What is Ritual?

[@lshulman58]

btw, just found your channel today. as a professor of religion, I find some of your topics ideal supplements for my students (especially valuable for my online classes). thank you!

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Glad to hear some of the vids will be helpful in class. I do have classrooms in mind when I write these episodes.

[@livefeedz2101]

🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@andythedishwasher1117]

A line from one of my hip hop songs "Your morning routines, even you call 'em a ritual/ And so is anything else you make habitual" Your clarification helped me understand this line a little better.

[@lshulman58]

perhaps one of the most essential characteristics of ritual would be that it involves SYMBOLIC actions. But we also should differentiate between religious vs non-religious ritual (as your example of a wedding suggests - nit all ritual is religious).

[@kalsy6922]

I'm a professor of religion and I just discovered your channel. I'm so excited because this is great material to support my students through their readings!

[@lshulman58]

I can see (from this video as well as your "what is religion" video) that you tend to favor the functionalist defintions (what something DOES for us) rather than the essentialist (what something is).

[@KatieDawson3636]

That makes sense to me as religion is something that changes a lot over time. What it IS may look very different from decade to decade or place to place, but it’s function tends to be much more consistent in time and space, and is more fluid in how it can be applied. However of course both kinds of analysis have their place.

[@lshulman58]

@@KatieDawson3636 functionalist definitions are more universal but the problem with that is they can be too universal/inclusive. A functionalist definition of religion can often apply to things that are not religion. A functionalist definition of a chair ("something to sit on") can also apply to things that are not chairs (sofas, stools, benches). An essentialist definition of chair would more clearly distinguish a chair from these other things to sit on: a seat for one person, with a back.

[@CasualGraph]

5:14 Huh. I guess you could frame handshakes as ritualistic, I guess I've always thought of them more as a component of language. Perhaps there's some sort of spectrum there.

[@noahv7528]

Insofar as handshakes are linguistic they serve as something like what linguists call phatic expressions. These are phrases like “goodbye” “what’s up” or “I’m sorry” where the literal meaning of the phrase is secondary to its social utility. Granted, my background is in linguistics not religious studies but I see no reason why some phatic expression wouldn’t also be classified as rituals. Certainly many religions have very important rituals which rely on or consist solely of uttering words - a kind of phatic expression where meaning is secondary to utility.

[@oreste8570]

The etymological meaning of ritual is: A fixed way of action transmited from generation to generation coming from the ancestors. The ritual does not accept innovations even in the slightest detail, but the actions have to be precisely in the way they were taught by the previous generation. This requires seriousness. On this basis, all activities from the entire day could be ritualized (physical work, eating, sleeping, sexual relations, reading, business, opening the door, etc.) if they are done precisely by the way taught through tradition. The rite is contrasted by amusement which means etymologically diverting the attention from serious stuff, in this case the rite. The ritual is born in collectivist societies and is done with sense of duty and obeissance. For example, a wedding is not always a ritual, according to the etymology. To be a ritual, it has to have all the details according to tradition. If not, it's an act of amusement.

[@lunam7249]

good answer but you did not discuss magic

[@kylestevensanders]

Love this. It really spoke to an idea I thought of, of living “Eucharistically,” a concept inspired by Bonhoeffer’s Life Together, the idea of a “true” and truly “free” life being one lived “Eucharistically”- the idea that it is a lived reality, you are what you eat, and I guess then this mode of living could be turning life into a ritual itself, daily ritualizing yourself and your actions thoughts deeds etc to live a “true” life. Kind of like the Ignatian ideal of being a “contemplative in action”

[@unangelitoguardian]

Love your take on ritual! Ritual is necessary and beautiful. Thank you.

[@jakeyd25]

thanks for doing this channel

[@ems7623]

That "differentiation" definition of ritual is quite good. Interesting. Also, I have just realized that the only rituals I have ever participated in beyond the age of 12 were all matriculation / commencement / degree ceremonies. Perhaps this is why I found them to be a little "strange."

[@oreste8570]

Please do a video about classification of religions in Orthodox, orthopraxic and ritualistic religions

[@TerryDashner]

Great work. Thank you for these brief topics

[@reamus9102]

What a wonderful video topic. Well done!

