Religion Studies
Grade 11
Unit 11
Roles of rituals
TERMINOLOGY
Invoke: to call on a power, deity or a spirit
Participant: someone who takes part in something
Privileged: given special rights or advantages
Pulpit: a raised platform in a church from which the minister or priest delivers a sermon
Interact: how people behave towards one another
Rite of passage: a ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone's life
Solemn: serious
Transition: a change or passing from one state or stage to another
1. What is a ritual?
Ritual is behaviour that is different from every day, ordinary behaviour. Rituals include
solemn actions and speech, repeated in a set order. All religions have rituals. However, not
only religions use ritual. Political gatherings, school assemblies and sports awards
ceremonies also have rituals, and so do events like the Hollywood Oscars or the crowning
of a beauty queen.
Rituals take place at special places and times. Often, special clothes are worn. For
example: the priest wears special clothing during the Christian Eucharist; a Muslim man
wears a hat (kufi or taqiyah) when he prays. There is a set of actions or behaviours - all
helping to emphasise the importance of the occasion for those who participate. Different
rites of passage are accompanied by special rituals.
At rituals, speech is usually solemn and formal, and generally follows a set pattern. It is a
different kind of speech from everyday occasions. During a ritual, people learn who is
important and can speak, and who is not important and may not speak. In the Christian
religion, the speaker is raised on a pulpit or a kind of stage.
Rituals have an important effect on the way people behave in their everyday life, even after
they have left the place where they took part in the ritual. They contribute to people's ideas
of who they are - their sense of identity - and make them feel part of a community. They
also affect the way people interact with one another.
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2. Roles and characteristics of rituals
2.1. Ritual teaches group values and behaviour
Many people have been interested in ritual and have studied the role it plays in religion, and
in parts of our lives. One of the most important functions is teaching people how to belong
to a particular group, religion or community. Recently, philosophers, researchers and
teachers have become particularly interested in the importance of our bodies as well as our
minds in teaching and learning. The idea that the body and mind are separate, which many
people used to believe, is being challenged. The brain is part of the body. Ritual is a series
of actions using the body. Through taking part in the ceremonies, people learn what actions
to take and what to do with their bodies.
2.2. Ritual teaches 'the way things are done'
Ritual is a series of actions carried out in a set order repeated every time the ritual is
conducted. Repeating the order is an important way in which the society or group imprints
its attitudes and beliefs on its followers. Ritual is an effective way of teaching because
people taking part are not usually aware of what they are learning, or even that they are
learning. They just learn that 'this is the way things are done, that is normal, this is right'.
The learning is so effective that people often think that anyone who doesn't do things in this
way is ignorant or even bad.
We learn a lot about what our society values or considers important through our rituals. We
don't realise that we are learning these things, but what our bodies learn to do during rituals
teaches us powerful lessons.
2.3. Rituals show oppositions
When studying rituals, we need to look at both their hidden and their obvious s and
functions. What people's bodies are taught to do is very important. Their positions often
show an opposition. For example, in a ceremony there are usually some people who are
placed higher than others. Here the opposition is between high and low, where high is
usually considered more important or privileged.
Our rituals teach us who is allowed to be high and who must be low, and we carry that
information back with us into our everyday lives. We have learned what kinds of people our
group or society considers more important than others; we have learned what our status is
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in terms of our group's values. The picture and caption on the left suggest another kind of
ritual opposition found in many religions.
This example shows two sets of oppositions: male/female and in/out. In the example 'male'
and 'in' are privileged. From childhood, the members of this religion learn that males are
privileged and more important in worship than females. Males are allowed to be in and
participate, but females must stay out and watch. From this example, we could write the
following word sums:
in + participating = male
out + watching = female
2.4. Rituals can change
Over time, a ritual may slowly change. At first the person leading the ritual may introduce
tiny changes that followers hardly notice. Followers may also introduce changes; for
example, they respond differently or dress less formally. All these changes will feed into the
ritual and change it over time. More obvious changes occur when a society or group
changes its views on some aspect of that religious community, or on how the world and or
religion should work.
Old places of worship tell us a lot about how the rituals practised by certain religions have
changed. Historically, Christian churches were built so that the priests and clergy sat at the
most important and often elevated place, separate from the congregation (sometimes even
separated by high screens). Then, within the congregation, privileged, aristocratic or rich
people could sit closest to the place for the clergy. Finally, ordinary people, servants and
the poor would be placed at the back. How does this arrangement differ from modern
Christian churches, in your opinion?
Rituals are also challenged by people who do not agree with how some people and their
actions are privileged. This has been happening in all religions in response to people's
changing views on gender. Traditional patriarchal religions have had to respond to these
powerful challenges.
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