Ritual Movement Research Articles

TRADITIONAL MARRIAGE IN THE TENGGER COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVE OF ACCULTURATION THEORY

<p>This research aims to analyze the acculturation of traditional marriage practices within the Tengger community, specifically investigating whether there has been a shift in customary marriage procedures following the introduction of Hinduism. To address this research question, the researcher collected data on two key traditional marriage ceremonies: Walagara and Pewawihan. In Tengger custom, these ceremonies are essential for validating a marriage. Without them, the marriage is neither recognized nor legalized according to customary law. This raises a significant inquiry on whether Walagara and Pewawihan are purely traditional customs or have been acculturated with Hindu values. The findings indicate that while Walagara and Pewawihan remain part of Tengger's heritage, their implementation has changed. Specifically, the prayers recited during these ceremonies now incorporate Hindu elements. The researcher concludes that Walagara and Pewawihan consist of two distinct components: the ritual movements, which align with Tengger custom, and the prayers, which reflect Hindu influences.</p>

Bulls on Parade

1 Kgs 12:25-33 is composed of two significant layers – an earlier stratum that may be based on an Israelite royal inscription and a later, likely Judahite redaction. These can be disentangled based on a redaction critical approach rooted in studies of compilational and editorial practices attested in biblical and Cuneiform sources. Though the final text is often analyzed as an idol polemic, the Israelite strata suggest that Jeroboam is not depicted as constructing idols but rather pilgrimage outposts. This is borne out by the use of bovine iconography to direct ritual movement at other Levantine sites, as well as the broader Near Eastern practice of establishing pilgrimage networks in order to project political authority over multiple settlements, knitting them together into a kingdom. Accordingly, this article argues that the Israelite text depicted Jeroboam creating a pilgrimage network to performatively bring his Israel into being. Participating in this pilgrimage was a performance of Israelite identity. The Judahite redaction disavowed this by othering key aspects of the Israelite material culture depicted in the text. The final text is thus an example of identity politics rather than an idol polemic.

Gurdjieff: Ritual Movements and Prayer

G. I. Gurdjieff, a mystic of Greek descent, said that, in ancient religion, ritual and sacred dance were guidebooks containing vital truth, which could not be understood without a key. They were “guidebooks” in that they aimed to bring one to a state where one can experience one’s individual reality, and even a relationship to God. For Gurdjieff, prayer, including ritual prayer, meant connection, and so he attributed to rituals an objective value, and did not reduce them to an instrument of communication. His own “sacred gymnastics” or “Movements” comprised three categories: “exoteric,” “mesoteric,” and “esoteric.” While all three levels are linked, the esoteric and mesoteric levels approximate to ritual prayers and to contemplative exercises. Exoteric Movements chiefly serve to prepare one’s body and attention for the higher. We note how Gurdjieff exhibited these ideas in his “ballet scenario,” The Struggle of the Magicians, and how they are consistent with what was understood of ancient Greek dance in the first quarter of the twentieth century. The key to understanding the unity of his aims and methods is his concept of “self-remembering.”

ANALYZING THE COMMON FEATURES BETWEEN MOSQUE ARCHITECTURE, RITUAL MOVEMENTS OF PRAYER AND YOGA MOVEMENTS

An architectural work contains wide aspects and is not limited only to the body made of materials. What adds value to the building is the spirit breathed into this body. Prayer (Namaz) and Yoga are mental and physical activities that cause peace in body and soul. The purpose of this research is to analyze the common features between mosque architecture, ritual movements of prayer and yoga movements in order to achieve human mental and physical health. Therefore, the relationship between the physical movements of prayer and mosque architecture was analyzed, and the amount of movement in prayer was evaluated using the OWAS method. Then, based on the previous step's results, the relationship between body ergonomics in prayer and yoga movements was descriptively analyzed. Finally, the common features between mosque architecture, ritual movements of prayer and yoga movements are presented visually. The results show that there are common features between the architecture of mosque spaces, the ritual movements of prayer and yoga movements, and the shape of the body in prayer and yoga is similar to the shape of the architectural components of the mosque.

Glamping: An exploration of emotional energy and flow experiences in interaction rituals

Glamping, a popular niche in the outdoor hospitality industry, caters to individuals who enjoy nature-based tourism. This study explored the process mechanisms and outcomes of interaction rituals in glamping. Empirical research was conducted on glamping participants (n = 18) and campsite managers (n = 8) through two studies using visual ethnography, focus-group interviews, and in-depth interviews. Using five-factor narrative analysis, the sources of interaction ritual dynamics in glamping were found to be flow experience and emotional energy, with generation paths identified as long-and short-interaction cycle rituals. Interaction ritual movement as influenced by emotional energy and flow experience was also established. An inner dynamic mechanism of interaction rituals in glamping was identified based on the perspectives of people, places, and things. This study also presents theoretical and practical insights into the interaction ritual chains in glamping, and practical suggestions for campsite managers and glamping companies to develop interaction rituals.