[@cherrypopsicle6383]

It’s 20:28 pm and my religion homework was due yesterday and this is the video I gotta watch-HELP😭💀😂

[@ems7623]

So, did you watch the video and submit the assignment. Doesn't sound very difficult.

[@RichardRoy2]

I'd never really given it much thought till now. Thanks.

[@krasimiraabdilla6580]

This was really interesting. Good job!!!

[@DecodingReligion]

key point behind the differentiation is that these actions symbolize the intention of connecting with the sacred

[@andrej.mentel]

Well, but now you have to define what constitutes "the sacred" in particular society. Are civil wedding ceremonies "rituals"? If we consider the Cathy Bell's approach, they certainly are, even in most secular societies. They deliberately mark (and produce) the difference from the ordinary - in this case, they change the social status of the pair.

[@soup2634]

Fascinating! Just what I was googling for :)

[@WiseBunny-z4n]

The definitions you gave at te beginning correspond well to what a ritual means. The fact that with the passage of time and the relativization and discrediting of the mystical, cosmic and sacred, until its proliferation as a business, causes -over time- things detached from those contexts to be called ritual is different

[@Capetownmermaid13]

Thank you for explaining rituals. So I understand that my intention is what makes it so?

[@davidtaylormeyer4661]

Hi Andrew, So agree that previous definitions were very specific and therefore counter examples can easily be used to show rituals that aren't captured by the definition. In the broader definition you presented, does it not just fall prey to the opposite problem: counter examples for non-ritual things that are included by the broadened definition? For example hipsters growing a mustache as a means of differentiation, or wearing expensive watches as a means of differentiating some types of people or events from others? Similarly, does using the fancy china to signal a more formal family meal fall within your desired definition of ritual?

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

Fair critique. I'd have to think about it (and I'd be curious what JZ Smith would say in response). I simplified the definition for the sake of time...but others have expanded this definition to say "Ritual is a strategic way of acting that relies on the creation and maintenance of a 'place' within 'space.'" So its not simply to "create difference," but creating a differentiated and ritualized "place" in space and time (a ritual has a beginning and an end, after all). So, no I would not say growing a hipster mustache is a ritual. But setting out fancy china (replete with all the ritualized etiquette of a fancy meal) could be a component of a broader ritual "place" created by a bunch of strategies (fancy china, polite etiquette, saying please and thank you). Adam Seligman calls this creating a "subjunctive reality,"-subjunctive in the linguistic sense of "could be," "as if" or "hypothetical." The Eucharist creates a subjunctive ('could be') reality where heaven and earth merge. The fancy meal creates a subjunctive reality where everyone is more refined than they really are in ordinary life. Those are just my initial thoughts to your critique. Hope it makes sense.

[@davidtaylormeyer4661]

Yes. That makes sense to me. I guess I still assume that most of the study of rituals in religious studies applies specifically to rituals of the spiritual/transcendent/religious kind and not the fancy dinner kind; no?

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

I would say that you're right: the study of rituals tends to focus on "religious rituals." But sociologists do sometimes touch on "non-religious" rituals like shaking hands or rituals in sports/games.

[@nerdguy9174]

@@davidtaylormeyer4661 Catherine Bell, who's mentioned in the video, specifically mentions Marine Corps basic training in her discussion of rites of initiation. If you read almost anything by Ronald Grimes, you'll find that he very much includes that aren't "spiritual/transcendent/religious". Having been through grad school and gotten a PhD in New Testament, I can assure that the graduate school process is a rite of initiation.

[@aaron2891]

This debate over the definition of ritual reminds me of how biologists debate over the definition of a species. Some state that if two populations cannot interbreed, they are different species; others like to include the evolutionary aspect to species by saying that two populations are two different species if they are reproductively isolated and if their most recent common ancestor is dead; still others, noting that bacteria cannot interbreed, prefer the idea that two populations are two different species if they’ve been evolving separately for an arbitrary number of generations; others prefer to define a species by how it interacts with its ecosystem. All of these species concepts have their flaws, but they all work in different contexts.

