Rituals

Question A.

Rituals as I understand them are acts committed out of traditions or from religion. Rituals tend to show some form of symbolism in the act it self. For example when people are baptized to wash away their sins this begins a fresh start.

Question B.

The two biggest rituals observed in society I would say are the wedding and the funeral. Wedding have many symbols in them the vows and the unity candle to name a few. The wedding dress that is white to show the purity of the women about to be married. However, in some areas of the world this is even take bit further. In Sri Lanka they use a white cloth on the wedding night. If the cloth becomes stained with blood on the consummation then it is hung out the window and another wedding celebration is begun. Funerals are the other major ritual we have. The dark colors worn during a funeral express the dark emotions that come with death. Depending on a persons faith the funeral can be short or very long and windy. I personally have gone to one Catholic funeral and there was lot of praying, holy water sprinkling, and kneeling.

Question C.

Well in my family we do something for Thanksgiving and Christmas. My grandmother had Christmas dinner at her house and my great grandmother had Thanksgiving at her house. Then when it was my mother and grandmother left, my mother would do Christmas and grandmother would do Thanksgiving. This year my grandmother is unable to do Thanksgiving. My mother is doing Thanksgiving and my sister will be doing Christmas. I’m sure when my little niece is older and my mother is unable to do Thanksgiving that it will change again. It has been this way for long time my grandmother told me. The mothers would do Thanksgiving in our family and the daughters would do Christmas. To me this type of ritual that our family observes, this is going to be a change though ever since I was a kid I remember eating at my grandmothers and now it has changed.

Question D.

Ritual that seems prevalent today would be our regard for Sundays. Lot of people still goes to church on Sunday everyone knows that. That is not what I’m talking about though. Sundays tend to be when few generations of a family will sit down to a dinner. I think this is something that could be considered a ritual. I have one friend or every Sunday his family has a big dinner. I know my family tends to have family dinners on Sunday not Saturdays.

Question E.

Since the birth of my niece I have been thinking about things that we can do every year that she can look forward too. I’m still unsure what this could or will be. My wife and I both want it to be something special. For example when I was younger my whole family would go camping every weekend. Uncles would be there and my grandparents. So maybe that is something I would like to bring back the family camping. My sister and I had lots of fun swimming and playing around in the woods. Maybe this is family ritual that can be reborn.