e n c y c l o p e d i a o f

religious rites,rituals, and festivals

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ROUTLEDGE ENCYCLOPEDIAS OF RELIGION AND SOCIETYDavid Levinson, Series Editor

The Encyclopedia of Millennialism and Millennial Movements

Richard A. Landes, Editor

The Encyclopedia of African and African-American Religions

Stephen D. Glazier, Editor

The Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism

Brenda E. Brasher, Editor

The Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom

Catharine Cookson, Editor

The Encyclopedia of Religion and War

Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez, Editor

The Encyclopedia of Religious Rites, Rituals, and Festivals

Frank A. Salamone, Editor

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e n c y c l o p e d i a o f

religious rites,rituals, and festivals

Frank A.Salamone, Editor

Religion & SocietyA Berkshire Reference Work

R O U T L E D G EN e w Yo r k L o n d o n

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Published in 2004 by

Routledge

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Published in Great Britain by Routledge

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A Berkshire Reference Work.

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Copyright © 2004 by Berkshire Publishing Group

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Encyclopedia of religious rites, rituals, and festivals / Frank A.

Salamone, editor.

p. cm. – (Routledge encyclopedias of religion and society)

“A Berkshire Reference work”.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-415-94180-6

1. Religions—Encyclopedias. 2. Rites and ceremonies—

Encyclopedias.

I. Salamone, Frank A. II. Series.

BL31.E47 2004

2039.8903—dc22

2003020389

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v

Contents

Editorial Advisory Board vii

List of Entries ix

Introduction xi

Entries A to Z 1

List of Contributors 459

Index 463

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Editorial Advisory Board

General EditorFrank A. SalamoneDepartment of Anthropology, Iona College

Associate EditorsNikki Bado-FralickDepartment of Religious Studies, Iowa State University

Sabina MaglioccoDepartment of Anthropology, California State University,Northridge

Dan SmithDepartment of History, Iona College

Berkshire Publishing Group StaffDavid LevinsonSeries Editor

Elizabeth EnoProject Coordinator

Marcy RossAssociate Editor

Francesca ForrestMike NicholsStephen SanbornMark SiemensCopy Editors

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Academic Rituals 1Africa, Central 5Africa, West 9African-American Churches 13Afro-Brazilian 18Afro-Caribbean 22Agricultural Rituals 26Altered States of Consciousness 30Asceticism 35Australian Aboriginal 39Azande 42Baha’i 47Birth Rituals 48Blood Rituals 53Body and Rituals 57Buddhism 61Calendrical Rituals 67Camp Meetings 70Cannibalism 72Catholicism 74China: Popular Religion 80Christmas 85Clothing and Rituals 88Commemorative Rituals 93Communitas 96Communitas, Rites of 97Crisis Rituals 101Day of the Dead 105Death Rituals 107Divali 112Divination 114Easter 119Ecstatic Worship 122Epiphany 126Eucharistic Rituals 129

Evil Eye 131Exorcism 132Food and Rituals 139Gender Rituals 145Glossolalia 150Greco-Roman 151Haircutting Rituals 157Hajj 159Hanukkah 161Hawai’i 163Healing and Rituals 167Hinduism 170Humor and Rituals 176Hunting Rituals 179Iban 185Identity Rituals 187Inversion, Rites of 192Islam 195Jainism 199Javanese 201Judaism 203Kwanzaa 209Language, Literacy, and Ritual 213Liminoid 217Madagascar 221Magic 223Mardi Gras 228Marriage Rituals 230Martial Arts 236Melanesia 237Micronesia 241Millennialism 245Misrecognition and Rituals 249Monastic Communities 252Mormons 256

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List of Entries

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Music 262Naming Rituals 269Native Americans: Arctic 273Native Americans: Northeast 276Native Americans: Northwest Coast 278Native Americans: Plains 281Native Americans: Pueblo 284Nature Worship 289Naven Ceremony 290New Year’s Celebrations 292Oaths and Ordeals 297Online Rites 300Orthodoxy 302Paganism and Neo-Paganism 307Passage, Rites of 311Passover 314Pentecostalism 317Performance, Ritual of 321Personal Rituals 324Pilgrimage 327Possession and Trance 331Prayer 336Protestantism 339Puberty Rites 345Purity and Pollution 350Ramadan 355Rastafari 357Ritual as Communication 361Ritual Control 362Ritual Specialists 366

