Example of a ritual
16 Examples of Cultural, Family & Death Rituals
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Study any culture in the world, and you’ll find they all have their rituals. That’s because rituals play an important role in our lives. Rituals can help us celebrate important holidays. They can allow us to remember a family member on their death anniversary. They often remind us that we belong to a larger community.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Examples of Cultural Rituals
- Examples of Family Rituals
- Examples of Everyday Rituals
- Examples of Death or Remembrance Rituals
A ritual is merely any action that is repeated, whether it’s one of great significance, or simply a menial part of your routine. Some rituals take the form of grand ceremonies that occur at specific times of the year. Others are merely everyday tasks we go about without even truly thinking of them as rituals.
These examples will help you better understand the topic, clarifying not only what rituals are, but why they show up in just about all cultures.
Examples of Cultural Rituals
Rituals help cultures reflect on their shared values and experiences. The following are merely a few noteworthy examples:
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1. Coming of age rituals
Many cultures ritualize the moment when a child becomes an adult. Often, such rituals connect to a culture’s religious beliefs. For example, a bar or bat mitzvah is the coming of age ritual in the Jewish faith.
2. Birth rituals
Religious people also frequently practice rituals to celebrate the birth of a new child. Christians baptize babies to symbolically wash away original sin.
Some cultures perform circumcisions. In instances when families may not practice a particular religion, they might still have a ritual that involves introducing their child to the larger community in which they live.
3. Weddings
Cultures often ritualize marriage. A wedding is another example of a ritual that may involve religious practices but doesn’t necessarily have to. As long as marriages follow certain established steps, they are technically a ritual.
4. Holidays
Most holidays involve some form of ritual. Of course, the nature of these rituals will vary depending on the holiday and those celebrating it.
For example, giving gifts on Christmas is a holiday ritual. So is shooting off fireworks on the Fourth of July. Each serves very different purposes, but both are rituals that involve cultures coming together to mark significant occasions.
Examples of Family Rituals
The examples above likely made clear that rituals often (but not always!) help people connect.
Thus, it makes sense that many families have their own unique rituals. They may include:
5. A special trip
Some rituals only last moments. Others may take place over a few days or even weeks.
Consider the example of a family vacation. Many families travel to the same spot every year. They might ritualize the experience by eating at a special restaurant every time they go, playing the same games during the trip there, and more.
A ritual doesn’t need to be an official cultural ceremony to be meaningful to someone. The special traditions you and your loved ones share count, too.
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6. Birthday celebrations
Many families celebrate birthdays in somewhat ritualized manners. Some families might celebrate birthdays with special meals. Others might go somewhere every year on a birthday, such as the movies.
Some families sing songs or give gifts during birthdays.
Every family is different, but many practice the same general rituals of celebration for each member.
7. Game night
As you’ve probably realized by now, rituals don’t necessarily need to correspond with major life events or occasions. Sometimes they are simply regular practices people share to strengthen their bonds and have fun.
An example of such a practice is a weekly game night. In many families, sitting around the table to play fun games is a common ritual that helps keep the family close. (Unless they decide to play Monopoly.)
8. Passing down heirlooms
It’s worth noting that in some cases, long periods may pass between rituals. For instance, in many families, older members pass down family heirlooms when their children or grandchildren reach a certain age.
While this ritual may serve a variety of purposes depending on its specific nature, in general, such rituals remind us that as members of a family, we are all like links in a chain that extends through the generations.
Examples of Everyday Rituals
Once more, rituals are important in society for a variety of reasons. One is the simple fact that most people practice some sort of ritual just about every day. Examples may include:
9. Prayer or meditation
Not everyone makes a point of praying or meditating every day. For those that pray, daily prayer gives them a chance to reflect on what they are grateful for, ask that those they love remain safe, and seek guidance from a higher power.
Others meditate as a way to practice mindfulness and maintain awareness throughout their life. Some people even meditate as part of their search for enlightenment. Each of these practices is an example of a daily ritual.
11. Family dinner
Rituals can be simple ways to reconnect with the ones we love. That’s why a family dinner (or any other daily meal) is an everyday ritual for some people. When the family gathers around the table, they have the chance to tell one another about whatever is going on in their lives.
Some families have dinner together every night, others gather once a week or invite the extended family on Sundays. Each is an example of a ritual.
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12. Commutes
Hey, no one said all rituals are necessarily fun! But, because people often ritualize their commutes, it’s worth touching on this example.
Whether your commute ritual involves your morning coffee, listening to your favorite podcasts on the train, or simply kissing a loved one goodbye for the day, the steps you take when heading to work in the morning fit the description of rituals.
