Are rituals necessary? Why do you think they represent?
Read the article below and answer the questions at the bottom
Why We Need Rituals in Our Lives
How can you define rituals?
have you experienced events like these? Describe
what is your opinion on the importance given to rituals in this country, compared to what is presented in the article?
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Rituals can be defined as a basic human instinct, similar to the need for food. It is an action repeated throughout life and seeks a meaning for our lives. The text points out that science and religious organizations as an important factor in the search of this meaning. For a long time, I have looking for the meaning of my life in a church, I followed what they told me and taught. By the text, the religion that I was did not fill me up and it made me unhappy. In our country is given more importance to science and religion than to the search itself, I believe that every person will realize at some point that the rituals are the search for oneself. It is necessary to left our creativity to other people and listen our inner voice.
ReplyDeleteHi! I can see that you have written other interesting entry.
ReplyDeleteReading the article I found many ideas similar to my own definition of rituals. I can define rituals as the way we’re able to connect with ourselves deeply. The ways for this are different according to each person.
With respect to my experience, when I was a child I remember going to the church, because I followed catholic religion. As time went by I became more independent with my thoughts and then I left institutions and began to follow other ways for finding myself.
Analyzing the case of Chile there are many different instances to people to find a lifeway that are similar to the article. It’s so because doesn’t matter where we live in the world we need that something. As a final idea I’ve been wondering what would have been the rituals if we hadn’t been globalized.
As a student of anthropology, I have had the opportunity to read a large number of books and articles on the ritual subject, I have even witnessed some rituals practices. Before study anthropology, I thought the rituals as performances to make live a particular "native culture" composed by indigenous people, but now I think that rituals are one social institution more in our modern life and their main work is create new citizens, you may wonder how is that possible?, well I will give you two examples, in some islamic cultures a woman is a woman only when she operate her genitals, the mutilation of its genitals (as some femenism writters call the ritual) turns them into women with a high social status. In other places like Zumbagua, children are recognized as part of the society only when they start to talk (at the age of 4 or 5 years), also they are recognized as “citizens” only with marriage ritual. What about us? well, we also have a lot of rituals that influence our personhood like when our parents give us a name, when we celebrate our birthay, when we finish our studies, and other naturalized rituals. In this sense, Donna Henes wrote: we each have within us the resourses based on our life experiences to create an eloquent order to our own existence, I totally agree with her idea, we all have our own rituals that make us be what we are and each of them give us a special rol on the world.
ReplyDeleteIniley Iturriaga
I agree with the way in which they are defined and represented the rituals by the autor, According to the author the rituals are a basic human instinct, as real, as urgent and as raw as our need for food, shelter and love. And it is every bit as crucial to our survival. Ritual offers us a way to relate intimately with the primordial universal force and allows us to embrace that sacred power that informs and fuels all existence. Personally I have not experienced events of this type, the closest thing to a ritual to what I have attended are the masses of the Catholic religion, but I think like the author who we each have within us the resources based on our own unique life experiences to create an eloquent ceremonial order to our own existence. We can learn to encourage our inner voice by studying our dreams, trusting our intuitions, heeding our instincts and pursuing our impulses. I think that the importance that was previously given to rituals has been lost over time, many people have even stopped attending the ceremonies of the religions to which they belong as Catholics, since the priests have lost credibility, Without well the author does not catalog like rituals many people yes. But I think like the author, We do not need to follow a set of hand-me-down observances, preprescribed formulas, or lowest-common-denominator recipes in order to develop and express a relevant, resonant ritual manifestation of our own true best selves
ReplyDeleteHi. This is an interesting topic to discuss because we often don´t think about the nature and necessity of rituals in life. As I see it rituals are a way through which people become one in a society. This means that we leave behind our individuality in order to be part of a certain community, which can be religious, artistic, political, academic, etc. What I´m saying is that we are part of rituals pretty much all time even though we don´t seem to see it in the moment. For instance, I like to hang out with some of my friends, we discuss and talk about life and we prefer always to meet in a specific place and time. After reading the article I can say that me and my friends have some sort of ritual, a ritual which is not religious but that allow us to be part of something greater than ourselves.
ReplyDeleteAlthough we have a lot of rituals in Chile we don’t give them the kind of recognizion that they deserve. Instead, we take the path of individualism and denied to ourselves the chance to be in touch with our inner voice.
Hi! I really liked this entry! Rituals are a very interesting topic to study and discuss. To me, rituals are actions performed by people in a symbolic way that have a special meaning for them. As Donna Henes expresses in this entry, they are a basic human instincts as raw as our need for food and love. We constantly do them in order to create a bond, maybe between our thoughts and believes. Honestly, in this moment the only “important” or “big” ritual that I remember I did was baptism. I say “important” or “big” because in my environment it’s a well-known one, but the truth is that I don’t remember anything about that moment since I was a baby. Also, if someone asks me right now, I don´t believe in God and don’t agree with Christianity. However, I know my parents baptized me because it’s part of their culture and they expected me to follow that cultural heritage. In Chile, I’m not sure if all rituals are made the same way as the author describes. She talks about learning to encourage our inner voice, develop our own symbolic vocabulary and that we need to set aside the quality time and claim psychic space for this, but I believe that sometimes, we live too fast and don’t give ourselves a moment.
