Set Of Rituals Research Articles

Ayahuasca rituals for the treatment of substance use disorders: Three narratives of former patients of a neo‐shamanic center from Uruguay

AbstractAyahuasca is a psychedelic beverage from the Amazon rainforest, used in spiritual and religious settings for medical purposes. Since the 1990s onwards, several religious and neo‐shamanic groups have been using it in Uruguay within the psychospiritual networks. Some participants go to rituals of ayahuasca looking for therapeutic alternatives to certain ailments, such as substance use disorders (SUDs). In this chapter, three cases of former patients who recovered in a neo‐shamanic center that uses ayahuasca for the treatment of SUDs are described and analyzed. The center is conducted by a psychologist trained in the Peruvian vegetalismo tradition. An ethnographic description of the ritual setting as well as the process of psychotherapeutic intervention of the center are described. In‐depth interviews were used to collect the narratives of the three patients. A medical anthropology perspective is used, focusing on different subjective trajectories: the general biographic trajectory, SUDs trajectory, spiritual trajectory, and the trajectory under the entheogenic field, ayahuasca included. As we discuss, the impact of ayahuasca rituals ceremonies should be explained not only by ayahuasca as a psychedelic compound, but as a psychotherapeutic tool immersed in a social, cultural, and spiritual setting aimed at the treatment of SUDs.

RITUAL BELA DIRI KUTAU DALAM MASYARAKAT DESA SURO, KABUPATEN MUSI RAWAS

This paper discusses the Kutau martial arts ritual practiced by the people of Suro Village, Muara Beliti District, Musi Rawas Regency, South Sumatra Province. Kutau is one of the ancestral heritages consisting of a set of rituals. Kutau takes the form of traditional martial arts that has been developed by the Suro Village community. Applying the qualitative approach, this study aimed to systematically document all forms of rituals in Kutau and its functions within the Suro community. Data were collected through observation, interviews, and documentation, which were then analyzed using Victor Turner’s ritual approach and Talcot Parsons’ function approach. Results show that Kutau is a medium of communication between the community and their ancestors to pass down the Kutau knowledge, which is closely related to Suro people’s belief system. Kutau still prevails thanks to the latency function of the Kutau community, so that the whole system is able to survive and adapt to the current society.

Closing the Water: Ethnography of a Nahua Ritual

“Closing the water” is a ritual connected to the agrarian cycle and belongs to a set of rituals which are performed for the purpose of securing an abundant harvest of maize and other crops. This case study is based on fieldwork conducted by the author in Hueyapan, a Nahua community situated in the Highlands of Morelos on the southern slopes of the Popocatepetl volcano in Central Mexico. It consists of two parts: the first provides a description of the ritual; that is, it presents the ritual itself and the sequence of its parts. The second represents an analysis and explanation of the ritual from an anthropological point of view. Since the ritual of “Closing the water” belongs to a millennial tradition of Mesoamerica related to a ritual landscape, sacred mountains and agrarian cycle, the paper shows how this tradition and this ritual were incorporated into Catholicism in a process of religious syncretism.

MAH MERI’S MAIN JO-OH (HARI MOYANG PUJA PANTAI RITUAL DANCE): FROM TRADITIONAL TO A TOURISM ART ENTERTAINMENT

Hari Moyang Puja Pantai is the traditional ritual still being practised by the Mah Meri indigenous tribe in Malaysia. The ritual celebrated is to seek protection, forgiveness and requests for a better fortune and faith of life for the next new year to come. From their ancestorial spirits and ancestors. On this note, this study emphases only the ritual dance named Main Jo’oh demonstrated during Hari Moyang Puja Pantai ritual ceremony. Focusing on the capability of Main Jo’oh ritual dance transforming into the art of dance performance as a tourism perspective. The research objective that will be discussed is, to identify and explore the capability of this Main Jo’oh ritual dance through dance performance of Poetics Method by Aristotle, as an art of dance to the tourism art performance. It is a qualitative method, emphases on observation approaches. Using the Poetics Method by Aristotle as instruments for data collection and analysing process. The sacredness of this ritual setting has been deconstructed into the element of tourism setting. In the sense of the crowded spectators: tourists and media, who at this extent establish the concept of Main Jo’oh is an art of tourism art of entertainment. Drawing the Aristotle Poetic to the notion of Main Jo’oh ritual dance, interestingly, the six Poetic structures designed by Aristotle did not signify the element of SETTING as part of the structure. Which to the ritual ceremonial, the element of setting contributes to most important structure to the ritual dance such as Main Jo’oh.