Examples of Death or Remembrance Rituals
Anyone who reads this blog regularly likely understands that the way people acknowledge death in different cultures often involves rituals, such as lighting a candle for a loved one who has passed on. Other examples of death rituals include:
13.
Funerals A funeral is probably the simplest example of a death ritual because it’s the most well-known. That doesn’t mean all funerals are the same.
Not every culture lays the dead to rest with the burials or cremations common in the United States. For example, some Tibetan Buddhists ritually dissect the bodies of the recently deceased, leaving them out in the open so vultures can eat them.
Other cultures traditionally dress the bodies of those who have recently died in their normal clothes, carrying them around in parades before burying them.
14. Día de los Muertos
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is one of the world’s most well-known and recognized death rituals.
On November 1 and 2, many in Mexico and some South and Central American cultures celebrate life by honoring the dead. Common sights during Day of the Dead include people dressed as skeletons, shrines to the dead, and candy skulls.
15. A New Orleans Jazz Funeral
Not everyone conducts funerals the same way.
A New Orleans Jazz Funeral, for example, is so unique that it deserves its own spot on this list.
It’s also exactly what it sounds like. After a funeral service in New Orleans, sometimes people march to the burial site with a brass band leading the way. The band traditionally plays “When the Saints Go Marching In.” This practice started to become relatively common in the late 1800s, and like Day of the Dead, it takes what could be a somber moment or subject, and turns it into something more festive and joyful.
16. Ghanaian fantasy coffins
Now for something a little unexpected, but definitely interesting.
Some people in Ghana don’t settle for typical coffins when burying loved ones. Instead, they choose fantasy coffins designed to look like everything from cars to animals.
This isn’t because these coffins look unique. Those who bury friends and family in them believe that life continues after death. That means they also believe a person’s work may continue after death as well.
Thus, they bury them in a coffin that symbolizes their job. For example, if someone worked for an airline while they were alive, their loved ones might bury them in a coffin shaped like an airplane.
Post-planning tip: If you are the executor for a deceased loved one, the death rituals of the ceremony won't be the only thing you have to deal with. Handling their unfinished business can be overwhelming without a way to organize your process. We have a post-loss checklist that will help you ensure that your loved one's family, estate, and other affairs are taken care of.
Rituals: A Part of Everyone’s Life
Even if you didn’t realize it, by now you understand that you practice rituals throughout your own life. Some help connect with family members, some help remember those who have passed on, and some remind of cultural heritage.
While the specific rituals we practice may vary, the fact that we practice rituals is something that binds just about all of us.
Sources
- Amah, Munachim and Ized Uanikhehi. “Celebrating death in style: Ghana's fantasy coffins.” CNN, Cable News Network, 27 November 2018, www.cnn.com/2017/12/29/africa/ghana-fantasy-coffin/index.html
- Blumberg, Antonia. “12 Spiritual Rituals That Honor The Arrival Of A New Baby.” HuffPost, Verizon Media, 7 March 2016, www.huffpost.com/entry/religious-birth-rituals_n_56d9e2d4e4b03a40567885f5
- Cooper, Katie. “Jazz Funerals.” Anthropological Perspectives on Death, Emory University, 25 March 2017, scholarblogs.emory.edu/gravematters/2017/03/25/jazz-funerals/
- DenHoed, Andrea. “Our Strange, Unsettled History of Mourning.” The New Yorker, Conde Nast, 3 February 2016, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/our-strange-unsettled-history-of-mourning
Seven Examples of Rituals - GeoffMcDonald.com
What are examples of rituals? One of the eight elements of Ideas Marketing is the ritual.
Whilst we normally associate rituals with religions, they also work in Ideas Marketing to presence your big idea daily. This is crucial because our ultimate goal is to have our fans and followers live our big idea every day.
What is a Ritual?
Wikipedia defines a ritual as:
A sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence.
I think a simpler definition is:
Any action we repeat often that has a deep meaning or significance for us.
Today I wanted to share seven examples of rituals that you could build:
1 Prayer
In a religious sense prayer is a practice for communicating with your higher power.
TIP: You can create a ‘prayer’ for your big idea by creating a practice for contemplation or simply bringing your idea alive.
2 Shaking Hands
Shaking hands is a welcoming gesture for meeting someone for the first time or upon seeing them again.
The origin of the handshake was to create trust by showing that you didn’t have a gun or knife in your hand when you came in close contact with someone. Given most people are right-handed, this is why we shake with our right hands. This could also be a hug or a kiss depending upon the person you are meeting and your relationship with them.