Rituals of Rebellion 371Sacred Places 375Sacrifice and Offerings 379Santeria 380Satanic Rituals 383Scatological Rituals 387Scientific Skepticism and Religious Rituals 388Shakers 392Shamanism 394Shinto 398Sikhism 402Snake Handling 405Sorcery 406South America: Highland 411South America: Savanna and Tropical Forest 414Sport and Ritual 416Star Trek Conventions 419Sufism 421Symbol and Ritual 424Taboo 427Taoism 430Television and Ritual 431Vision Quest 435Vodun 437Wicca 441Witchcraft 444Yom Kippur 451Yoruba 453Zulu 455

List of Entries

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Scholars of religion have yet to agree on just what rit-ual is. They also have yet to agree on the boundary (ifsuch a boundary exists) between religious ritual andsecular ritual. To some extent ritual is one of thosephenomena that falls under the heading of “youknow it when you see it.” Despite the absence of adefinition—or perhaps because of the absence—ritualhas drawn much attention from religious studiesscholars, anthropologists, historians, sociologists,psychologists, and other experts. Perhaps this isbecause ritual is often the most visible manifestationof religion and the one that first comes to the attentionof outside observers.

Ritual is an enormously large and complex topic.Ritual is not static; it has varied enormously over thecourse of human history and across cultures. Theanthropological literature is filled with detaileddescriptions and analyses of rituals of several thousandcultures around the world. This means that no refer-ence work on rituals can be truly encyclopedic becausethere is simply too much to cover. Nonetheless, wehave chosen to be broad and inclusive in our coveragein this encyclopedia, not only covering a broad range oftopics but also providing summaries of the knowledgeon rituals developed by scholars from a broad range ofdisciplines. These scholars include anthropologists,sociologists, theologians, religious studies specialists,historians, folklorists, popular culture experts, andphilosophers. This inclusiveness provides a number ofperspectives that enable the reader to profit fromdiverse views on religion and ritual. The encyclopediaexamines the relationship between secular ritual andreligious ritual, between rituals and beliefs, and themanner in which rituals are used to attain practical

goals. Authors provide insight into world and localreligions and examine the major theories that helpexplain religion and ritual.

Anthropology and the Study of Religion andRituals

Although many scholarly approaches contribute tothis encyclopedia, anthropology is in the forefrontbecause it has had a profound influence on the man-ner in which other scholars view religion and ritual.Anthropology has its roots deep in the field of reli-gion, its rituals, and its performances. Its earliestscholars, such as E. B. Tylor, Sir Henry Maine, Fustelde Colanges, and Lewis Henry Morgan, sought theorigins of religion and along the way discovered agreat deal about religion and its relationship to cul-ture. E. B. Tylor (1832–1917) is generally regarded asthe father of the anthropology of religion. Tylor is bestknown for his evolutionary theory of religion, pro-posing stages of religious development that corre-spond to stages of material development. Otherscholars proposed other evolutionary theories, andalong the way these scholars also left their marks onthe field of the anthropology of religion and religiousstudies in general. Sir James Frazer’s (1854–1941)comparative mythologies still inspire work today, asdoes the stimulating work of R. R. Marett (1866–1943).

Although these scholars inspired a formidablebody of work, the general foundation of the modernstudy of ritual in anthropology, history, sociology, reli-gious studies, and related fields rests on the work ofthe grand thinkers of the nineteenth century—theFrench sociologist Emile Durkheim, the German

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sociologist Max Weber, the German political philoso-pher Karl Marx, and the Austrian neurologistSigmund Freud. Durkheim (1858–1917) stressed theimportance of understanding religion as being com-prised of “social facts” that support the maintenanceof social solidarity; that is, they hold society together.His nephew and successor, Marcel Mauss, and hisstudent Lucien Levy-Bruhl added important conceptsto the study of religion. Mauss put forward the idea ofgift giving, an important component of many rituals,and its role in building reciprocal relationships insociety. Levy-Bruhl focused on so-called primitivereligion and what he termed “pre-logical” thought.The French sociologist Arnold Van Gennep(1873–1957) wrote the influential Rites de Passagelooking at rituals of transformation.

German scholars made major contributions to thestudy of religion and religious rituals and perform-ance. Max Weber (1864–1920) noted relationshipsbetween the social sphere and the economic sphere ofhuman activity. Karl Marx (1818–1883) centered hisstudies on spiritual alienation resulting from unequaldistribution of economic resources and the role of reli-gion in perpetuating this inequality. The AustrianSigmund Freud (1856–1839) provided insight into theworld of rituals, including religious rituals. He alsoexamined the ties between religious experience andbiological and social instincts and drives.

Each of these scholars demonstrated the tiesbetween religion and ritual and other realms of life. Indoing so they helped develop ways to study religionand integrated those ways into other fields, makingreligion more comprehensible to students.