Old Hispanic pre-baptism initiation rites, chants and processions

ABSTRACT Themes of Christian initiation permeate the Old Hispanic liturgy for the three weeks before Easter, culminating in the Easter Vigil baptisms. Previous scholars have examined the initiation prayers, readings, and sermons in detail, exploring their connections with the writings of Ildephonsus of Toledo (d. 667). In this article, we consider the initiation rituals from the perspectives of liturgical movement and chant. On Mid-Lent Sunday (three weeks before Easter) and Palm Sunday, the themes of these rituals were developed both in the processional chants and the initiation-themed chants that surrounded them. These materials provide a rich source of information about how initiation theology was enacted through ritual movement and sound.

Ciswak Ritual as a Ritual of Rejecting the Annual Bala of the Chinese

This article discussed the ciswak ritual at a temple in the Chinatown area of ​​Semarang, namely the Sinar Samudra Temple. Ciswak is a ritual of rejecting reinforcements performed by the Chinese every year to protect themselves from bad things. The research methodology and data collection technique are qualitative in collecting data through direct interviews and field research. Field research was carried out from a few days before the ritual until the ciswak ritual was completed using a descriptive analysis design. The Chinese consider that if the ciswak ritual is performed solemnly in both reading prayers and ritual movements and including repentance, which is carried out all day long, then this aims to show the sincerity of humans to want to receive protection and blessings from the gods and avoid away from evil and danger. This ritual is not only because one's birth sign is Chiong( bad luck) in that year, it is also because of the belief to carry out the ritual of repelling reinforcements every year even though the birth sign is not chiong. Chinese people in Semarang still strongly believe in the values ​​of ancestral heritage in the teachings of Taoism

Inventing Odrán: saints, pilgrims and politics in medieval Iona

A saint called Odrán appears as part of several other saints’ Lives, often in a role closely connected to his death, and sometimes in a way which made him an alter ego of the principal saint of the Life. Such a death – whether of Odrán or another saint – could establish the sanctity of a site and could also express hierarchies of ecclesiastical authority. The cult of St Odrán on Iona, first attested in the twelfth century, fits this pattern. It is related to the claim that Derry made at the time to authority over the Columban familia. The cult of Odrán is also related to the layout of Iona's holy places – chapels and burial grounds – and to the ritual movement between them involving both the living and the dead.

Listening for/as presence: religious mediation of a Sufi ritual in the time of COVID-19

ABSTRACT Every week in the time before COVID-19, the members of the Shadhili Sufi order in Singapore convened in their lodge to participate in a ritual of sound and movement called the hadra. In March 2020, Singapore's lockdown measures brought these ritual movements to a stop. In response, the group started participating in online gatherings, sacrificing the affective dimensions of their ritual. This article captures this transformation, focusing on the sensorial challenges that these Sufis were faced with due to the failure of technology to translate the atmospheric elements of their practice and how listening became the focus of their ritual engagement online. The article argues that these Sufis demonstrate that research in the sensory, embodied, and mediated elements of religious experiences need to take into consideration the spiritual dispositions of religious practitioners as spiritual dispositions can go past technological dysfunctions and make the external elements of worship internally effective.

NYADRAN AND SOCIAL STATUS: Case Study of the Efforts of Local Village Elites in the Field of Religion in Maintaining Social Status in the Javanese Muslim Community

This research was conducted in a village which is a Javanese Muslim community. This research is a continuation of previous research, but with a different focus. The focus of attention in this study is the emergence of the ritual movement of nyadran (grave pilgrimage) to the graves of the ancestors of the village founders which is carried out collectively and routinely. By using a qualitative approach, field phenomena show that the social stratification system in the village where the research is located shows conditions that are starting to fade. Related to the conditions of social life, it creates collective nyadran ritual movement. A number of villagers participated in the event, and their attendance was voluntary. The guides and those who lead this activity come from family group members who occupied a high social status in the community when the village was founded. Apparently, the revitalization of traditions has a function to maintain the pattern of social stratification of rural communities. Keywords : Nyadran , Social status, Javanese Muslim Community DOI: 10.7176/JRDM/82-03 Publication date: January 31 st 2022

The Place-making Function of Ritual Movement at Rome: from the Salians to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

Ritual movement, i.e. the movement of individuals or groups on a more or less fixed route for religious reasons or purposes (e.g. processions), always played a major role in Roman religious life. Such kind of rituals could have a place-making function: through their continued and repeated performance they contributed to the cultural, social, and physical creation of religious places, ultimately becoming embedded in Rome’s sacred landscape. The case studies of ritual movement considered in this paper will be an ancient one, the ritual celebrated by the Salians, and the procession of Our Lady of Mount Carmel.

