Essays on Ritual

Western cultures emphasize the individual, who is responsible for giving meaning to their life. The new, and rapidly growing movement of Neo-Paganism offers an explanatory framework for human existence. In Europe, Tanya Luhrman explores the question “why would ‘rational’ people develop an interest in practicing...

Tradition can be understood as the handing down of local knowledge, statements, practices, beliefs, legends, customs, information, from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice, or something that is handed down, a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting. It...

Marriages, in keeping with Hindu beliefs area unit created in heaven, and once you’re married, the bond is meant to last for seven lifetimes. It’s thought of to be a turning purpose in associate individual’s life as he enters the second necessary section or ashram...

The area of ritual and state in modern Japanese religious history is a very rich one. Research on the symbolism of state rites has been a topic of enduring interest, as have functionalist studies of the significance of state rites, especially Shinto ritual, in the...

Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in NZ, with over 1000 reverts in the last 20 years and of those, more than a quarter of those who identified as were Maori according to the 2013 census data. Although there are many mosques and...