The German diffusionist school has had a majorimpact on the U.S. field of religious studies. Thatschool, originated by anthropologist Father WilhelmSchmidt (1868–1954), opposed the basic premises ofthe English and French evolutionary schools. Thediffusionists argued that cultural similarities usuallyresult from diffusion from the original place of inven-tion to other places. Franz Boas, often seen as thefather of U.S. anthropology, insisted on the primacy ofculture over other factors in his work. Along the wayhe influenced and inspired generations of U.S. anthro-pologists down to the present.

In England, Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942)carried on the fight against cultural evolutionists,insisting on the importance of solid ethnography (cul-tural study) over abstract theory. Malinowski tried toestablish the validity of Frazer’s distinction amongmagic, science, and religion. The British social anthro-

pologist A. A. Radcliffe-Brown (1881–1955) added tothe work of his time in understanding the role ofreligion in society by establishing the connectionbetween myth and the maintenance of the naturalorder of things. In a direct line with Boas, Malinowski,and Radcliffe-Brown, the British anthropologist E. E. Evans-Pritchard (1902–1973) struggled againstthe dichotomy between “primitive” and modern reli-gions. The old distinctions between concepts such asmonogamy and promiscuity, white and brown, andanimists and monotheists made no sense in light ofthe data coming from fieldwork.

Current studies in the anthropology of religionhave many trends. The works of scholars such asClaude Levi-Strauss, Mary Douglas, Clifford Geertz,Melford Spiro, and Victor Turner put a greater stresson the understanding of ritual. The role of psycho-analysis has remained strong, and the works of Freudand the French psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan(1901–1981) are important in contemporary argu-ments. At the same time studies using the insights ofDurkheim and Weber have continued.

Recent work has also centered attention onshamanism and states of consciousness. Much of thework has strong psychoanalytical and psychologicalroots. The emphasis is on the states of consciousnessof people undergoing religious experiences and ritu-als. Other studies focus around the use of literary crit-icism and the tradition of colonial criticism. Thesestudies focus on the manner in which religions arediscussed and on possible inherent biases in viewingthe religions of the less powerful.

Scholars have done a great deal of soul searching inthe social sciences in general and in anthropology inparticular over the last fifty or so years. That soulsearching has led to a greater sensitivity in the field ofreligious studies. There is, for example, resurgence inthe study of religions of the so-called developingworld, seeing the strange in the familiar and seeing thefamiliar in what had once been strange in the studiesof the religion and rituals of traditional societies.

Salient Points

This encyclopedia contains 130 articles, 60 sidebars ofmainly primary text, and 60 photos that together aremeant to provide broad and representative coverageof rituals in human history and across cultures. Aswith other volumes in the Religion & Society series,attention is given to the non-Western world. Thearticles fall into four general categories.

Introduction

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● The first category provides context and under-standing of rituals in general by focusing on keyconcepts or topics that have applicability across allor most forms of ritual. This category includes arti-cles on asceticism, communitas, magic, and taboo.

● The second category focuses on specific types ofreligion and their diversity and similarities acrosscultures and religions and includes articles onagricultural rituals, identity rituals, rituals ofrebellion, and naming rituals.

● The third category provides overviews of themajor rituals of major world religions, culturalregions, and specific cultures.

● The fourth category covers specific rituals such asChristmas, Kwanzaa, and Star Trek conventions.

This encyclopedia draws on the work of scholarsfrom a number of disciplines—anthropology, sociolo-gy, religious studies, history, cultural geography, and

philosophy. It also draws on the work of outstandinginternational scholars. There are contributors fromAsia, North America, South America, Europe, andAfrica. There are representative scholars from all theworld’s major religions as well as scholars who pro-fess no religion at all. These scholars provide perspec-tives from the cutting edge of their disciplineswithout neglecting prior scholarship.

AcknowledgmentsI want to thank these scholars for their contributionsto this encyclopedia and for their skill in presentingoften-complex topics in clear and readable manner. Ialso want to thank David Levinson at BerkshirePublishing for inviting me to edit this volume andElizabeth Eno for providing careful and diligentmanagement of the process.

Frank A. Salamone

Introduction

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Academic Rituals

Because the very nature of the university is one oftransition and initiation, the majority of academic rit-uals deal with rites of passage, as students are indoc-trinated into, move through, and ultimately completethe educational process. Within this transitional state,rituals practiced in higher education range fromfamiliar and formal graduation ceremonies to a widevariety of discrete rituals of individual institutionsand student bodies. Most academic rituals serve bothto accentuate and assuage the anxiety of the educa-tional process, to impress upon participants the neces-sity of commitment to the ideals of the institution, andto remind the community, year after year, of theunique nature of the university and its relationship tothe rest of the world.