[@esprit-critique]

Assertion of difference!!! Not quite sure it is very relevant to understand what are rituals. Formalized action yes...but this describes this kind of action and there are no exceptions. The perfect exemple to understand rituals is the Japanese tea ritual...And maybe we should consult the master thinker of rites and rituals....Confucius ( and probably other Chinese thinkers) for a better understanding of the function and importance of rituals in a society or a group without any reference to "religion".

[@baphomet6292]

today i found your KZbin channel and only in one video i subscribe you. So, amazing and interesting content.

[@Knaeben]

"Difference" is a strange word to use, but it works. Heterogenous time is a better way to put it. Ritual puts people in a timeless 'space' that is different from normally perceived linear time (as 'differentiated' from the ordinary). I think this came from Eliade. Such timeless/sacred space isn't 'more important or powerful' than other time, necessarily. Both aspects are equal and ultimately identical. It has the function of allowing deconstruction of conscious structuring of the world so as to keep the sense of self pliable and more amicable to change. No words can really sum it up, though.

[@djsmoothc39able]

Very insightful thank you

[@smbathakobyan9176]

Great channel, just found it, thank you for making these awesome videos. Just want to remark, that though we can say that rituals are actions that differ from other (in particular daily) actions, but another question comes in. How in this case we distinguish ritual from magic, from ceremony, from feast from theater acting or from dancing for example, because in all above-mentioned cases we also encounter with "different" actions. That is why I like Ronald Grimes's scheme in his book "Beginnings in Ritual Studies", where he that is to say draws many aspects and "expressions" that can be perceived as ritual.

[@jackpullen3820]

Baptism - A church ordinance or observance that represents the believer's death to sin and resurrection to a new life in Christ. I see your point Andrew, there are many Rituals and their reasoning should not be generalized, in my thinking anyway.Hey, thank you for wonderful teachings!

[@jefftaylor19]

God given rituals are prescriptions for the development of the soul. Whereas the difetences of practices do provide distinction between communities, they are a secondary function to the mysterious "nutritional" value that rituals provide the soul. ✌

[@sourabhmookherjee4218]

Star hawk said - ritual is an act of self transformation.

[@ProfHarden]

very nicely done!

[@musicmuzikable]

Bit late to the party, but I really enjoyed your video! But I thought the answers you gave to "what does ritual do?', felt much more like answers to the question 'How is ritual used to reinforce ideas of cultural identity?'. Some (many) rituals are used to/contain elements that re-identify participants with certain social or cultural identities, but that may not be a complete answer to what they do, and may just be an incidental result of their reliance on culturally specific and identifiable elements. I'm doing a bit of research on ritual as I want to build my own for a small transition i wish to go through intentionally, and this won't speak to that, and perhaps i shouldn't use the word ritual here, or we're using different definitions... But i have a theory that what they do in a more general sense is attempt to draw abstract concepts (religious ideas, future ambitions, past traumas) through a process that manifests them directly, or in some transformed form, into the material world (such as the participants perceive it). if you're still around, thoughts?

[@ems7623]

I'm sure that's true in many instances, but only because religions are often directly bound up with cultural identity.

[@kesharkhadkapunwar2029]

Thanks!! 👌 👏🌹🙏 🇳🇵Love from Nepal !!!

[@diamondjoop6542]

This was great thank you!

[@gozinta82]

By using ritual, and manifesting difference in comparison to being similar, does this self-defeat the idea of everyone in the same is in fact is differentiated? Does this assertion cause divide, instead of unity? I find this somewhat contradictory in itself. Thoughts?

[@Lishm28]

Very good video! thank you very much!!

[@depthhistory]

A ritual is a public action in which the actor and the audience are the same.

[@nerdguy9174]

Why only public? Aren't private prayers ritual? What about the Japanese tea ceremony, which does not require a public? What if a Roman Catholic lights a candle in a deserted church?

[@paroshrahman7474]

thank you

[@foswex]

Have you read Awkward Rituals by Dana Logan? would love to hear thoughts

[@debbiemarquis3231]

Can I say it's the framing of a specific action, in a specific place, on a specific day ,at a specific time.?..

[@ReligionForBreakfast]

I think that describes a lot of rituals, but not all rituals. Some don't necessarily need a specific place/day/time. Specific action? Yes, I'd agree with that bit.