“An Army of Little Mothers”: Progressive Era Eugenic Maternalism and the Medicalization of Motherhood

AbstractThis article explores the role of the Little Mothers’ Leagues in New York City, clubs created by public health authorities to educate working-class girls as young as eight years old who took care of their younger siblings while their parents worked. The Little Mothers’ Leagues served as an essential link between social reform and eugenic public health programming during the first two decades of the twentieth century. Eugenic maternalism, as articulated by the Little Mothers’ Leagues, distilled a sense of Americanness into a set of hygienic practices and rituals that could be easily understood and imitated. Through the Little Mothers’ Leagues, eugenic maternalist reformers addressed essential questions regarding the role of social reform in the “Americanization” process, the role of young girls as citizens and as entry points to the immigrant home, and the extent to which environmental reform could regulate the immigrant family. Examining the Little Mothers’ Leagues as a project that was both eugenic and maternalist allows us to better understand the ways that eugenic thinking permeated popular discourse through child welfare reform and domestic science.

Memory, Trauma, and Liturgies of Exile in Baruch 1:1–3:8

Abstract The book of Baruch describes a set of penitential rituals ostensibly established early in the exilic period to be performed by worshipping assemblies in Babylon and Jerusalem. Prominence is assigned to the ceremonial recitation of a book composed by Baruch in Babylon, which becomes the basis of a letter sent by the exiles to the priests in Jerusalem for use in temple liturgies (1:1–14). As they hear the first part of the book (1:15–3:8), worshippers develop reflexive modes of awareness as they encounter various configurations of time and space, thereby performing exilic subjectivities through which they internalize “prosthetic” memories of loss, subjugation, and disaffection.

Potential Problems with Having a Culture that is Too Strong in Modern Organizations

In each and every society today, culture is a very important concept for both individuals and organizations because it identifies the fundamental set of ideas, rituals, beliefs, meaning, values, norms and language, the way in which things are to be done in an organization and in the life of an individual. Therefore, organization’s culture encompasses what has been good and what has worked in the past. These practices can often be accepted within the organization by long serving members of an organization due to the fact that they have a collective interest towards building of a unified organization through shared system of beliefs, habits and traditions. In organizations there are deep-set beliefs about the way in which work should be organized, the way in which authority should be exercised and punished (Cole and Kelly, 2011). Organizational culture is not something that is written down or necessarily is easily stated. Rather, it is an intangible mixture of rules, relationships, values, custom which when taken together describe the distinctive feel of the organization. It is within this culture that individuals work and from which they learn the norms and values to which they are expected to subscribe. This is the arrangement and inter-relationship of the components parts position of an organization. Whereas culture is a hidden structure that can be seen and drawn in organization charts. Thus the organization Structure may reflect culture. This essay will describe three potential problems with having an organizational culture that is too strong.

Artistic Means and Therapeutic Effects in Sri Lankan Healing Rituals

Artistic expressions in the realms of mutually integrated sound culture and visual culture count as the essential elements of the traditional healing rituals in Sri Lanka. While music has a key role in the therapeutic process, visual ingredients provide the ritual setting with a glamour that exceeds the day-to-day domestic environment experience. Made for the occasion, a decorated ritual setting is the first sign to publicly announce the event and to create visual excitement. Its main aim is to welcome the invisible supernatural beings responsible for a disease. The sound produced by voices (chants, incantations, blessings, poetry, dialogues) and musical instruments (drums, handbells, hand cymbals, conch shells, anklets) aims to assure participation of community members and to act as a medium of connecting supernatural beings with the human world. Besides the visual and aural stimuli, the main roles in Sri Lankan healing rituals are given to unity thinking ,community caring, and community setup .Lessons learned from traditional healing rituals which integrate music, dance, visual arts, crafts ,and drama for the sake of individual comfort and the community’s wellbeing, have potential to benefit a variety of disciplines with a focus on artistic and/or therapeutic practices and outcomes such as medical and applied ethnomusicology and anthropology, psychomusicology, sociomusicology, visual arts, music therapy, including community music therapy and ethnomusic therapy, dance/movement therapy, psychotherapy, drama therapy, and more. The author’s arguments are expected to contribute to knowledge and understanding of holistic healing practices of Sri Lanka as non-pharmacological treatments marked by mutually interrelated artistic means and therapeutic effects.