Medieval Beginnings

Almost every distinguishing element of academic rit-uals today dates back to twelfth- and thirteenth-cen-tury Europe at the time when universities were firstforming. Early universities constituted self-governingcommunities of scholars with the authority to conferdegrees and with the jurisdiction to provide a protect-ed environment for scholars. University governancehad to deal with a rebellious and youthful studentpopulation, with an independent faculty of diverseinterests, and with a local community often at oddswith university values and goals. In such an atmos-phere, demonstrations of authority and impressiveemblems of office were often necessary to fend offchallenges to the rights and powers of the university.

Dramatic collective rituals imposed periodic orderand served to remind participants and the communi-ty at large of the nature and purpose of a university.

The ritual dress for modern American academicceremonies—the robes, hoods, and headwear of thefaculty and graduates—represent what was oncestandard dress for scholars in northern Europe. Mostmedieval scholars were required to make at leastminor vows to the church, so their dress was deter-mined by the regulations of their clerical order andusually consisted of a black robe with cowl or hood.During the sixteenth century, scholars adopted theTudor robe, worn over ordinary clothing, and thebiretta hat, from which the mortarboard evolved. Thespecific look of the modern gown, hood, mortarboard,and even the tassel derive from those worn atCambridge and Oxford since the sixteenth century.The variably colored hood, originally the clericalcowl, is now used to identify the individual’s degree,field of study, and academic institution.

Emblems of office—charters, gavels, seals, medal-lions, chains, banners, and ceremonial maces—wereoriginally granted to universities by secular and churchauthorities to demonstrate official approval. Theyremain an invariable part of the symbols used in aca-demic ritual today, as do other survivals of the medievalpast—the parchment diploma, the titles of office, thedramatis personae, and the college system. Even the rit-ual setting is often medieval, since many modern uni-versities replicate Gothic architecture. The need to bringthe university world into focus and to state its missionin a dramatic way continues to exist, and even after cen-turies of radical change, the legacies of early universi-ties are part of the pageantry of academic life.

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THE TRADITIONAL EXAMINATION SYSTEM AND RITUALS IN KOREA

In traditional East Asian societies such as China, Korea, and Japan those who sought prestigious employ-ment in government were required to take a rigorous examination that determined their fate after manyyears of study. The following example describes the exam setting and rituals that awaited those who suc-ceeded in Korea.

The aspirants to higher honors, armed with their diplomas, set out to Seoul to attend at the proper time the nation-

al examination. The journey of these lads, full of the exultation and lively spirit born of success, moving in hilarious

revelry over the high roads, form one of the picturesque features of out-door life in Corea. The young men living in

the same district or town go together. They go afoot, taking their servants with them. Pluming themselves upon the

fact that they are summoned to the capital at the royal behest, they often make a roystering, noisy, and insolent

gang, and conduct themselves very much as they please. The rustics and villagers gladly speed their parting. At

the capital they scatter, putting up wherever accommodations in inns or at the houses of relatives permit.

Though young bachelors form the majority at these examinations, the married and middle-aged are by no

means absent. Gray-headed men try and may be rejected for the twentieth time, and grandfather, father, and son

occasionally apply together.

On the appointed day, the several thousand or more competitors assemble at the appointed place, with the

provisions which are to stay the inner man during the ordeal. The hour preparatory to the assignment of themes is

a noisy and smoky one, devoted to study, review, declamation, or to eating, drinking, chatting or sleeping accord-

ing to the inclination or habit of each. The examination consists of essays, and oral and written answers to ques-

tions. During the silent part of his work, each candidate occupies a stall or cell. The copious, minute, and complex

vocabulary of terms in the language relating to the work, success and failure, the contingencies, honest and dis-

honest shifts to secure success, and what may be called the student’s slang and folk-lore of the subject, make not

only an interesting study to the foreigner, but show that these contests subtend a large angle of the Corean gentle-

man’s vision during much of his lifetime.

Examination over, the disappointed ones wend their way home with what resignation or philosophy they may

summon to their aid. The successful candidates, on horseback, with bands of musicians, visit their patrons, rela-

tives, the examiners and high dignitaries, receiving congratulations and returning thanks. Then follows the

inevitable initiation, which none can escape — corresponding to the French “baptism of the line,” the German

“introduction to the fox,” the English “fagging,” and the American “hazing.”