[@isaiah3229]

Everyday actions can be sacred as well. I'm not a Christian, but if you check Jesus's teachings, they consist of the workings of everyday life. Albeit 1st century Jewish life. With that being said, it's not necessarily how you frame it as much as it is the intent behind the action whether "sacred" or "mundane". If your intent is to see "God/Divine in all creation as believers in the Bhagavad Gita aspire to, then every encounter with a person, animal, or plant becomes a ritualistic act of devotion. Bhagavad Gita 5:18 says, "the humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle Brahman, a cow, a elephant, a dog, and a dog eater(outcast).

[@terrywallace5181]

Go back and read Turner again. Ritual PRODUCES difference, whereas a "ceremony" does not; i.e a marriage ceremony is actually a ritual, as it produces a change of state (a married couple and at least symbolically a relation between families. Another example are right of passage rituals

[@jadegecko]

4:38 Thanksgiving dinner confirmed as ritual

[@luislozano6073]

So, any birthday celebration is also a ritual?

[@changer1285]

Israel Regardie talks about ritual as using all your senses to direct your will at a certain state of mind/experience. I really think that these definitions get a bit sterile, and seem like obvious observations from the outside. I think one important aspect is what religious theologians say about ritual, and what the experience means to them or feels like. Its one thing to describe it it's strictly social functions, but from my perspective people don't just do ritual for its social function but also how it makes them feel. And it's definitely not just about location and repetition. Think of a superstitions. The need for superstitious ritual might arise from apparently random stimulus, at any time. Doesn't mean it's not ritualistic behavior.

[@jeremiahlarkins618]

I'm just glad that KZbin's algorythms have stopped ritualistically trying to sell me bibles just because i like religions.

[@schitlipz]

Ritual is a _prescripted_ behaviour. (two spelling mistakes on that.) Lots of stuff comes to mind: Making tea; grooming; cooking, going to the theatre... basically anything with a *script* . Its association to religion is not necessary, and its relevance is scalar - some are grander than others..

[@schitlipz]

We are ritualistic beings; they can be nested, one in the other, as well. I wonder if there is anything that's not a ritual. The word sacred is another tough one: All sorts of things can be sacred, but not necessarily associated with supernatural beliefs, like when the clock strikes midnight, a sacred time; or a song that pulls on your heart, a sacred sound; a cemetery, sacred space whether you are atheist or not (I hope), etc.

[@Ishtarthemoon]

is a wedding a ritual or a ceremony? i thought it was a ceremony.

[@nerdguy9174]

Here you hit on the sloppiness of terminology. I think you're drawing from Victor Turner's terminology here. AFAIK this terminology has fallen out of use or is defined in different terms .

[@gordonyork6638]

Could communion be considered cannibalism?

[@mishapurser4439]

I wonder if nouvelle cuisine has ritualistic aspects

[@DrVictorVasconcelos]

It should be said that no definition is right or wrong without clear criteria. The problem one might have with a definition is that it doesn't encompass all things we already consider to be rituals. Should we even already have this? We're doing this backwards, so problems arise.

[@DrVictorVasconcelos]

Like, why were you even considering things to be rituals before you had a definition? Seems to me like many categorizing mistakes may have been made, and that may be the problem here. Without specific criteria, the problem can't be with the definition, which is 100% arbitary.

[@ken4975]

To a christian the wedding ritual is indeed a ritual. To a non believer it is not a ritual, it is a tradition.

[@thepalebluedot4171]