TIP: How do you greet your fans? Is there a secret handshake?
3 Meditation
For many people who meditate their goal is to relax. However, if you go to the core of the practice it is about focus and contemplation – relaxation is simply an enjoyable side effect.
TIP: What are the moods and emotions that you want to spark around your big idea? Meditation is an internal focus.
4 Saying Grace
Typically we say grace before a meal to say thanks. Gratitude is a powerful practice that is acknowledged as being helpful for happiness.
TIP: What are you thankful for? And, when do you want to be thankful? What would be something simple that you could say at this time to be grateful?
5 Singing
Sometimes we sing because we want to… er, sing.
Do we need any other reason? Sometimes we sing to presence our big idea. For instance, in church, a hymn is sung to presence God. And, we sing our national anthem to acknowledge our country and our respect for it.
TIP: Do you have a song for your big idea? When would you sing it?
6 Gifts
Giving flowers to someone can have a very different meaning depending upon which type of flowers you gift. For instance, red roses are generally a gift of love and passion. Whilst you love your mum, you don’t usually give red roses to your mum – more likely to your lover or partner.
TIP: What gift could you give to forward your big idea? It could be as simple a printed card, a small coin or a badge. Remember it’s only a gift if you expect nothing in return.
7 Awards
Whilst an award is an artifact, the presentation of it can be a powerful ritual. One of the most powerful presentations is an Olympic Games gold medal and the playing of the national anthem.
Alternatively, after 5 years of study at university, all I’ve got to show for it is a bit of paper with the University seal and the words ‘Bachelor of Architecture with Honours’ written on it.
TIP: Awards are all about acknowledgement. What and whom do you want to acknowledge? What will be the award? And, when and how will you present this award?
COMMENT: Which of these rituals do you practice regularly? What other rituals could we add to this list?
More Examples of Rituals
Mason Currey Book Review – Currey has written a great book sharing plenty of examples of the daily rituals of leading authors and thinkers.
on the pillar, through the fire and into the furnace
Our ancestors imagined the world in a completely different way and stubbornly believed in the existence of supernatural forces. Therefore, rituals and rituals associated with patronage, worship of higher powers were part of their daily life, and weddings, births and deaths, in fact, were a transition to new worlds.
T&R talk about unusual rituals and rituals that were performed in Rus' and in medieval Europe. Baking
This Slavic rite was performed in case of the birth of a premature, weak or sick child. It was wrapped in rye dough and literally sent for a few seconds to a slightly warm oven, while saying special words. After this procedure, the child was supposed to get stronger and recover. nine0007
Source: wikipedia.org
Salting
Another way to "heal" children. It was used not only in Rus', but also in France. The child was smeared with salt, including the eyes and ears, then wrapped in a towel and left in this state for some time. In fact, it was an expensive procedure, since salt was previously considered "white gold".
Rite of the Dead
Today this rite is called a wedding. The bride's outfit was considered a funeral: she passed from one life to another, it was death and at the same time a new birth of a girl. And before the wedding there was a send-off - today it is called a bachelorette party.
The daughter left home and conditionally "died". The rite of redemption of the bride also has its own special meaning: the groom is trying to take the bride out of the former world and transfer it to his own, and the family seemed to prevent him, so she had to be outwitted and appeased. nine0007
"Wedding" I.S. Kulikov
Preparation for death
There was a tradition in the Vologda Oblast to prepare for death. The old people prepared mortal clothes in advance, expressed their wishes where and how to bury and commemorate. A basin with water and potassium permanganate was placed under the bed of the deceased. Raw eggs were placed next to the ears of the deceased, and then they were thrown into the grave pit. The soap used to wash the deceased had magical properties. It was kept and used to treat diseases in people and animals, and they said: "The man is gone, nothing hurts him, and nothing hurts me." nine0007
Flagellation
The first flagellant was Saint Paradulf, who lived in the kingdom of the Franks in the 8th century.
Flagellism consisted in serving God through self-flagellation. Most often they used a scourge - as an imitation of Christ, with the same weapon they punished their own flesh, trying to atone for sins. Flagellants marched naked to the waist and whipped themselves until they bled. All of them sought to punish themselves for, among other things, imperfect sins.