The soil in the lines of my mehndi: Toward a decolonial ritual choreographic methodology

This article explores instigating ritual movement practices as a decolonial approach to practice led research within a Western liberal arts context. By connecting ritual with movement through a decolonial lens, a choreographic methodology was explored to enable belonging, cultural identity and empowerment to evolve within postgraduate practice led research. Ritual movement processes may involve trial and error as well as deep experimentation to unveil and unpack decolonial experience. Building from student-centred personal reflections, this article proposes that ritual movement practice may allow for cultural representation, belonging and decoloniality to occur within a neoliberal educational context. To explore this realm a central query evolved, how might ritual movement practices instigate a decolonial student experience within postgraduate practice led research?

Yakut Ritual Dance “Pattern”: concepts of life and death

This article reviews the Yakut ritual dance called “Pattern” which is connected to archaic funeral rite and to the concepts of life and death intrinsic to Yakut culture. The purpose of this article is to find in this dance symbolic and image-bearing elements indicating major concepts in the Yakut consciousness — concepts of life and death; to show the exceptional value and significance of “life” constant in ethnos consciousness; to address the Yakut ritual dance “Pattern” as one of the ways to display life in dance images; and, analysing the meaning of dance structure and choreography, to demonstrate transformation of “death” into a new quality, a symbol of “life”. The present study reveals the meaning of ritual movements by which death “changes into” life. The methodological basis of the article consists of the analysis of bibliographic sources on Yakut ritual dance. The content and meaning of the dance movements are identical to the worldviews of the ancient Turkish people and their concepts of life and death.

PROMOTING SPIRITUALITY IN THE ARCHITECTURAL THOUGHT OF THE MOSQUE: A SENSE OF PLACE APPROACH

This research aims to study the effects of meaning, body, and activity on increasing the sense of spirituality in a mosque. To this end, a descriptive-analytic methodology was formulated in three stages based on the mutual relations between the independent variables of the structure's body and the dependent variables of mental concepts and activities. Initially, the pattern of people's movement from the entrance to the praying niche and the degree of proximity of the spaces were studied using the material flow patterns technique and the diagram for the relationship between activities. Then, the relationship between the ritual movements of the prayer and the mosque's architecture was analyzed. The magnitude of load in the human body caused by the movements in the prayer was measured using the OWAS technique. Finally, the spiritual moods and the meaningful concepts affected by light and color were analyzed based on the movement patterns of the prayers in the mosques. The results indicated that Islamic wisdom (including spatial order) directly affects and plays a significant role in determining the relationship between the mosque's various spaces and the mosque's structure in general

МУЗЫКАЛЬНЫЕ И ВЕРБАЛЬНЫЕ КОМПОНЕНТЫ В МУСУЛЬМАНСКОМ БОГОСЛУЖЕНИИ

To begin with that is well known fact that any traditional culture (including Islamic culture) is variable in its nature. The regional component of divine service (Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Moscow) is a specific factor of modification in this article. Moreover, it is assumed that the objective reason of the appearance of regional features of the researched musical material could be the vastness of the Russian territory and the relative distance of mosques in provincial cities from the Kazan center. By the way, despite the different ways of musical intoning, the sacred word of the Koran remains unchanged, and variability is the universal principle of any traditional culture. The ritual-plastic side introduces a special feature in the chanting of juma-namaz, the Friday prayer, that is prescribed by the Koran (obligatory collective prayer of Muslims is performed on Friday during the noon prayers in mosques). Actually in any religious cult prayer practice is associated with certain bodily movements that are determined not only the nature of vocal intonation, but often with the direction of the melodic movement. Moreover, this interconnection of musical and plastic intonations in chanting of juma-namaz deserves a separate consideration. The ritual gestures are strictly defined. They are canonized not only by gestures and movements, but also with what verbal formula they must be coincided. The main complex of ritual movements in juma-namaz is concentrated in “dramatic heart” of worship. It is concentrated two rak’ahat-standing (the canonized order of words and actions that constitute the Muslim prayer). The supreme variety of movements is “Takbir” (exaltation of God), which includes a waist-bow and straightening, two earthly bows and seats, a waist-bow and straightening after a bow. The gestures can be changed during one chant or in the transition between two chants. The special cohesion of bodily and melodic movements is singled out the hymns of rak'ah in general. By the way, if in the first two chants attention is focused on intense melodic movement in a relatively unfolded vocal form, in “Takbir”, on the contrary, the relative “low mobility” and shortness of melodic structures “the score” of body movements is richer. Taking everything into account, the body movement is not an end in itself. It is just one of the ways of expressing the prayer state of the soul, which is in some way consistent with other methods – words and melodies. In this case, the art of the singing also acts as one of the methods of prayer and it determines not only by the proper musical patterns (it is secondary), but it mostly determines be the tajwid (the rules of reading the Koran).