സ്വർഗ്ഗം, നരകം, പ്രതിഫലം, ശിക്ഷ, ജനനം, പുനർജന്മം, മർത്യത, അമർത്യത, നല്ലത്, ചീത്ത, ധാർമ്മികത, അധാർമികത; ദൈവത്തിന്റെയോ ദൈവങ്ങളുടെയോ" കോപവും സന്തോഷവും,"ദൈവത്തിന്റെയോ ദൈവങ്ങളുടെയോ" അധികാരം; പ്രതികാരം, വിശ്വസ്തത, ഭയം, ഭക്തി, ബഹുമാനം, മാന്യത, അച്ചടക്കം, ക്രമം, ഒരു നിശ്ചിത യുഗത്തിന്റെ അവസാന അന്ത്യം, ന്യായവിധി ദിവസം, മറ്റ് ബന്ധപ്പെട്ടതും പരസ്പരബന്ധിതവുമായ വശങ്ങൾ തുടങ്ങിയവയെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള മതപരമായ ആശയങ്ങൾ എല്ലാം, സാമൂഹിക കൂട്ടായ ബോധത്തിന്റെ നിർമ്മിതിയാണ്. മനുഷ്യ സമൂഹം ഇല്ലാതാകുമ്പോൾ അവ ഇല്ലാതാകുന്നു... മനുഷ്യ സമൂഹത്തിന് പുറത്ത് ഈ നിർമ്മിതികൾ നിലനിൽക്കുക എന്നത് തീർത്തും അസാധ്യമാണ്... "പ്രിമിറ്റീവ് ക്ലാസിഫിക്കേഷൻ" എന്ന് വിളിക്കപ്പെടുന്ന അവരുടെ പുസ്തകത്തിൽ സാമൂഹ്യശാസ്ത്രജ്ഞരായ എമിൽ ഡർഖൈമും മാർസെൽ മൗസും സമൂഹമാണ് മനുഷ്യ ചിന്തകളുടെ ഉറവിടം എന്ന് ഗവേഷണം ചെയ്യുന്നു. ഈ പുസ്തകം ആദ്യമായി 1903 ൽ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ചു, റോഡ്‌നി നീദം ഈ പുസ്തകം ഇംഗ്ലീഷിലേക്ക് പരിഭാഷപ്പെടുത്തിയിരുന്നു..

[@bbbbb2934]

So rituals purpose is to make ritual different from something that is not ritual. Isnt this circular reasoning? Rather rituals are those actions which aim to cause change in the non physical or denote something non physical usually with symbols and purposefully directed thought.

[@AndreiGonzalesIturri]

Many Hindus do light a lamp in their houses or in the temples in front of the God-image, how to explain that this fact is a ritual? how this differentiation is given even though we light lamps everywhere? certain facts you can't really differentiate from the common when its frequency is equal than the common fact, but maybe other factors like the symbolism and special attributions apart from the basic function or purpose of lighting a lamp can make that action into a ritual, but what if there are not even differentiation on purpose, function or intention? how to say it is a ritual?

[@sayyid9901]

Is pilgrimage a ritual

[@robvancamp2781]

It can be. Buddhist pilgrimage to the holy sites in Nepal and India are very ritualistic with most sects, as is the Muslim Haj. Many Catholics make a ritual out of visiting Jerusalem, whereas most fundamentalist protestants don't.

[@nerdguy9174]

@@robvancamp2781 Fundamentalists consider such a pilgrimage a differentiated act. You should hear them talk about it.

[@tylerward2846]

One important distinction with ritual is that we are entering into a sacred mystery. When Orthodox Christians partake of the Eucharist, we are eternally entering into the supper with the disciples in the upper room. When we celebrate Theophany, or are baptized, we are at one time in our time and place, and yet mystically present at the baptism of Christ.

[@nerdguy9174]

That is a theological interpretation of the word "ritual". A scholarly definition is what the video is attempting. Scholars often define words in different ways than nonscholars; generally speaking scholars are trying to use precision in their meanings. Gets complicated as the video points out.

[@duniasuate949]

At school we did the ritual in school

[@lunam7249]

ritual helps making magic...either trivial or high magic....its an amplifier of "magic" or magic spells

[@MrDweebToYou]

I realize that the word 'ceremony' originates in similar linguistic territory as the word 'ritual', but I think it helpful in modern English to use them in order to distinguish between eg weddings and baptisms. A priest can misrepresent a ceremony as a ritual, but he does so by the mechanisms described by Bell. A ceremony communicates something to an audience, eg these two people are now "taken". I'm not sure what a ritual "does", though I would say that it "does" something non-practical, whereas a ceremony does something practical. A christening may communicate something to its audience, but that isn't its primary function. You could have a naming ceremony, or maybe a baby shower, that would accomplish something practical, and which wouldn't be a ritual. (Since child-bearing used to be so risky, it could have been helpful to mark a point in time when mothers and others could relax a bit more, even start taking the child seriously as a viable human.

