are no criteria to be laid down in general for distinguishing the real
from the not real."
JOHN LANGSHAW AUSTIN
from the not real."
JOHN LANGSHAW AUSTIN
John Langshaw Austin (British philosopher of language, 1911 - 1960)
Austin is associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action. In his understanding, language is not just a passive practice of describing a given reality, but a particular practice that can be used to 'invent and affect realities'. He coined the term 'performativity' meaning that the ritual act itself achieves the stated goal. For example, a wedding ceremony can be understood as a ritual, and only by properly performing the ritual does the marriage occur.
Austin is associated with the concept of the speech act and the idea that speech is itself a form of action. In his understanding, language is not just a passive practice of describing a given reality, but a particular practice that can be used to 'invent and affect realities'. He coined the term 'performativity' meaning that the ritual act itself achieves the stated goal. For example, a wedding ceremony can be understood as a ritual, and only by properly performing the ritual does the marriage occur.
"Religious and profane life cannot coexist in the same time. Sacredness requires that special times be set aside for religious rituals."
DAVID EMILE DURKHEIM
DAVID EMILE DURKHEIM
David Émile Durkheim (pioneering French sociologist, 1858 - 1917)
Durkheim stresses the importance of rituals as a tool to achieve 'collective effervescence',which serves to create unity. He suggested that in pre history individuals lived scattered across the landscape, in groups too small to generate the kind of religious forces he identifies. But at certain moments there were social gatherings large enough to acquire what we today might call critical mass. Such gatherings would, in Durkheim's metaphor, effervesce.
Durkheim stresses the importance of rituals as a tool to achieve 'collective effervescence',which serves to create unity. He suggested that in pre history individuals lived scattered across the landscape, in groups too small to generate the kind of religious forces he identifies. But at certain moments there were social gatherings large enough to acquire what we today might call critical mass. Such gatherings would, in Durkheim's metaphor, effervesce.
"Thus it assumes that all personal beings, whether human or divine, are in the last resort subject to those impersonal forces which control all things, but which nevertheless can be turned to account by any one who knows how to manipulate them by the appropriate ceremonies and spells."
JAMES GEORGE FRAZER
JAMES GEORGE FRAZER
James George Frazer (anthropologist and author of 'The Golden Bough', 1854 - 1941)
Frazer claimed that myth emerges out of ritual during the natural process of religious evolution and that man progresses from belief in magic (and rituals based on magic), through belief in religion, to science. That myth changes while custom remains constant; men continue to do what their fathers did before them after the cause has been long forgotten. The history of religion is an attempt to reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for an absurd practice.
Frazer claimed that myth emerges out of ritual during the natural process of religious evolution and that man progresses from belief in magic (and rituals based on magic), through belief in religion, to science. That myth changes while custom remains constant; men continue to do what their fathers did before them after the cause has been long forgotten. The history of religion is an attempt to reconcile old custom with new reason, to find a sound theory for an absurd practice.
"...it is generally easier to obtain accurate accounts of ceremonies by eyewitnesses, than anything like trustworthy and intelligible statements of doctrine; so that very much of our knowledge of religion in the savage and barbaric world consists of acquaintance with its ceremonies"
SIR EDWARD BURNETT TYLOR
SIR EDWARD BURNETT TYLOR
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (pioneering English anthropologist, 1832 - 1917)
Tylor is the classic exponent of the ritual-from-myth approach which the relationship between myth and ritual is analogous to the relationship between science and technology. He saw myth as an attempt to explain the world: for him, myth was a sort of proto-science. Ritual is secondary: just as technology is an application of science, so ritual is an application of myth—an attempt to produce certain effects, given the supposed nature of the world.
Tylor is the classic exponent of the ritual-from-myth approach which the relationship between myth and ritual is analogous to the relationship between science and technology. He saw myth as an attempt to explain the world: for him, myth was a sort of proto-science. Ritual is secondary: just as technology is an application of science, so ritual is an application of myth—an attempt to produce certain effects, given the supposed nature of the world.
"Without participation in rituals or the appropriation of the elements which it mediates, the human person faces psychological conflict, personality impairment and estrangement from the inner self and outer society. Correspondingly, hollow or weak rituals will threaten the ability of the 'pseudo-species' to incorporate new members and maintain a stable existence in the flow of history. Neither individuals nor communities can survive psychologically without ritual."
ERIK ERICKSON
ERIK ERICKSON
Erik Erickson (Danish-German-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst, 1902 - 1984)
Erickson's biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther reveal his positive view of religion. He considered religions to be important influences in successful personality development because they are the primary way that cultures promote the virtues associated with each stage of life. Religious rituals facilitate this development. Erikson's theory has not benefited from systematic empirical study, but it remains an influential and well-regarded theory in the psychological study of religion.
Erickson's biographies of Gandhi and Martin Luther reveal his positive view of religion. He considered religions to be important influences in successful personality development because they are the primary way that cultures promote the virtues associated with each stage of life. Religious rituals facilitate this development. Erikson's theory has not benefited from systematic empirical study, but it remains an influential and well-regarded theory in the psychological study of religion.
"[Ritual is]...a prescribed formal behavior for occasions not given over to technological routine, having reference to beliefs in mystical beings and powers."
VICTOR TURNER
VICTOR TURNER
Victor Witter Turner ( British cultural anthropologist, professor at the University of Chicago, 1920 – 1983)
Turner was best known for his work on symbols, rituals and rites of passage. His work, along with that of Clifford Geertz and others, is often referred to as symbolic and interpretive anthropology. Turner spent his career exploring rituals making a life long study of the Ndembu tribe of Zambia. Turner became intrigued by ritual and rites of passage and created the new concept of social drama in order to account for the symbolism of conflict and crisis resolution among Ndembu villagers.
Turner was best known for his work on symbols, rituals and rites of passage. His work, along with that of Clifford Geertz and others, is often referred to as symbolic and interpretive anthropology. Turner spent his career exploring rituals making a life long study of the Ndembu tribe of Zambia. Turner became intrigued by ritual and rites of passage and created the new concept of social drama in order to account for the symbolism of conflict and crisis resolution among Ndembu villagers.