Styling
The Saints took an oath for the rest of their lives to pray on a hill — the so-called pillar (for example, a tower, a stone, a hill, and so on). They sought to subdue the flesh, take vows, and earn a better life after death. The first case of pilgrimage is described by Ephraim the Syrian in the 4th century. And the most famous pillar was Simeon the Stylite, who spent more than 30 years on the pillar. Crowds of believers came to him for advice, blessings, wrote letters to him and asked for help. Alipiy became another famous pillar - he was on the pillar for 53 years, and when his legs failed, he lay on it for 14 years.
nine0007
Source: zen.yandex.ru
Feast of Fools
In the Middle Ages, on this day, everyone changed roles - guards with maids, jesters with officials, commoners were crowned. They staged a procession and put on plays, sang and played. The holiday was first mentioned in the treatise "Summa de ecclesiasticis officiis" by the French theologian John Beleth. This event was inspired by the pagan festival of Saturnalia (the December holiday of the ancient Romans in honor of Saturn), this is a kind of pagan masquerade. Especially for the Feast of Fools, they wrote special poems and music that was not related to the traditional Gregorian repertoire. nine0007
Creature worship
This tradition is associated with the Scandinavian countries. It was believed that every place has its own invisible defenders, and in order to enter new territory, it was necessary to appease these creatures.
The Icelandic skald Egil Skallagrimsson, during his exile in Iceland, built a nitspole (a pole for cursing) to frighten the creatures living in Norway and thus bring bad luck to Norway.
According to the saga, at the very top of the nitspole was a horse's head. nine0007
In turn, the Viking women, as the guardians of the hearth, worshiped these creatures. They brought them food, drinks to the appropriate places - next to the farm, waterfall, groves.
Lyubov Karas
Tags
#History
#ancestors
#Traditions
#rituals
#Rites
10 Morning Rituals for the productive start of the day
23 2020 Productivity
On average, a person wakes up 25,000 times in a lifetime. Use these opportunities correctly. nine0007
You can not only read this article, but also listen to it. If it's more convenient for you, turn on the podcast.
Every morning is a clean slate. This is an opportunity to change one day for the better. And our life is made up of such days. If you want to achieve your goals, ask yourself the question: what do you do after waking up and how do you feel?
1.
Don't reset the alarm clock We used to hate the sounds of the alarm clock, so we press the reset button or pause it: we feel good, we don't want to get out of a warm bed at all. Although 10 extra minutes of sleep makes us feel worse. nine0007
Evolution is a slow process, and humanity as a species is not yet accustomed to waking up from artificially created noise. So we just ignore it.
When we wake up, our body starts producing dopamine, a chemical that suppresses the feeling of sleepiness. Its effect is comparable to drinking a cup of coffee or energy drinks. When we sleep, serotonin, the pleasure hormone, is released.
After the alarm is reset, two hormones with opposite effects start to be produced at the same time. Due to such a load on the body, we wake up disoriented and inhibited. nine0007
2. Think beyond rewards
We use rewards to motivate ourselves to do something, like waking up early in the morning and taking a shower.
But, as Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, argues, rewards alone are not enough to establish a habit.
Need to identify the signal that causes the unwanted behavior and replace it. For example, instead of pressing the end button on your alarm clock and falling back to sleep, you can reward yourself with a cup of aromatic coffee. The smell of coffee in the room can serve as a signal for this action. If you live with someone, ask them to make a drink every time they wake up. nine0007
3. Follow the right strategy
The average adult needs 7-9 hours of sleep, but some people get 6 hours of sleep and others less than 10. Some people need a shower to cheer up, while others need a cup of coffee. Find out which category of people you belong to, and it will be easier for you to create your own strategy and understand what advice to follow.
Gretchen Rubin, in her book Better Than Before, writes that all people can be divided into four groups, depending on how reward motivates them:
- Adherents of rules and regulations: always follow the rules - both external (set by the authorities) and internal (which they come up with themselves).
- Bound by Promises: s only work well under pressure from authority and when they feel justified commitments to other people.
- Those who seek common sense in everything: for each business they need internal motivation, some kind of meaning for themselves, if they find it, they do the work. nine0098
- Rebels: any task makes them want to do the opposite.
4. Wake up to natural light
In one experiment, a group of adults suffering from insomnia were sent on a camping trip for a week. For several days without artificial lighting, the participants of the experiment not only began to fall asleep faster, but also got up easily in the morning. The inertia of sleep has almost completely disappeared.
Research organizer Kenneth Wright came to the following conclusion: in order to sleep soundly at night and wake up easily early in the morning, you need to get up after the sun. nine0007
It is quite possible to do this in the city: sleep in a room with a window, or better yet, put your bed closer to the window to get the maximum amount of light in the morning.
5. Meditate
Meditation is for everyone. At the same time, it should be different for everyone. There are dozens of its varieties - conscious, transcendental, yogic. But no specialist can say for sure which one is right for you.
