Brief Studies Myth, Ritual and the Sacred - Assignment Example

Brief Studies Myth, Ritual and the Sacred Student’s Name Professor Subject University/institution 3 May, 2012. Topic 1: Ritual-Rites of Passage Nature and elements of initiation Individuals should work for initiation but not against it; therefore a lot of emphasis ought to be placed on the major objective. A ritual is termed as an orderly series of communal actions through which a sanctified purpose is arrived at through the interaction of both the sacred as well as the ordinary world. Initiation is said to have certain elements but they tend to differ from one society to another since they are do not have uniform length as well as emphasis. Initiation as a rite of passage has four distinct elements which include: the separation from the community, preparation, transition and lastly the welcoming back to the society. During initiation the individual undergoing the rite is separated from the other members of the society, thus he is separated from his initial stage state. The second elements involve the preparation, the individual is prepared for the next stage and the third phase mainly encompasses the transition from the initial stage to the final stage that is adulthood. The last stage which is commonly referred to as the integration or aggregation marks the end of the initiation and it mainly deals with the individual’s integration into the new state. Religious meaning of initiation Rites of passage encompass various multi-layered meanings. The meaning associated with a certain rite of passage can be either social as well as spiritual/religious. Most rites of passage have a religious meaning in them. Therefore initiation is also said to have some religious meaning in it. For example catholic initiation rituals are said to primarily have religious meaning in them. Based on the catholic encyclopedia the religious meaning of rituals such as initiation are described as follows ‘though baptism christens are born again, while conformation makes the Christian strong in faith, the holy matrimony, affects the human beings in a social form while unction takes away the remains of human frailty and at the same prepares the souls for eternal life’ According to Eliade, initiation always have a religious meaning in it since it always changes the existential position in individuals this is arrived at through the use of religious experience. One of the major meanings of initiation in regard to religion is so as to effect a spiritual development within an initiate (Eliade, 1975, pp.17). This is clearly depicted in Wicca, despite the fact that as human beings we do not acknowledge it as a new state, but as a re-linking of the divine with the initiate. Initiation is said to create near expansion paths of consciousness as well as awareness which ultimately leads to higher knowledge levels, empathy and understanding of compassion. Another religious meaning of initiation is that initiation is at all times viewed as a communication with an alleged spirit world. Also based on Spencer and Gillen, the dances as well as the pantomimes which are conducted during initiation have a religious meaning since each of the performers signifies an ancestral being. Therefore there is a re-actualization this eventually enables them the new members to assimilate with their religious heritage. Initiation is also carried out so as to entail the religious values associated with blood and sexuality. Topic 2: Nature of Pilgrimage Pilgrimage can be defined as the activity that involves travel to a certain geographical location in search of culturally ideal place. A pilgrimage has the following elements: the journey, the motivation and the destination (Sumption, 1976, pp.28). For one to be said to truly on a pilgrimage the nature of his journey must include all of the above elements. The journey in ancient times involved a lot of dedication and one had to abandon what their economic activities to sojourn to distant lands for many a long period of time sometimes the journey could take a year to complete. However for a journey to be considered a pilgrimage if it does not have the elements of motivation and is intended to reach a pilgrimage shrine. Motivation to take a pilgrimage is one of the most important elements of Pilgrimage. The motivation for prototypical pilgrimage include travel by devotees who to the religious places where founders of their respective religions visited and are widely quoted in religious text. Archaic pilgrimages are made by people motivated search for answers to life issue and are informed by ancient beliefs in modern times they include journeys places like Pandharpur in India (Morinis, 1984, pp. 236). Medieval pilgrimage was driven by the desire to repent sins in places where the Christians thought they were religious pure and were they thought they were closer to God. Modern pilgrimages are made by very devote followers of a certain religion who aim at improving their spiritual lives by going to worship in places they consider sacred. However the typology of pilgrimage this perspective fails to encompass the metaphorical journeys thus it excludes the life journey as a pilgrimage (Morinis, 1984, pp. 236). The destination of a pilgrimage referred to as shrines are always sacred locations revered in the religion of a Pilgrim. However, the revised definition of pilgrimage include other significant geographical locations in a person’s belief may constitute shrines in non-religious individuals. Pilgrims in all the typologies discussed above believe that the shrines they visit in their pilgrimages have more religious potency than the ordinary places they worship daily, so they go on pilgrimages to tap the power