Ceremony
A ceremony (UK /ˈsɛrɪməni/, US /ˈsɛrəˌmoʊni/) is an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. The word may be of Etruscan origin, via the Latin caerimonia.[1]
Ceremonial occasions
A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human life, marking the significance of, for example:
- birth
- initiation (college orientation week)
- puberty
- social adulthood (Bar (or Bat) Mitzvah)
- graduation
- awarding
- retirement
- death (Day of the Dead)
- burial (funeral)
- spiritual (baptism, communion)
Celebration of events
Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events such as:
- vernal equinox, winter solstice and other annual astronomical positions
- weekly Sabbath day
- inauguration of an elected office-holder
- occasions in a liturgical year or "feasts" in a calendar of saints
- Opening and closing of a sports event, such as the Olympic Games
Other ceremonies underscore the importance of non-regular special occasions, such as:
- coronation of a monarch
- victory in battle
In some Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important social role, for example the tea ceremony.
Process
Ceremonies may have a physical display or theatrical component: dance, a procession, the laying on of hands. A declaratory verbal pronouncement may explain or cap the occasion, for instance:
- I now pronounce you husband and wife.
- I swear to serve and defend the nation ...
- I declare open the games of ...
- I/We dedicate this ... ... to ...
Both physical and verbal components of a ceremony may become part of a liturgy.
See also
|
Notes
- ↑ Grimes, Ronald L. (2000). "Ritual". In Willi Braun, Russell T. McCutcheon. Guide to the study of religion. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 260. ISBN 0304701769.
External links
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Ceremony |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ceremonies. |