‘To instil the feeling of patriotism’*: Bharat Mata temples in the construction of the religion of nationalism in India

ABSTRACT The religious veneration of Bharat Mata began with the three temples honouring her in the Hindu pilgrimage sites of Varanasi, Haridwar, and Ujjain. They symbolise the nation by anthropomorphising the territory and establish the relationship between nation-divine and its citizen-devotee through ‘darshan’ wherein the latter is imbued with feelings of patriotism. By studying the narratives emerging from these spaces, referred to as temple publics, it has been argued that they are reflective of majoritarian politics, where the aim is to construct a new religion called nationalism, with Bharat Mata at its helm and a set of rituals and unique traditions.

The Islamic effect: Exploring the dynamics of Islamic events on sustainable performance of Islamic and conventional stock markets

This study attempts to investigate the effects of Islamic events on both Islamic and conventional stock markets and analyze which market reacts more pronouncedly to these events. From 2012 to 2022, the research used daily stock return data from eight nations: Kuwait, India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The study examines how Islamic holidays such as Ashura, Eid Meelad ul Nabi, Eid ul Azha, and Ramadan affect both Islamic and Western stock markets. The researchers use the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) model to analyze the data. The results of this analysis show that Islamic events in India, Nigeria, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Qatar have a strong and favorable link with Islamic stock returns. However, it was discovered that there is a little correlation between Islamic events and Islamic stock returns in the remaining three nations. The study also reveals a strong and favorable correlation between Islamic events and conventional stock performance in all countries. By offering a comparative analysis of the effect of Islamic events on Islamic stock markets and mainstream stock markets, these findings add to the body of current material. Every religion has its own set of rituals that its adherents observe, and these rituals frequently have an impact on different economic and non-economic activities. This study sheds light on the precise connection between these events and stock market performance by examining the impact of Islamic occasions on both Islamic and conventional stock markets.

Threads of Connection: Souls and Garments in South Korean Shaman Practice

Different from the physical sites of historical hauntings, or the offerings and paraphernalia that are part of family ritual, the garments that are the subject of this paper make a connection to dead souls in ways that are intimate, visual, and tactile. They bridge life and death as the accoutrements of a quotidian social presence that is, in this context, an uncanny non-presence rendering the garments in question as far from neutral matter. Korean shamans engage the known dead with gifts of new garments, with garments once inhabited by the dead, and those desired by the dead. Other garments, with other intentions, might inadvertently lure the dead, requiring exorcistic attention, while conversely, a scrap of clothing infused with human scent might be used to lure ghosts and other unwelcome entities away from living and imperiled flesh. This paper explores the evocative use of clothing in dealings with the dead. I consider how clothing once worn by the dead, desired by the dead, or used to draw the dead away, “works” as a vehicle of presence in different ritual settings. The paper is based on observations of shamans (mansin), a full range of the rituals they perform, and related observations from fieldwork beginning in the 1970s.

Perugino's Sistine Chapel Altarpiece: The Papal Liturgy and Pope Sixtus IV's Promotion of the Marian Cult

This article presents the first sustained study of Pietro Perugino's destroyed “Assumption of the Virgin” altarpiece commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV for the Sistine Chapel. My analysis reconstructs the frescoed altarpiece's ritual setting and relates it to imagery associated with Sixtus's promotion of the controversial Immaculate Conception feast. The altarpiece's ties to the Immaculate Virgin intensified during the 1483 Assumption feast, which marked the chapel's inauguration. The Assumption represented a salient event in Rome's liturgical calendar, and I demonstrate how the altarpiece allowed Sixtus to temporarily expand a local communal feast to include an expression of papal privilege and authority.

Personal stories as a result of creative activity and a tool for overcoming the fragmentation of everyday life: cultural and philosophical analysis