[@willbrown2383]

Ritual = a stipulated action, or series of actions, that are imbued with sacred meaning by the practitioner(s).

[@liutony4872]

Does practicing a foreign ritual considered involving in a religion? Say yoga.

[@ems7623]

What significance does a particular ritual being "foreign" have? That's immaterial to the definition of ritual offered in this video.

[@thekingsson1757]

Yes it does

[@thekingsson1757]

Would devil worshippers participate in communion no because that would bring sickness or death according to the bible

[@MindinViolet]

It seems to me that defining religion as an assertion of difference is problematic. Just about anything could be defined this way.

[@ThePijarro]

Well he was discussing ritual(s) not religion.

[@denzelvalentino8992]

There's a difference between a Ritual and a Sacrament.

[@alkasoli4002]

There's nothing wrong in conducting religious rituals..but aa religion maathram aanu sheri ennu vichaarikkunadathannu thettu

[@Threetails]

Theatre is ritual.

[@JackHernandezGentlemanJack]

OCD people have rituals, they have nothing to do with privilege

[@JaredCasandermusic]

skibidi

[@JaredCasandermusic]

[@JaredCasandermusic]

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[@JaredCasandermusic]

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[@americanliberal09]

Prayer is not really a ritual. It's much more of a simple request from a deity. However, ritual is a lot more to it than just a request. It actually has a specific procedure of doing things whereas prayer doesn't have any of those things. And, another point is that prayer is not really a religious thing, either, because you actually have non-theistic religions that focus solely on meditation instead of prayer.

[@nerdguy9174]

But prayer involves setting aside a bodily action as different. If the prayer is purely mental, I think you can still say the same because thoughts are a specific form of action: the use of electrochemical impulses upon neurons.

[@americanliberal09]

@@nerdguy9174 Nope. Not really, because prayer doesn't really have any of that stuff, either. Ritual, on the other hand, involves complex procedures to be followed in a specific manner. So, therefore, prayer is not really a ritual.

[@nerdguy9174]

@@americanliberal09 We could argue all day about this, politely I hope, but I'm too tired right now.

[@americanliberal09]

@@nerdguy9174 Oh, really?

[@nerdguy9174]

@@americanliberal09 Yes really. I have multiple chronic illnesses so I wear out very easily. I'm also in the middle of a major asthmatic episode.

[@GaramondGourmond]

*scratches head. Uhm, I think I followed that. To me rituals are reptative, symbolic actions whose purpose is to connect with one's spiritulality or God. You mentioned weddings - but weddings are actually very spiritual, which is why it's administered by a minister or cleric. Yes, you can have weddings in a registars office, but most people use the format that has existed for thousands of years and for most of that time was, indeed, a religious ritual. But, you're right, though, about not all rituals are about religion. When a baseball player puts on his "winning" jock strap so that his team is assured a win, that's a ritual of sorts, and it has nothing directly to do with religion or spirituality. It's more superstition. Is superstitian a ritual activity? Throwing salt over your shoulder for good luck or spitting on someones head to ward off the evil eye? It's stuff that's repatative but not religious. However, I suppose one could say that superstitions ARE metaphysical, which is sort of like spirituality. *scratches head again. I dunno.

[@nerdguy9174]

You have a lot to unpack here so I'll only discuss only your statement "To me rituals are reptative, symbolic actions whose purpose is to connect with one's spiritulality or God". Example one: I quit a very toxic job once. When I got home I took my certificates of appreciation, which essententially meant nothing in that workplace other than "attaboy," and burned them in the fireplace. This was a one-time act indicating my leaving of what had become a hated job. Not related to spirituality or God and not repetitive at all. Yet I would say that I performed a ritual.

[@noahinson]

I understand this is kinda late. Maybe I'm being a little picky, but do you ALWAYS have to call it Eucharist? I mean, you said Eucharist like 500 times in this video. I'm not saying that it shouldn't be called Eucharist, rather I'm saying that in the New Testament it's not. Call it Communion or Lord's Supper every once and a while. Sorry if I'm being too picky.

[@olorin4317]

Yea, a bit picky.

[@ricochico974]

Don't bite the hand that feeds you...