One of the parents or friends of the new graduate, an “alumnus,” or one who has taken a degree himself, one

also of the same political party, acts as godfather, and presides at the ceremony. The graduate presents himself,

makes his salute and takes his seat several feet behind the president of the party. With all gravity the latter pro-

ceeds, after rubbing up some ink on an ink-stone, to smear the face of the victim with the black mess, which while

wet he powders thickly over with flour. Happy would the new graduate be could he escape with one layer of ink and

flour, but the roughness of the joke lies in this, that every one present has his daub; and when the victim thinks the

ordeal is over new persons drop in to ply the ink-brush and handful of flour. Meanwhile a carnival of fun is going on

at the expense, moral and pecuniary, of the graduate. Eating, drinking, smoking, and jesting are the order of the day.

It is impossible to avoid this trial of purse and patience, for unless the victim is generous and good-natured, other

tricks and jokes as savage and cruel as those sometimes in vogue in American and British colleges follow.

Source: Griffis, William E. (1992).Corea: The Hermit Nation.

New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, pp. 340–42.

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Rites of Passage

Because of the deliberately transcendent purpose ofthe university—turning raw youth into learned andresponsible adults—the study of academic rituals hasfocused on rites of passage, those rituals marking thepassage of a person from one stage of life to another.In a process first described by Arnold van Gennp(1873–1957), participants in rites of passage undergothree phases: separation of participants from thegroup, a transitional or “liminal” phase, and incorpo-ration back into the group. Victor Turner (1920–1983)extended van Gennup’s theory, developing the con-cept that the liminal phase was often more than justan intermediate, neither-here-nor-there state.Societies use the liminal phase both to instill valuesand lore in participants and to evoke self-doubt andreflection. Liminality, therefore, is often fraught withanxiety and uncertainty and could even constitute apermanent category of people who are marginal with-in their societies. At the same time, the liminal stateproduces a feeling of group warmth, solidarity andunity, or “communitas,” among its participants.

The typical university experience reflects the uni-versal elements of the liminal state. On the thresholdof adulthood, incoming freshmen are detached fromnormal life as they enter the university. Even thephysical setting is strange, often consisting of ancient-looking buildings and parklike grounds that deliber-ately set off the university world from the ordinary.Customary procedures are different; the best-rea-soned argument outweighs majority rule and person-al freedom is a given. Even the hours of the day nolonger correspond to the past: class time and person-al time are jumbled, meals are taken at random, andno one bothers to order the night. In this setting, stu-dents pass from youth to adulthood, from ignoranceto knowledge, and from dependence to independ-ence. Graduation ultimately reincorporates them intothe ordinary world.

The principal types of academic rituals representall or part of the many facets of the liminal state. Themost well-known and impressive rituals are convoca-tions, formal ceremonies that assemble the entire uni-versity community—faculty, students, officials, andsupporters—for a special occasion, such as gradua-tion, a presidential inauguration, a special anniver-sary, or to mark the beginning of a new term. The fullpanoply of academic symbols and performances areusually brought into play as the university uses con-vocation to intensify commitment to the institution,

arouse self-reflection among participants, and rein-force the university’s role in the community. Ritualreunions of former students represent attempts toreestablish commmunitas, as former students makepilgrimages to the campus for annual reunions orhomecoming events that bring them under theauthority of the university once again, reinforce cohe-sion with other former students, and impress uponcurrent students the advantages of extended loyaltyto the school. Other common academic rituals are theinitiation rites regularly conducted by scholarly,social, and service societies to induct new studentmembers. These rites can range from the reverent tothe outlandish to hazing activities. In addition tothese commonly known rituals, academic life con-tains a multitude of informal and small-scale ritualsrelated to the everyday activities of the university,such as the ritual involved in a faculty member apply-ing for tenure or the preparations a student makes tostudy for an exam.

Commencement

The most widely observed and familiar Americanacademic ritual is undoubtedly commencement, theconferring of degrees on graduating students.Employing all of the formal ritual elements found inacademe, the typical, modern-day commencement rit-ual is considered archaic and inefficient, fundamentalcharacteristics that serve to accentuate the contrastbetween the academic world and the ordinary world.Traditionally held at the end of the spring semester,the ritual action begins with the processional, the

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People gather, wearing traditional colors, for a reunion at MountHolyoke College, in Holyoke, Massachusetts. COURTESY OF STEPHENG. DONALDSON PHOTOGRAPHY.

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march into the staging area by university officials,special guests, and faculty—all ordered by rank,dressed in academic regalia, and carrying theemblems of office—followed by the graduating stu-dents arranged by college. The liturgy consists ofshort speeches from officials, honored faculty, hon-ored alumni, and special guests—all of which serve toremind the participants of the role of the universityand to link its purpose to the concerns of the world atlarge. Outstanding students give short speeches, andhonorary degrees are bestowed on notable persons.