The object of this research is the fragmented everyday life of social life practices. The subject of the research is personal stories realized in storytelling and considered as the result of the creative activity of the subject and a way to overcome the fragmentation of everyday life of modern culture. The authors consider the fragmentation of everyday life as a factor in the desocialization of the subject and the leveling of unified mechanisms of social interaction. Storytelling is defined as a way for a person to consistently present various storylines and broadcast the principles of their personal existence, creating an effect of belonging among recipients and awakening their imagination. The research substantiates that storytelling resources allow a subject to broadcast personal values, creatively express their individuality through virtual self-presentation and respond to current public demands, thereby overcoming the fragmentation of everyday life. As the conclusions of the research, the authors state that public order and social interaction are conditioned by the influence of the narratives of each subject on the foundation of their own being and the formation of a vector of development of all participants in intersubjective relations through the dissemination of the principles of personal existence in the storytelling system. The authors emphasize the creative nature of personal stories, the creation and telling of which is a prerequisite for the formation of unified principles of social existence due to the transmitted ideas about socially acceptable rules and stable patterns of behavior that become a set of rituals. The authors conclude that personal stories allow the subject to overcome fragmented everyday life, move to a qualitatively new level of normative determination, develop a strategy of self-identity and move from a separate way of being to a holistic existence in the context of intersubjective interactions.

Chan Texts in Practice

Abstract Research into early Chan has relied heavily on the manuscripts found in Cave 17 in Dunhuang, which generally date from before the eleventh century. However this research has often abstracted texts from their context as part of the varied and multilingual collection that was found in the cave. Furthermore, the date, form and original use of the manuscripts containing early Chan texts is often forgotten in the discussion. This brief paper looks at early Chan practice from a historical and local perspective, that is, as a kind of social history. Taking one text, The Record of the Masters and Students of the Lanka (Lengqie shizi ji 楞伽師資記) I discuss some of the meditation practices that it contains and compare these to manuscripts from the Dunhuang collection that fall outside the usual concept of ‘Chan Buddhism’. I conclude that first, early Chan texts should be understood as existing in specific social and ritual settings, such as group initiation rituals, educational settings with teachers and students, or indeed solitary meditation. Second, in the social setting that produced the Dunhuang manuscript cache, distinctions between what we tend to think of as ‘Chan meditation’ and other forms of meditation from tantric or pure land contexts, meant little in practice.

Performing (Trans)Woman Identity through Nirvana: A Study of Hijra Life Narratives

This paper extensively studies the significance of nirvana in the lives of hijra transwomen at the personal, social as well as cultural levels. Life writings of hijras from India so far published in English are taken as the primary source of study. Hijras constitute one of the uniquely organised transgender communities worldwide, with a distinct historical legacy and sociocultural characteristics of their own. Nirvana, in the hijra parlance, refers to the shedding of male genital organs and attainment of (trans)woman’s body through castration coupled with an elaborate set of rituals. It plays an eminent role in authenticating hijra identity by the virtue of its corporeal visibility and ritualistic connotations. Castration, the core treatment in gender-affirmation or sex reassignment surgery, happens to be the crucially inevitable procedure in nirvana process. Hijra life narratives document their innate desire and anxiety for nirvana, preparations for sex reassignment surgery with community support, painful and brutal experience of surviving castration surgery, postoperative care and rituals within the hijra community, and ultimate pleasure of attaining nirvana. This paper employs Judith Butler’s theories on gender performativity, and the interconnectedness between biological sex and social gender to investigate the lived experiences of hijras for unearthing the significance of nirvana. The study concludes that nirvana becomes an agency for resisting oppression and stigma for the hijra transwomen. It further establishes how nirvana authenticates their (trans)womanhood, while also bestowing them with the power to bless others with fertility.

Ayahuasca, Personality and Acute Psychological Effects in Neo-Shamanic and Religious Settings in Uruguay

ABSTRACTThis study is an interdisciplinary research into Uruguayan ayahuasca users belonging to one neo-shamanic and one Santo Daime group. The study involved the chemical analysis of ayahuasca samples, an ethnographic description of the two traditions and rituals, and the application of psychometric scales to measure personality differences, and the acute psychological effects during an ayahuasca ritual. Personality measurements showed lower scores for Santo Daime in Neuroticism-Anxiety, Dependence, Low Self-Esteem, Anger and Restlessness. These differences may be related to the presence of participants under treatment in the neo-shamanic group and/or to the protective effects of a church religion such as Santo Daime. Regarding acute effects, the neo-shamanic group showed higher scores in Somesthesia and Perception, which can be related to the high-arousal ritual setting. Chemical analysis for the ayahuasca samples showed a typical composition of alkaloids. No adulterants were found. The sample from the neo-shamanic group displayed a higher β-carbolines:DMT ratio compared to the Santo Daime sample, which could be related to the higher effects observed for Somesthesia for the neo-shamanic group. Significant positive correlations between some personality traits and acute effects were found only in the neo-shamanic group, which may be related to the more individualistic approach of this tradition.

