From Rituals to Symbols
Rituals find
their place in every aspect of our daily life. Some of these
rituals are derived out of our patterned behavior (mindless
routine) but many of them are consciously contrived. Each
ritual system will have its own governing factors, which determine
its nature, format and objective. This article mainly focuses
on those rituals largely concerned with non-secular ideology.
What is a Spiritual ritual?
A spiritual ritual is a prescribed routine that will
often involve gestures, words and objects, designed to influence
transcendental entities and/or forces on behalf of the performers’
goals, interests and beliefs.[1]
These rituals can be elaborate functions comprising of smaller
individual rites or they can be as simple as a short prayer.
Whatever the complexity, the real power lies in the performers’
belief. For without this, the ritual is just an empty script.
Some examples of non-secular or
transcendental concepts:
- Inernal:
psyche, mind, spirit, chi, soul, inner self, life force...
- External:
deities, gods, cosmic force, universal energy, higher
power, destiny, karma, fate...
- Both:
the all, universal energy
Ritual Purpose
If ‘religion’ is the paradigm by which
we define our place in the world, then the ritual is the
mechanism by which we interrelate and connect with it. This
relationship can be defined by its underlying objectives
of which there are two main categories; cohesion
and, petition and benediction.
Cohesion:
The purpose is to solidify and reinforce the individuals own
spirituality as well as (when applicable), the social aspect
of the spiritual community as a whole. This is accomplished
through veneration, systemization and formalization.
Veneration - Through worship,
the individual and/or social community can express their
adoration and reverence for their divine subject. Through
this worship, social and spiritual ties are formed, creating
a shared spiritual unit and a strengthening of belief. (Catholic
mass, and Muslims’ Salat)
Systemization - In order for
cohesion to exist there must be controls. In a community,
these controls are set forth by the community’s shared
ethics, ideology and doctrines. (Bible, Koran, The Vedas,
Tanach, and Kabbalah, just to name a few.) In solipsistic
belief structures, these controls are created by the individuals’
personal ethical tenets, which might be based on for instance,
societal norms or Natural Humanism.
Formalization
- The objective of the ritual is to validate a status
or change in status within a social-spiritual community.
Examples are rites of passage, birthing and naming ceremonies,
initiations, confirmations, and weddings.
Petition
& Benediction This purpose is self-explanatory;
the objective is to request a favor, which can be spiritual
or materialistic. Depending on the type of petition, this
favor might require a sacrifice as a part of the ritual. After
being favored, a ritual expression of gratitude will complete
the circle. Examples are purification's, invocations, some
divination's, salvation's, prays and spells.
Another Viewpoint -- Social anthropologist,
Victor W. Turner introduces a concept called social drama.
This is a process arising from situations of discord within
society. Within these social dramas there are four phases
of which the third is the ritual. In this stage, the ritual
acts as an adjustive and redressive mechanism.[2]
For an exceptional dissertation of Turner’s processual
symbolic analysis, check out Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion 30(1):1-25, (1991).
Spells and Prayers
For the most part, spells and prayers are just singular rituals.
They are rudimental units that can stand alone or be integrated
into a larger ceremony. Spells may use words, formulas, or
objects, each believed to attribute its own "power"
or act as a focus thereof, separate from the performer. It
is through the manipulation of these characteristics that
the objective is achieved.
How does one manipulate the perceived
power?
Does it follow the laws of physics?
Do we know all the laws of physics?
The prayer only utilizes specially formulated
words but these words do not contain power, only focus. They
are used to communicate with a transcendental being, which
is often a god or goddess, but might also be a deceased loved
one.
Personal comments -- If the theory behind
the spell is true, then that must mean that the power contained
in the objects, must have some sentient qualities in order
to be manipulated in a non-rational and often unrelated manner.
I remain skeptical about this concept of universal animism
but I have not totally discounted it either.
Nevertheless, interestingly enough, this animism is still
being considered within the natural science community. In
fact quantum physicist, E. H. Walker speculated that all things
in the universe may have a discrete consciousness; discrete
being the operative word here. [3]
Signs
and Symbols
Signs generically denote an existence or presence of
something not immediately evident or obvious. This allows
for a whole range of forms, each having their own discriminatory
use; for example a road-sign may indicate a hidden danger.
Signs are mostly indicators or pointers while symbols are
representations. The ritual will use both but it is the symbol
that is the most prevalent. The spiritual ritual requires
the use of symbols extensively, because of its inherent transcendental
and metaphysical nature.
Symbols are anything that represents something
else either by association, resemblance, or convention. Quite
simply, they are allegorical storage units. Symbols are used
and shared in order for us to communicate and construct an
archetype of the ambiguous and the abstract. Symbols are multi-interpretive,
therefore, to avoid misunderstanding, the symbol needs to
be in context and the partaker needs to have a working knowledge
of this context. It is very important that what is attempted
to be shared with the "symbol" is what is perceived
conclusively. When successful, the symbol, itself, becomes
a ritual.
Question:
What does this aniconic ideogram mean to you? What do you
perceive as the context?
Something to contemplate ...
If you had to design or choose a symbol to represent
"truth", what would it be?
Terminology
It can get a bit confusing, so here are a few terms
that one may see when dealing with symbols.
Semiotics- is the theory and
study of signs and symbols, especially as elements of language
or other systems of communication, and comprising semantics,
syntactics, and pragmatics.[4]
Icon- is any picture, image or
representation. Iconic icons are those that have some perceivable
likeness to what they denote while aniconic icons don't.
Ideogram- is a graphic symbol
that represents an abstract idea or concept.
Pictogram- depicts
a picture or icon representing a word or idea, for
example a hieroglyph.
Logogram- is a symbol representing
a word without expressing or limited to its' specific pronunciation
or spelling. For example: 5 can mean fem, cinco, cinq or vijf.
Sigils- are signs
or images that are considered magical.
Personal comments --
Spells -- I feel there is a certain value to performing spells,
but NOT as an instant "recipe for success". Much
of the success depends on the performers, the partakers and
their intentions.
I think the real power lies in the performer and less in the
objects, which, to me, are just symbols or tools. What ever
power that may exist in these objects (and words), it is attributed
to them by their user -—Hence, why I do not do spells.
My thinking is: why look to something else, if I have the
'power'? Is not my 'power' sufficient enough? So, rather than
depend on a spell, I believe in myself. I guess you could
say - I am my own spell.
As for Rituals – They always provide me with a sense
comfort and security, be they spiritual, physical or social.
They do this by their very nature, through repetition, in
their mundanity, and by the fact they are in my direct control
... when so much in the world is not.
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