The Movement of Repetition. Incorporation through Mimetic, Ritual and Imaginative Movements

The movement of repetition is irrevocably linked to the constitution of the human body and is therefore a human condition. The process of hominization makes this clear. In the body of homo sapiens and in his movements a connection between nature and culture is created. The movement of repetition is of central importance. Repetition is essential for the evolution of homo sapiens, the development of communities and individuals. Repetitions are mimetic; they lead to productive imitations in which new elements and events also emerge. Mimetic movements and the repetitive aspects they contain open up the historical and cultural world to people. Repetitions in rituals lead to the acquisition of an implicit silent practical body knowledge. The emotions arising in mimetic processes are movements through which an orientation in the world takes place. The imagination based on the eccentricity of the human being and on movements of repetition contribute to the development of a collective and individual imaginary.

Cult and Crisis: A GIS Approach to the Sacred Landscape of Hellenistic Attica

AbstractFrom a political point of view, 3rdcentury BCE Athens represents a shattered unity. Parts of the Athenian countryside and even the city itself were occupied by foreign troops. This loss of control affected the city’s political, economic, social, cultural, and religious life. Since Cleisthenic times, relations between political units and religious communities had become institutionalised through specific cults. Other cult places of relevance to the larger community and therefore with a catchment area that exceeded a deme, e.g. Eleusis, were also affected, as they lay within the occupied territories. This partial inaccessibility of the countryside risked the disruption of religious duties. The project “Cult and Crisis: The Sacred Landscape of Attica and its Correlation to Political Topography” aims to identify potentially affected cult places with no limitations regarding their possible catchment area by analysing their placement in relation to foreign military bases. Alterations in cult practice can plausibly be detected in changes ranging from cessation to the rerouting of ritual movement or the establishment of substitute cult places. As these “solutions” rarely feature in written sources, our GIS-based approach will focus on material remains from sanctuaries. Although an object’s use for ritual practice cannot be deduced with certainty, the distribution of finds certainly attests to human activity. This contribution presents a trial of this approach, taking the Sounion area as its case study.

Ritual pathways and public memory: Archaeology of Waiet zogo in Eastern Torres Strait, far north Australia

The materiality of performative ritual is a growing focus for archaeologists. In Europe, collective ritual performance is expected to be highly structured with ritual often resulting in a loud archaeological signature. In Australia and Papua New Guinea, ritual (and collective ritual movement) is also highly structured; however, materiality and permanence are frequently secondary to intangible and/or impermanent considerations. In this paper, we apply the framework of public memory to places and objects associated with the Waiet cult in Eastern Torres Strait. We explore the extent to which ritual performance spanning multiple islands can survive through archaeology, as well as whether ethno-archaeology and history provide insight into the structured and highly political process by which rituals were remembered, celebrated and forgotten.

“Priestesses unto the Most High God”: Gender, Agency, and the Politics of LDS Women’s Temple Rites

ABSTRACTThis study builds upon previous research on religious women’s agency by drawing from in-depth interviews with active Latter-day Saint (LDS) women to examine the interconnections among LDS temple initiatory rituals, religious identity, and institutional patriarchy. Interviews reveal the ways in which the women in this study used ritual movements, vestments, and symbols to challenge Mormon patriarchy and reimagine themselves as “priestesses unto the Most High God.” The women forged oppositional identities not through resistance but through observance. Despite the construction of these alternative identities, their stories highlight the diverse mechanisms through which the LDS Church appropriates, manages, and suppresses women’s priestess beliefs and identities in ways that maintain the patriarchal organization of the Church. Mechanisms, including the pervasive culture of shaming, silencing, and disciplining LDS women, are explored and implications for the sociology of religion are discussed.

The Hindu pañcāyatanapūjā in the aniconism spectrum

ABSTRACTThe Hindu pañcāyatanapūjā is the worship of five deities that can be in the form of five stones collected from various locations in South Asia. Each of these stones has visual properties which form points of reference to the iconography of the same gods’ anthropomorphic forms. And although the ritual use of these five stones is a clear example of an aniconic cult, their worship evokes anthropopathic properties and, depending on the specific context, anthropomorphic visual characteristics. These visual links and ritual movements between the aniconic, the anthropopathic, and the anthropomorphic are examples of a general fluidity that is characteristic of much of the material that has been described as ‘aniconic.’ Different categories of aniconic religious objects are therefore best understood within a spectrum that encompasses aniconic and figural, as well as theriomorphic and anthropomorphic, properties. The article attempts to situate aniconism within such a wider spectrum of representational options.