МАТИЦА В ТРАДИЦИОННЫХ ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЯХ И ОБРЯДНОСТИ УДМУРТОВ

One of the most significant structural elements in the dwelling of the Udmurts, as well as of other Finno-Ugric, Turkic and Slavic peoples of the Russian forest belt, was the cross beam log (matitsa) - a supporting beam supporting the ceiling. Semantics and symbolism of the traditional East Slavic dwelling, including matitsa, are considered in detail by A.K. Bayburin. His theoretical conceptions were successfully approved by G.K. Shklyaev and P.A. Orlov in the Finno-Ugric (Udmurtian) material and by A.K. Salmin and V.V. Medvedev in the Turkic (Chuvash) material. The importance of the functions of matitsa is due to the presence of a number of symbolic meanings attributed to it, the set of beliefs and rituals associated with it, its role is brightly reflected in folklore, especially in the riddles. A large number of building rituals called to ensure well-being, prosperity and warmth in the home are associated with matitsa. The integrity of the home and the success of life in it depended on the correctness of its installation. Laying the mat was interpreted as the birth of a house. There were many symbolic meanings attached to it. Matitsa is the very first, internal boundary separating the mastered space from the outside world. Its boundary functions determined its susceptibility to the influence of other forces. Therefore rituals were performed under it when there was a need to contact with the beyond. There were also special protective techniques to limit its permeability. The ceiling beam is the topographic center of the house and guardian of its inhabitants. It is also a vivid symbol of the world tree, which is seen in building ceremonies. The matitsa is the symbolic equivalent of the whole house, the point of unfolding and winding up the ritual space. All these symbolic meanings, representations and rituals are based on the deep roots of the ancient house-building traditions that developed in the area during the construction of wooden dwellings. In connection with the beginning of construction of houses from new materials, the matitza is falling out of use. But part of the rituals associated with it is preserved. In the article the available data are generalized and new empirical material on this topic for the Udmurts is introduced.

Psychosocial Perspective of Honour Killing

The Indian constitution forbids untouchability and caste or religious discrimination. Caste, on the other hand, is extremely important among Indians. India’s social system is ruled by the Hindu caste system. Even though we live in the twenty-first century, we continue to use the caste system. Each caste had its own set of rituals, customs and values. As a result of increased education, employment, urban growth, modernization and technological innovation, inter-caste marriages have gradually gained widespread acceptance in India. According to the 2011 census, 5.8% of the population throughout India, inter-caste marriages account for one-quarter of all marriages. For many years, however, Indians might have a conservative attitude towards inter-caste marriages. ‘Upper castes’ have viciously maintained the generational purity of blood by imposing endogamy and denying upper caste women the agency to marry outside their own castes. People are culturally conformist, so when their daughters or sons marry outside their culture, religion or language, it can lead to honour-related violence or honour killing. A total of 145 honour killing incidents occurred in India between 2017 and 2019 (Government tells in Lok Sabha in 2021). Furthermore, the majority of honour killings are misidentified as suicides.

Bigger Than a Cupcake: Reimagining Birthday Celebrations Through an Equity and Inclusion

This article shares the story of a preschool teacher who courageously embarked on a yearlong journey of re-envisioning how an important milestone in children’s lives—their birthdays—were celebrated in the classroom. She accepted the preschool leadership’s invitation to align birthday practices with the center’s identity influenced by the Reggio Emilia Approach. What resulted was the teacher co-constructing a new set of rituals with the children that contributed to more equitable spaces that celebrated children’s individuality and fostered agency within an inclusive child-centered, children-driven learning environment.

Social and Cultural Aspects of Araya Tribes in Narayan's Kocharethi: A Study

The present paper deals with social and cultural aspects of tribes from various perspectives. If we want to understand the social and cultural history of the nation, it is essential to read and understand the history of the tribal’s. The social and cultural aspects not individual but connects the whole community. Tribals are indigenous people among the other. They usually live in collectively. Tribals have their own set of beliefs, traditions, customs, rituals, conducts, beliefs, myths, superstitions, and culture. The indigenous people have the supreme culture and traditions. Narayana depicts tribal communities’ interface with modernity and its painful separation from its past culture, myths, rituals, and ways of life. Narayana portrays the history, tradition and suffering of the tribal people that lived in the Western Ghats in the 20th century. Narayana wants to give the identity of the tribal culture and traditions along with their practices.