The commencement address is delivered by a per-son of distinction, and the message usually dramatiz-es the new responsibilities and opportunities to befaced. Thus, as students leave the liminal state, fearand hope and the past, present, and future are allevoked at the same time. The liturgy orders all ofthese elements and ultimately confirms that thesegraduates have worked hard and now possess thetraining and knowledge to face the challenges of theworld they are entering. The central ritual action isthe conferring of degrees on the graduates. Studentstraditionally walk across the stage, are handed theirdiplomas, receive handshakes, and return to theirseats, students no longer. The concluding remarksadjust the graduates to their new status, affirm thesolidarity of the group with the school, and reiteratethe sacredness of their common values. The partici-pants then march out in the recessional, the final ritu-al act of reincorporation into the ordinary world.

Inversion and Paradox

Rites of passage contain within them distinct anti-structural and chaotic elements. The feelings of equal-ity, humility, and oneness that arise duringcommunitas oppose the structure of the traditionalsocial order, which tends to emphasize rank and dis-tinction. Levi-Strauss (b. 1908) points out that, sinceall human beings belong to both nature and culture,rites of passage serve to mediate our biological des-tiny with our cultural experiences. At such times, rit-uals of rebellion, antistructural play, role reversals,and paradoxes become part of the ritual process.

Thus, the university “civilizes” and educates a stu-dent, but the nature of the student as a human beingwith biological instincts and urges is not destroyed.Ritual exposes this paradox and even exaggerates it inorder to affirm reconciliation despite conflict. Forexample, most college campuses hold periodic inver-sion rituals where, amid festivity, playful fighting, and

hijinks, participants are permitted to do that which isnormally forbidden. Students may ridicule the solem-nity of academe with their own ritualistic performanc-es, such as a fake commencement ceremony.

One classic example of the antistructural, nature-versus-culture elements in a rite of passage is theItalian festa di laurea, the graduation party. Uponreceiving word that a student will successfully gradu-ate from an Italian university, close friends make apapiro, a long, poster-sized paper scroll containing rib-ald and mocking accounts and images of the gradu-ate’s life. Often in poetic form and emphasizingsexual activity and supposed vices, the papiro is thenposted in a public place. On graduation day, the laure-ata reads her papiro aloud to a gathering of friends andfamily. Every time she makes a mistake in the reading,she must chug from a bottle of wine. Finally, thegraduate is paraded around the city, singing alongwith her friends and family in celebration. Thus, thefesta di laurea counterbalances the solemn ritual of acommencement ceremony, which celebrates the intel-lect, by both glorifying and ridiculing the noncerebral,sexual instincts of the graduate. The sensuality anddebauchery of the festa di laurea ritual draw attentionto the chaos that would result were order not to beimposed. The juxtaposition of the two rituals height-ens and preserves the dignity and solemnity of theformal ritual while acknowledging the inherent con-flict in every rite of passage.

Changes over Time

Looking from the broad perspective begun inmedieval times, academic rituals have changed littleover the centuries. One recent exception occurred inthe United States in the 1960s, when schools ceasedholding the baccalaureate, a special religious servicefor a graduating class, in response to increased con-cern over the separation of church and state. As thestudent population has increased in size, commence-ment exercises are now held at the end of everysemester in many schools. The 1960s and early 1970salso ushered in increased informality and individual-ity among graduates at the commencement ceremony,which has continued into the twenty-first century.While faculty and school officials maintain strict pro-tocol in regalia and ritual action, students often bendthe rules slightly by writing messages or pastingobjects on their mortarboards, adding a small acces-sory to their robes such as a political button, or wear-ing outlandish shoes. Some schools began allowing

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individual groups, such as ethnic or gay groups, tohold separate commencement ceremonies. Music,which was traditionally slow and dignified, has alsobeen loosened up. Many graduates now march not to“Pomp and Circumstance” but to popular music.

Jaclyn L. Jeffrey

See also Communitas; Liminoid

Further Reading

Babcock, B. (1996). Arrange me into disorder: Fragmentsand reflections on ritual clowning. In R. Grimes (Ed.),Readings in ritual studies (pp. 1–21). Upper SaddleRiver, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: Perspectives and dimensions. NewYork: Oxford University Press.

Eliade, M. (1958). Rites and symbols of initiation: The mys-teries of birth and rebirth (W. R. Trask, Trans.). Dallas,TX: Spring Publications.

Gunn, M. K (1969). A guide to academic protocol. NewYork: Columbia University Press.

