[published in Encyclopedia of Anthropology, 5 Vols.

Edited by James Birx, Thousand

Oaks (CA): Sage Publications, 2005.]
RELIGIOUS RITUALS1
A ritual is a prescribed, routinized, and ceremonial action or set of actions, the function
of which is symbolic and has specific significance to the performer and/or the
performers community. One a very basic level, rituals are an inherent part of living.
They can be seen in many forms of animal life, from ants to humans. The importance
and power of ritual can be seen in the persistence of rituals in contemporary secular
society. These range from a greeting rituals to elaborate and highly complex
governmental and national rituals. Religious rituals have additional deeply rooted
meanings and functions, and they also serve as public or private displays of ones
commitment to and faith in a system of beliefs. Of the various types of rituals that can
be found in cultures and traditions throughout the world, many tend to share common
themes, patterns, and purpose. Ultimately, however, rituals serve as vehicles to create
or enhance the proximity of the rituals beneficiaries to the realm of the divine, to
influence the divine or supernatural, or to facilitate the attainment of power associated
with the spirit being who is propitiated. In their enactment, rituals take individuals out of
the ordinary realm of everyday mundane experience and create for them an opportunity
to undergo something higher, more sublime, and closer to the divine. The are certain
aspects and parts of ritual that can be found throughout the religious cultures of the
world. The more common elements and themes are discussed below.
Purification and Sanctification. Because of the sacredness associated with most ritual
performance, many are preceded by rituals of purification. These typically include
physical cleansing of participants, ritual items, and ritual sites. Additionally, fasting,
abstinence, solitude, and other similar practices may be included. These are meant to
help prepare the participants physically, emotionally, and spiritually to perform the
subsequent rituals, as well as to receive the blessings, forgiveness, or powers that other
rituals are meant to confer. Purification rituals may also be done on their own as a
preparation for most everyday activities, from eating to working to sleeping.
Personal, Public, and Performer. When the individual who performs a ritual is a
commoner or lay person, the ritual is generally a personal one. Rituals of ablution,
prayer, meditation, offerings at a home altar, etc. are typically undertaken by lay
persons as a part of the daily enactment of their religious beliefs. When the performer
is a designated officiant, such as a priest or a shaman, then the ritual is a mediated
one, undertaken for the benefit of another (usually a lay person). In such cases, the
beneficiary of the ritual will likely pay the officiant, with money or goods, for the rituals
performed. Most religious traditions have individuals who are specifically trained and
officially authorized to perform such rituals. They are generally referred to in English as
priests, and their primary function is to oversee both mediated and public rituals. The
1

For the purpose of this article, the term ritual will be used specifically in
reference to religious ritual, unless otherwise noted.

latter are meant to draw the community into joint participation and expression of
acceptance of the beliefs and values being expressed by the ritual. They also function
to promote a sense of unity, in which individuals are inspired to support and promote
the communal system of behavior. Indigenous cultures often have shamans who
perform rituals as well. In these cultures, shamans are called upon for special and
individualized rituals, such as performing exorcisms, curing illnesses, warding off
curses, and mediating with the world or spirits and ancestors.
Beneficiaries. Every ritual has a beneficiary, someone or something for which the ritual
is undertaken. In a personal ritual, the benef iciary is generally the person who performs
it. In a mediated ritual, on the other hand, the beneficiary is the individual for whom it is
performed, or the inanimate objects for which or with which the ritual is enacted. An
example of the latter is a ritual done to purify or sanctify a place or object. In the
process, not only is the place or thing blessed, but the objects used in the ritual may
then be seen as similarly sanctified. Typically, the rituals believed to be the most
powerful are mediated ones, performed by qualified and authorized officiants.
Representational vs. Presentational. In explaining the role of symbols, Roger Schmidt
provides the useful bifurcation of representational and presentational. The former has
emblematic value, while the latter presents or shares in the essence of that which is
symbolized. These categories are useful in application to ritual roles and functions as
well. Secular rituals are, for the most part, representational in that they are not believed
to cause any fundamental alteration of the participants. Their functions and
significances are generally personal, social, symbolic, and not necessarily mandatory.
Thus, attendance at ones graduation ceremony, for example, is not a prerequisite to
graduate. A particular type of greeting on meeting someone may be a traditional ritual
but is not always required. Most religious rituals, on the other hand, are presentational.
They are believed to have the potential to bring about a fundamental change in the
rituals beneficiaries as per the particular ritual performed, and they are traditionally
mandatory. A blessing of food actually alters the spiritual essence of the food. A
marriage ceremony actually changes the participants spiritually, as well as legally and
socially.
Not all religious rituals are presentational, however. A good example of the difference
can be seen in the preparatory rituals to prepare the communion bread and wine in
Christian churches. During the ritual in those Protestant denominations that perform it,
the bread and wine used in are believed to be affected to a degree but not
fundamentally changed by the ritual. Instead, they serve a symbolic, representational
function. The Catholic Church, on the other hand, believes that the prayers and rituals
of the priest actually bring about an alteration of the substance of the bread and wine,
so that they come to share in the essence of Christs blood and flesh although their
outer form remains the same. The more indigenous and traditional a religion, the more
its rituals are presentational. The more westernized and liberalized a religion, the more
its rituals tend to take on a representational value and function.
Periodic. A periodic ritual is one that is undertaken at regular intervals, such as daily,