On the other hand, the benefits of meditation are quite obvious: the level of anxiety decreases, labor productivity increases, memory improves. nine0007
For example, using MRI, scientists have found a decrease in beta-wave activity in the brain after a 20-minute meditation session. This means that during meditation, the brain stops processing distracting information, so we calm down.
If you don't know where to start, try one of the quick techniques or use the Headspace app.
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6. Minimize decision making
We are all subject to decision fatigue. This process takes away our strength, so in the future it becomes more and more difficult for us to make a choice.
As you can see, I only wear gray and blue suits. So I try to make fewer decisions. I don't want to waste my energy and think about what I will eat or wear. Because I have too many other things to do.
Barack Obama
To simplify the process, Obama uses special notes that are divided on his desk into three piles: "agree", "disagree" and "let's discuss". This method speeds up the feedback cycle many times, which means that things are completed faster. nine0007
To make your morning more productive, think about what decisions you can make automatically every day. Here are a few simple steps that will help you: choose an outfit before bed, eat the same thing for breakfast, get up early to avoid traffic.
7. Eat the Frog
Psychologist Brian Tracy in his book Eat the Frog! 21 Ways to Learn to Be on Time” writes that each of us has our own frog – the biggest and most important task we procrastinate on. nine0007
If you eat a frog in the morning, the rest of the day promises to be wonderful, because the worst of today is over.
Mark Twain
writer
Therefore, the first thing to do in the morning is to eat your biggest frog, even if you don't feel like it at all. Our reserves of will are limited, so we need to start the day with an important thing, while there is still strength.
In addition, the level of creativity is higher in the morning. This is confirmed by research: after waking up, people experience increased activity in the prefrontal cortex - the part of the brain responsible for creativity. nine0007
8. Do one important thing
Psychologist Kevin Kruse, studying the habits of millionaires, Olympians and entrepreneurs, found that none of them mentioned a to-do list.
Keeping a to-do list has several drawbacks:
- Time is not taken into account. When a person sees a long to-do list in front of him, he starts tasks that will take less time. Therefore, tasks that require consistent, long-term execution remain unfinished (about 41% of the tasks from the entire list, according to iDoneThis).
nine0098 - There is no distinction between urgent and important matters. Again, on impulse, we rush to do the urgent and ignore the important.
- Increasing stress level. The to-do list provokes the well-known Zeigarnik effect in psychology: due to unfinished tasks, annoying uncontrollable thoughts appear in the head. Therefore, we feel tired all day, and at night we hardly fall asleep.
Instead of a list of tasks, choose only one task that you must complete today. After completing it, you will feel satisfied and easily deal with the remaining less significant tasks. nine0007
9. Get ready in the evening
How you feel when you wake up and throughout the day will depend on how well you sleep.
Numerous studies show that electronic devices contribute to disturbed sleep cycles. If you regularly experience problems, try turning off all devices 2-3 hours before going to bed (this also applies to e-books).
The cold glow of screens hinders the production of melatonin, the hormone that coordinates our internal clock.nine0077
In the evening it is necessary not only to get enough sleep, but also to decide how to spend the next day.
Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism. The path to simplicity, ”recommends that before planning the next day, first write in a diary how your day went. If you don't figure out what you did right and wrong today, you won't be able to create a productive action plan for tomorrow.
How to plan things? We have already mentioned that successful people rarely use a to-do list. However, Cruz noticed that almost all of them use a calendar. nine0007
The calendar method of scheduling tasks is free from all the shortcomings of the to-do list that we talked about earlier:
- you can manage your time;
- you can schedule the most important things at the beginning of the day, when you still have reserves of willpower;
- you will avoid overexertion because you can include scheduled breaks in your calendar.
10. Take a shower to wake up
Misogi, or awakening shower, is a ritual practiced by Japanese samurai.
Every morning they poured a bucket of cold water over their heads. nine0007
Domestic analogue of misogi is a contrast shower, when we alternate hot and cold water flows.
Studies show that hydrotherapy has a positive effect on health: stress is reduced, the immune system is strengthened, the body starts to burn fat better and fights depression more effectively.If you decide to try the contrast shower for yourself, follow this order:
- First shower at normal temperature. Then turn the faucet handle so that the water becomes ice cold. Stand under a cold shower for 30 seconds. nine0098
- Now turn the tap to make the water very hot. Under such a shower, capillaries open, blood circulation improves. Stay under it for 30 seconds.
- And again switch to cold water, under which stand for another 30 seconds.
It seems that everything is very simple, but at first you can experience a real shock.
Every morning Benjamin Franklin asked himself the question, “What good can I do today?”.
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