they believe is found there. Centers of pilgrimages are usually places of earthly magnificence like great waterfalls, rivers or caves to signify the greatness of the deity in that religion (Morinis, 1992, pp 7). Prototypical pilgrims visit various sites associated with the lifetime of revered figures in their religion an example is the Christian to the holy land (Israel) and particularly the church of nativity built where Jesus was born. Places become recognized as shrines due to the overarching influence of religious, geographical and political factors (Nolan, 1989, pp 207). Archaic pilgrims visit sites revered in ancient religion like Crough Patrick in Ireland believed to have powers to defeat demons. Medieval pilgrimages were made to destinations such as Assisi to worship and intercede in the place where Virgin Mary (a sacred figure among Catholics) alleged appeared (Sumption, 1976, pp 62). Topic 3: Sacred Texts Ways in which Hinduism reflect the Features of Sacred Texts The scriptures are Divine in Origin In regard to Hinduism, the Vedas are the sacred texts and are regarded as the authority that cannot be questioned in Hindu religion. The Vedas therefore reflect an authority in Hinduism that according to their traditions cannot be challenged and is believed to be divinely inspired by God (Lester, 1985, pp. 127). The sacred texts in Hinduism also portray the features of sacred texts in that they have teachings that are considered divine and these teachings are associated with the messengers who discovered the teachings. For instance, In Hinduism, the Veda is the symbol of authority that cannot be challenged (Habel, O'Donoghue, & Maddox, 1993, pp. 50). The Scriptures Represents Reality that is beyond Mere Human Understanding The sacred texts contains meanings and teachings that guide people to live according to the ways of God and are therefore not believed to contain the teachings of the wisest men on earth but are said to contain the teachings which are according to God’s revelations and hence sacred. In addition to the sacred texts in Hinduism are beyond the wisdom of man are remains unchanged throughout time. That is, there are taught as they were revealed by God to wise men but however rely on men for their interpretation (Lester, 1985, pp. 127). The Period that the Sacred Texts for Discovery is long Another aspect which is distinct to sacred texts is the fact that the period for revelation of the sacred texts is long, for instance in Hinduism the period for revelation is believed to be more than a thousand years (Habel, O'Donoghue, & Maddox, 1993, pp. 50). The Link between Hindus and the Eternal The sacred texts in Hinduism are the ones that link the Hindus with the eternal and therefore serve as a link between the Hindus and their God. The rationale for this argument lays in the Hinduism sacred texts having a mixture of faith for the Hindus (Cole, & Morgan, 1984, pp. 57). The Attitude that Hindus have towards Hinduism For instance the Vedas are a collection of hymns which were composed by the Aryans and were primarily intended to be used when the Aryans were worshipping and therefore this serves as an insight into how Hinduism reflects sacred texts through the attitude of the Hindus. Other examples includes the Yajur - Veda (collection of prayers and some formulas) and Sama – Veda (manual which was used by the singing priest) and all this were intended to help priest who were presiding over the religions functions in Hinduism. This shows that Hinduism scriptures and writings were respected by the followers of Hinduism and hence depicted sacred texts for the attitude that was accorded to Hinduism scriptures was in a sacred and special way, a way of offering sacrificial ceremonies (Habel, O'Donoghue, & Maddox, 1993, pp. 50). Do they raise issues about the definition of sacred texts? The sacred texts of Hinduism have many similarities with other sacred texts of other religions and hence in some ways do not raise a lot of issues apart from when compared to Christianity. In Comparison to Christianity, Hindu’s sacred texts raises the question of how many God(s) Hindus subscribe and hence the question of the authenticity of the divinity of origin of the sacred texts while in Christianity, it is definite that they sacred texts conform to only one God and hence divinity origin is accorded to only one God (Cole, & Morgan, 1984, pp. 53). References Al-Naqar, U. (1972). The Pilgrimage Tradition in West Africa. Khartoum: Khartoum University Press. Cole, W. O. & Morgan, P. (1984). Chapter 2 'Scriptures'. In Six religions in the twentieth century. Amersham: Hutton, pages 52-121. Eliade, M. (1975). Rites and symbols of initiation: the mysteries of birth and rebirth. New York: Harper & Row. Habel, N., O'Donoghue, M. & Maddox, M. (1993). Chapter 11 Myth, ritual and the sacred. Texts in Humanities. Underdale: University of South Australia. Pages 40-100. La Fontaine, J. (1985). Initiation. New York: penguin books. Lester, R.C. (1985). 'Hinduism: Veda and sacred texts'. In The holy book in comparative perspective. Edited by Frederick Denny and Rodney Taylor. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, pages 126-147. Morinis, E. A. (1984). Chapter 8: Theoretical perspectives on pilgrimage. Pilgrimage in the Hindu tradition: a case study of West Bengal. New York: Oxford University Press. Morinis, E. A. (1992). Introduction: the territory of the anthropology of pilgrimage. Sacred journeys: the anthropology of pilgrimage. New York: Greenwood Press pp. Nolan, M. L. (1989).Christian Pilgrimage in Modern Western Europe. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Sumption, J. (1976). Pilgrimage. Totowa, New Jersey: Rowman & Littlefield. Read More