ReplyDeleteHi! I love this article, I really believe that rituals are part of our lives day by day which form an important part of what we ourselves become. I think it is very difficult to define a ritual, but as Donna says, "ceremony offers us a way to relate intimately with the primordial universal force and allows us to embrace that sacred power that informs and fuels all existence" since the ritual arrives to be perhaps the only way we have to connect with ourselves and with nature, makes us part of something much bigger, a community and a worldview. It is so difficult to try to summarize it, but without a doubt the ritual is that which makes the ordinary seem special, and the special extraordinary, that allows us to experience life in a unique way and transform it. I think I'm a lucky one, since I could experience events like these, on a trip I made to the "Valle del Elqui", in which I was able to connect with myself and the nature around me. Undoubtedly, throughout our country we can find great quantity and variety of rituals, due to our cultural wealth, which makes each community, town or family have their own ceremonies, which gives them identity and allows them to connect between themselves and with others.
ReplyDeleteMy definition of a ritual is an action done regularly in order to feeling good. Since I’m not a religion person, I’m not able to understand the spiritual sense said by the author, but , I understand actions very important to me , for example, I always have dinner with my family, and when I can’t do it, I feel empty. It doesn’t happens just to me, it is usual in countries like Chile in contrast to english-speaking countries.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the author when she said it’s not necessary following a cult or a charismatic guy to role our life and have order.
I see the point mentioning the medical support , but I disagree with her. In some cases, under a lot of stress or with depression, our “internal rituals” couldn’t be enough to get better, and rejecting medical support could be a mistake. It’s mandatory to use all the help available, because 50000 years ago lifestyle was quite different to ours.
HI! First with the definition of ritual, I agree with Tamara and I think the Rituals can be definite as a basic human instinct, something like the need food or love. Also, the author of the article said: “ritual is our lifeline to the divine”. I think I have a similar definition of ritual; I believe is an instance where the people can connect with himself or the people can connect with other people.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of my experience with rituals, I don’t know if it a ritual but I have had “reiki” sessions and I believe that it is an instance where it serves a lot to relax and connect with yourself. I believe that many rituals in Chile are from the Catholic Church. Also, I think that the new generations are forgetting rituals.
Hello. This is an interesting topic, it embraces a lot of areas such as religion, science, history... among others. I think most of our daily lifestyle has rituals, because for me its kind of a routine, something that we are used to, for example something as banal as the hour that we eat. Things that are part of us,and in someway define ourselves, and comes from experience. And of course there´s the other type of rituals, those that we do because we feel identified with the group of people that practice this rituals, I think people look for this for the feeling of belong somewhere, and thats cool but I agree with the author when she said that we dont need preprescribed formulas,I think everything is about our personal experiences. As final sentence and responding to the 3rd question, I think Chile could be a more "ritual" country than it is right now.
ReplyDeleteBased on reading and do not using my previous knowledge, a ritual is a form of related with one or more divinities, with the goal to have the salvation. In my opinion when people have needs,problems, situations that can not explain or explanations of the inexplicable appeal to divinities, with the goal of pay tribute to the divinities through rituals. So, for me it is a bargaining coin to get intangible benefits. Catholic ceremonies like the sacraments are rituals, such as baptisms, first communion, etc. So every religion have rituals that people do. Rituals speak of our history and our traditions, so they must be respected and preserved in cultures. However, how said in the text we are able to constantly re-invent an individual ritual language, becouse exist rituals lika a female genital mutilation that have to be deleted in every place.
ReplyDeleteGustavo Tobar
I define ritual as actions that includes symbolism about our unattainable beliefs for bringing them closer (for example a candle which represents the universal peace) and finally feel that we are in something with other people and the universe.
ReplyDeleteI remember one day I was invited to a mason gathering in logia lautaro, I saw so many things that surprised me. First I get into the main room, it was like a huge stadium with grandstands, I looked at the roof and there were painted every single star sign constellation ¡it was beautiful! At the ceremony we discuss about so many philosophical things that were moderate by a sort of white-wigs-jugdes, the audience were split between men and women and were a lot of unknown objects that I think each one of them have an explanation or meaning. from that moment I figured out that rituals helps to justify and guide power for handle it better.
In Chile we don’t have too many rituals, I think we have to research more about our history for being proud of our country and thus feel us with the right of being chilian.