Hargreaves-Mawdsley, W. N. (1978). A history of academ-ical dress in Europe until the end of the eighteenth centu-ry. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Levi-Strauss, C. (1964). Introduction to a science of mythol-ogy, Vol. 1, The raw and the cooked (J. & D. Weightman,Trans.). New York: Harper & Row.

Moore, S., & Myerhoff, B. (1977). Secular ritual.Amsterdam: Van Gorcum.

Sullivan, E. (1977). Academic costume code and an aca-demic ceremony guide. In American Universities andColleges (15th ed.). New York: American Council onEducation & Walter de Gruyter, Inc.

Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process: Structure and anti-structure. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Van Gennup, A. (1960). The rites of passage (M. B.Vizedom & G. L. Caffee, Trans.). Chicago: Universityof Chicago Press.

Africa, Central

In the central African worldview ancestors are impor-tant and have to be honoured through rituals. CentralAfrica comprises Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia,and Malawi. Rituals are also performed to ask theprotection of the spirits, usually ancestral spirits, toward off danger, misfortune, tensions, and problems.

Rituals are also performed to initiate people into anew stage of life or a new status; these are called “ritesof passage.”

Rituals can be performed at certain occasions, forexample, when a couple gets married, when a girlreaches puberty, or when a person dies, but rituals canalso be performed when there are tensions in the com-munity: when people are quarrelling, when they areworried because the rains have not come, when some-one unexpectedly dies, or when there is illness anddanger, such as the fear of or accusation of witchcraft(the use of sorcery or magic). In these cases a ritualcan be performed to ask the spirits for the protection,fortune, and health of the entire community.

Rituals can be performed before a person begins adifficult or dangerous undertaking, for example,going hunting or fishing. Hunting rituals and fishingrituals are performed to ask the spirits for a good andsafe trip and a good hunt or catch.

Also, rituals can be performed in a personal situa-tion, for example, for someone who is in danger orwho needs protection. For instance, during a weddingone needs protection because marriage involves thefirst sexual act of the couple, and in the centralAfrican worldview, this is dangerous and thereforehas to be surrounded by a ritual.

Rituals serve the person involved as well as thecommunity; they have sociocultural, religious, andsymbolic meaning, and involve power. All rituals areevents with a social meaning and symbolic actions.

The function of rituals is to confirm the structureof society. Rituals perpetuate and clarify norms andvalues in a society. Through rituals conflicts withinsociety are made clear and may be solved. A ritual isa comment on society.

Rituals re-establish and confirm social relation-ships within a community. On the social level, ritualsbind the community, eliminate tension between peo-ple, and provide them with the belief that the ances-tors will support them and restore peace in thecommunity.

Rituals are symbolic acts and have a religious con-notation because they are related to spirits and thesupernatural world. A rite is a series of rituals, forexample, an initiation rite, which consists of severalrituals and can last for months. A ceremony is similarto a rite but has no religious connotation.

When a group of people honour spirits, this iscalled a “cult.” Central Africa has many regional cults,which are related to the land, and shrine cults, whichare related to a divinity.

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Rituals are an intrinsic part of life and of societyand are related to the cosmic view. In this view spiritstake care of the life of the living and therefore have tobe placated and honoured. Spirits are classified asancestral spirits or as natural spirits, such as water-falls, trees, and rocks.

Shrines

At many places where natural spirits are thought tolinger, shrines are built to honour the spirits and toperform rituals to honour them, to make offerings tothem, and to ask their advice, health, and assistance.This is done by a traditional priest, who has inheritedthe profession from his or her grandparent.

Ancestral spirits are honoured in homes. In case ofdanger or misfortune, prayers are said and objects areoffered to the ancestors, and they are asked for assis-tance. This can be done by the eldest man or womanin the home. Usually women are said to have more

contact with spirits. Therefore, rituals to honour thespirits or seek their help are usually performed bywomen.

Rites connote power. Power is ascribed to sacri-ficed objects and to the people performing the rites.Rituals exist to confirm the power of certain people.Knowledge is often related to power. The legitimacy ofritual teachers is that of traditional knowledge andoften includes experience and a high social position.This power can be with the performer, the healer, orthe ritual leader, who is usually considered to be guid-ed by one or more spirits. In female initiation ritespower is with the ritual leader but also with the elder-ly women. The one who performs a rite is usually ahealer as well. He or she is thought to have contactswith spirits that guide him or her through the rite.