One of the major meanings of initiation in regard to religion is so as to effect a spiritual development within an initiate (Eliade, 1975, pp.17). This is clearly depicted in Wicca, despite the fact that as human beings we do not acknowledge it as a new state, but as a re-linking of the divine with the initiate. Initiation is said to create near expansion paths of consciousness as well as awareness which ultimately leads to higher knowledge levels, empathy and understanding of compassion. Another religious meaning of initiation is that initiation is at all times viewed as a communication with an alleged spirit world.

Also based on Spencer and Gillen, the dances as well as the pantomimes which are conducted during initiation have a religious meaning since each of the performers signifies an ancestral being. Therefore there is a re-actualization this eventually enables them the new members to assimilate with their religious heritage. Initiation is also carried out so as to entail the religious values associated with blood and sexuality. Topic 2: Nature of Pilgrimage Pilgrimage can be defined as the activity that involves travel to a certain geographical location in search of culturally ideal place.

A pilgrimage has the following elements: the journey, the motivation and the destination (Sumption, 1976, pp.28). For one to be said to truly on a pilgrimage the nature of his journey must include all of the above elements. The journey in ancient times involved a lot of dedication and one had to abandon what their economic activities to sojourn to distant lands for many a long period of time sometimes the journey could take a year to complete. However for a journey to be considered a pilgrimage if it does not have the elements of motivation and is intended to reach a pilgrimage shrine.

Motivation to take a pilgrimage is one of the most important elements of Pilgrimage. The motivation for prototypical pilgrimage include travel by devotees who to the religious places where founders of their respective religions visited and are widely quoted in religious text. Archaic pilgrimages are made by people motivated search for answers to life issue and are informed by ancient beliefs in modern times they include journeys places like Pandharpur in India (Morinis, 1984, pp. 236). Medieval pilgrimage was driven by the desire to repent sins in places where the Christians thought they were religious pure and were they thought they were closer to God.

Modern pilgrimages are made by very devote followers of a certain religion who aim at improving their spiritual lives by going to worship in places they consider sacred. However the typology of pilgrimage this perspective fails to encompass the metaphorical journeys thus it excludes the life journey as a pilgrimage (Morinis, 1984, pp. 236). The destination of a pilgrimage referred to as shrines are always sacred locations revered in the religion of a Pilgrim. However, the revised definition of pilgrimage include other significant geographical locations in a person’s belief may constitute shrines in non-religious individuals.

Pilgrims in all the typologies discussed above believe that the shrines they visit in their pilgrimages have more religious potency than the ordinary places they worship daily, so they go on pilgrimages to tap the power they believe is found there. Centers of pilgrimages are usually places of earthly magnificence like great waterfalls, rivers or caves to signify the greatness of the deity in that religion (Morinis, 1992, pp 7). Prototypical pilgrims visit various sites associated with the lifetime of revered figures in their religion an example is the Christian to the holy land (Israel) and particularly the church of nativity built where Jesus was born.

Places become recognized as shrines due to the overarching influence of religious, geographical and political factors (Nolan, 1989, pp 207). Archaic pilgrims visit sites revered in ancient religion like Crough Patrick in Ireland believed to have powers to defeat demons.

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