After I read the article and with some past knowledge , Rituals can be defined as a system of celebration and commemoration that help to find us life purpose and make the ordinary seems special. I studied in a catholic school for more than ten yers. In addition, I also used to go to church almost every weekend during my childhood, but I felt that everyone around me felt connected to something I was not, so I decided to stop going. Despite I chose that decision, I still think catholic’s principles are important, such as treat everyone with respect. In our country is given less importance to ritual becouse of modern lifestyle. People currently prefer to work and have fun than reflect on their life. Like the writer opinion, I agree with the idea about we need rituals to guide our lifes and understand ourselves, but only with those ones that make us feel comfortable.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I want to say that I liked a lot this article. This texts made me think about the importance of rituals in life and also inspire me to find my own rituals as a way to find and express myself. It´s important to reflect about topics like this, but in order to understand the real meaning of the word ritual, the author should give an accurate definition of what he really believe of that word. Erik Erikson gave him definition on his theories about human development and also explain the word ritualism, in contrast of rituals, as a bad way to express rituals and it affect the development of ourselves. So far we have an idea of rituals, but the author of the text didn´t explain an accurate definition of the topic and the negative edges of this matter.
ReplyDeleteHello! This is an insteresting entry. I agree with some of the author's opinions. Rituals are a human instinct. I think the world has rituals for everything, like celebrating birthdays, buring dead's relatives or almost visiting friends. We always have thing that we repeat and are important for us, based in our culture.
ReplyDeleteIn my case, I'm catholic, so I attend to many rituals in my diary life.
Talk about catholic rituals it's a pretty long discussion, therefore I'm going to talk about the difference of people in the same type of rituals. For example, existing a huge social's difference in Santiago, almost the same difference exists between poor's church and the rich's ones. Being in this university I have seen a plenty of catholic's rituals that are completely different of my church's rituals. We have differents types of music, ways of speaking or explaining texts, different quanty of offering and also we pray in another way.
But, like the author said, is the same human instinct and the depth, dimension, drama and distinction of our rituals, makes the ordinary seem special, and the special, extraordinary.
Beeing catholic for my is see the little things, like extraordinary ones and like gifts for our life and the rituals are ways to realize that.
I think rituals are important for human and our spiritual beliefs, we need to feel confident with ourselves and ritual are justify to think that a better future wait for us. In addition, when we talk about rituals we need to consider they depends of the place and culture. For example, a ritual it is different in Chile or China.
ReplyDeleteIn my country, we have some rituals. For example, every December 8, Catholics people pilgrimage to Lo Vázquez Sanctuary (a religious place) to find peace and reinforce their faith. The example is related with the article because it is a traditionally instituted ritual forms and represent a "spiritual safety net to save us". However, I don’t believe in this rituals because I am not a religious person, but I have another rituals less traditionally like eat twelve grapes when the clock strikes twelve o’clock in the new year to get lucky during the year.
Definitely, rituals have been changing over the years and in the future, there will be less traditional.
Emilia Segura
Hello! I really enjoyed the text and I also agree with many of the opinions previously described. For me a ritual depends on each person and each culture, it helps us many times to concentrate and connect in something that we believe. For example, many religious people have their rituals, in my personal experience I don't follow the type of rituals that are dependent, but are more personal rituals such as meditating or eating chocolate before a test and also celebrate my birthday every year.
ReplyDeleteIn Chile there are many rituals and also depend on the area where you live, for example the rituals that have a Mapuche person are different from someone who lives in Santiago.
Angela Fuentes L.
I think the rituals are essential requirements for making a society, or small groups of people. When The Little Prince(Exupery) had his meets with the fox everyday at the same hour and they were following the rules of that ritual, as a result He was able to be the friend of the fox. I'm completely sure that the rituals are the tools that have the society for making itself and make small groups or couple of friends. If you know somebody, and you make some rituales, maybe it will become your friend, or if the rituals don´t go very well maybe not. The rituals finally are like filters.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the rituals are a result of a search of the cosmic order, I believe these are tools that exist in each human as a result of his culture, or parents education, etc. The Jewish Town is a good example, this community has many rituals that began by the religion, but now a great quantity of jewish people practice those rituals, but they are not religious people. For example, they celebrate Shabbat for have a meeting with the family, and not for the religious meaning.
Tadeo Del Real
Hello Donna, I agree with you in many aspects. I believe that rituals are a set of actions, that follows traditions and reflect our beliefs. Furthermore rituals persist in time.
ReplyDeleteIn my case I had witness different types of rituals but always with the same approach, religious one. Usually in these they thanks to the gods for their actions.
In my opinion, comparing the importance of the rituals in your country with mine, I think they look similar in many aspects. In my country, the rituals are usually seen in tribes of native people. In these, it can be observed that through the practices of the rituals they feel more prepared and strong to change their reality. This can be seen for example, when Mapuches tribes do rituals for the health of a sick person.
I hope you keep writing about these interesting topics, so we can learn more about them.