weekly, monthly, annually, and so forth. Their purpose is to mark time, to establish or
maintain a connection between the performers and their cultures or communities, and
to inspire active and regular participation of members of a tradition with its beliefs and
practices. They thereby help to enhance bonds between members of a religious
community with each other and with their belief system. Such rituals can be either
communal or individual and can be performed by the beneficiary or by an officiant.
Examples include daily meditation, prayers before meals, Sunday mass, or full moon
services.
Imitative or Sympathetic. This category includes rituals in which participants
ceremonially remember and/or symbolically reenact special events in a religious
traditions sacred past. The Christian practices of baptism and communion, the Jewish
Seder, and the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca are some examples. Such rituals
may be periodic, as those mentioned above, or may be performed for special
occasions. An example of the latter is a ritual of healing, in which a shaman reenacts a
past event when a healing occurred or imitates the behavior of a particular spirit whose
function it is to dispel disease or disease-causing agents. These rituals have often
been labeled magic by outsiders to the traditions in which they exist.
Penitential or Corrective. Most religious traditions have specific rituals that serve to
cleanse a member of consequences of sins committed, bad karma, or other such
actions, and to bring the member back into grace with the divine or spirit world, as well
as with the community. Common elements in these include a ritual bath, ascetic
practices like fasting, repetition of certain prayers, a period of solitude, and sacrificial
offerings. They are to be performed with the hope, but not guarantee, that the
supernatural being who is propitiated will grant forgiveness. As such, they are to be
performed with an attitude of contrition and humility.
Rites of Passage - Rituals called rites of passage mark ones transition through the
various stages in life, from as early as conception throughout life until death, and even
afterwards. They mediate and signify changes in individuals lives, conferring on them
identity and status in their communities, taking them from one state of physical and
social being to a greater one. At the same time, these rituals validate the traditions,
values, and hierarchy of the culture. Drawing on the work of Arnold van Gennep, Victor
Turner developed valuable theories with respect to rites of passage. Significant here is
his identification of three stages that can be seen in most such rites, the pre-ritual state,
the liminal or transitional state, and the post-ritual state.
Puberty rituals are typical of rites of passage and are an important part of many
cultures process of adult identity formation. They function to transition youth from a
state of relative freedom and social powerlessness to one of increased power, as well
as increased social and familial responsibility. Prior to the puberty ritual, young boys
and girls are viewed as children, generally have few responsibilities or powers, and
relatively few distinctions. During the liminal state, which can last from a few hours to
days or weeks, the youth are separated from the rest of the society and undergo a
process whereby they are supposed to let go of their previous state of mind and being

in preparation for their new identity, as adults. At the end of the ritual process, the
participants emerge with a new identity. Males are often expected to take more
responsibilities for the support and protection of their families. In many cultures, they
now may be ready for marriage, and they can no longer freely mix with non-related
females. Likewise, females become of marriage age after puberty, must now dress
differently, can no longer play with their friends in the same way, must avoid all but
necessary contact with non-related males, etc. They are now women and are expected
to fulfill whatever role their cultures assign that state. Thus, puberty rites confer more
specified identities, roles, and responsibilities.
Another example of a rite of passage ritual is initiation, or ordination, into a renunciant
religious order as a monk or a nun. This is a special ritual, since it is only undertaken
by certain members of a culture. It essentially removes them from their families and
from the society around them. At the same time, it elevates their status within that
society. They are given special privileges as well as special restrictions. Their state
can be viewed as one of extended liminality, in that they always remain as separate,
even when living in the midst of the society. By their leaving the traditional social order
in this way, they actually help to validate it. This is because they function to serve as
protectors and teachers to those who remain in and support the society.
Arts as Ritual. Dancing, singing or chanting, music, and the various forms of visual art
all have religious origins and continue to be integral to most religious traditions. The
creation and performance of these are seen as ritual enactments. They are often
preceded by rituals of purification, and their performances are believed by bring power
and/or blessedness. As an example, Tibetan Buddhist monks ritually create elaborate
mandalas, or sacred designs, using colored sand. The ritual is preceded by purification
rites over the site and the objects used in creating the mandala. The actual creation
can take up to a week to create. Once completed, it is followed by more rituals, and
concludes by sweeping up all the colored sand into an urn. Some of the sand is given
to spectators, who see it as sacred and may keep it on their home altars, while the
remaining sand is poured into a flowing body of water. The ritual is typically performed
to bring healing to the earth. The dismantling of the mandala and dispersion of the
sand reflects the Buddhist view of impermanence.
Vows and Rituals. Most people who do personal rituals, do so as a part of a regular
adherence to religious beliefs. They typically integrate the rituals into their daily lives,
along with eating, working, and so forth. On occasion or for special reasons, individuals
may also add vows to their rituals. These take the form of promises to fulfill certain
duties or abstain from certain acts for a specified period of time. They are generally
done in combination with a vow to perform repeatedly a particular ritual for a certain
number of times or days. An example of this is a Christians vow of abstinence during
Lent along with the performance of specific daily prayers, or a Hindus vow to fast on
Tuesdays and make offerings at a Hanuman temple. Thus, vows and rituals go hand in
hand. Moreover, it is believed in many cultural traditions that if one undertakes vows in
conjunction with rituals, the latter will be more effective.

------------------------Rituals embody the religious tradition of which they are a part. On the empirical level,
they facilitate individual identity formation while validating and reaffirming the beliefs,
values, and social cohesion and stability of the community. On the spiritual level, they
serve as vehicles, in one manner or another, to draw beneficiaries closer to the divine,
to enhance communication with spirit beings, to provide access to supernatural powers,
or to facilitate ones path to salvation or enlightenment. Some rituals are seen to have
little actual power, while others are believed to be highly efficacious. Traditional
cultures tend to place far more emphasis and belief in rituals and their powers. As a
consequence, the lives of their adherents are much more ritually defined and
supported. Moreover, there is an increasing view that many of the problems in
urbanized and westernized society are exacerbated by the lack of ritual tools and
supports to address them.

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