A ritual is a special type of action, and its per-formance requires the cooperation of individualsdirected by a leader or leaders. Rules indicate whichpersons should participate and on what occasions;

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THE IMPORTANCE OF ANCESTORS IN THE RELIGION OF THE BEMBA OFNORTHERN ZIMBABWE

Veneration of and rituals to appeal to ancestors are a key element of many African religions. The followingethnographic account shows their importance to the Bemba.

… The form of the prayers is interesting. There is no fixed formula laid down, but it is absolutely essential that

the spirits should each be mentioned by name. By this means their help is invoked. At a tribal ceremony I noticed

that Citimukulu always prayed with one of his senior bakabilo at his elbow to prompt him if he forgot one ances-

tral title out of the twenty to thirty dead chiefs to be called upon, and for a chief even to mention the names of his

ancestors when walking to a ceremony was described to me as a form of prayer (ukulumbula). Headmen also call

their ancestors by name when invoking them. Then again it is important that the dead should be named as having

taught the particular activity upon which the living are about to engage, and this is especially the case at the tribal

ceremonies. In fact one of the chief functions of this type of prayer, is, I think, to give traditional sanction to the

gardening methods now praised and to confirm the people’s belief in them by tracing their origin to the past. The

words of one or two such prayers will illustrate what I mean. For instance, Mwamba, when invoking the imipaski

at the beginning of his tree-cutting ceremony, prayed: “We have come to you Great Mwambas. It was you who left

us the land. We beg for the power to work in it in the way you showed us you worked in the place from which you

came (i.e. Lubaland). And we ourselves began to learn (i.e. how to cut trees) when we were still children, until at

last we found we had learnt the way. We followed (lit. fell into) your words.”

Source: Richards, Audrey I. (1939).Land, Labour, and Diet in Northern Rhodesia: An Economic Study of the Bemba Tribe.

Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, p. 363.

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often the rules excluding certain categories of peopleare just as significant as those that permit or requireother categories of people to take part.

The theoretical viewpoint of functionalist anthro-pologists was common during the period of1950–1980. The most famous of these anthropologistswas Victor Turner. He followed the viewpoints of theFrench sociologist Arnold Van Gennep (1909) andelaborated them. From the functionalist viewpoint rit-uals serve the community. For example, they providethe community with unity and strength, establish andreconfirm social ties, eliminate tensions, and pass onnorms and values.

Rituals have religious aspects as well because peo-ple use them to seek assistance of the ancestral spirits,both in performing the rituals in a proper way and inacquiring what the people wish, for example, rain,health, good crops, or a new status as an adult.

Another viewpoint of rituals is that of structuralistanthropologists, of which the French anthropologistClaude Levi-Strauss was the main scholar. He consid-ered the world to be divided into binary oppositions,for example, black-white, high-low, men-women,human-animal, and so forth. Together the oppositionsarticulate a structure of transformation (structuralway of changing). Rituals clarify oppositions andpoint to crossing the boundaries between oppositionsto remove the contradictions between them.

There is also a symbolic viewpoint of rituals. Thisviewpoint emphasizes that in rites, such as that of ini-tiation rites, the novice passes from a passive to anactive state. Also, in this view the human body isimportant, since by experiencing a rite, the bodyincorporates social norms. Furthermore, this view-point stresses productive relations with others. Theviewpoint has become more common since the 1990s.Scientists who study rituals from this viewpointinclude Moore. However, the functionalist viewpointis still dominant.

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage are similar to initiation rites and arerites of transition. They are performed to transform aperson and guide him or her to another stage in life.Rites of passage comprise a variety of rituals accom-panying the crossing of boundaries and changes intime and social status. The most common are initia-tion rites, in which a boy or a girl is transformed intoan adult; but such rites are also performed at a wed-ding, at a widow’s release from mourning, at a

person’s death to transform his or her spirit into agood ancestor, and at changes in life and function,such as when a chief is installed.

Van Gennep (1909) has shown that all rites of pas-sage consist of three stages. The first stage is separa-tion, in which the novice (the person beingtransformed) is separated from the community. Thisseparation can be done by taking the novice to thebush or another space where no other people are. Thesecond stage is seclusion, in which the novice isbrought back to the community but is still separatedfrom others. During the seclusion stage the novice isconsidered a nonperson. She or he is considered anunborn child who knows nothing, who is ignorant ofthe world. During the rite of passage she or he willgain knowledge about how to behave as an adult,about fertility, female or male duties, and the spiritu-al world.

The third stage is integration, in which the noviceis reincorporated into the community. During thesestages rituals are performed. Rites of passage mayalso require that the notice be nearly naked, be hum-bled, and be shaved and anointed with white chalk.At the coming-out ritual the novice is dressed in newclothes.

Female initiation rites usually are performed indi-vidually for girls and coincide with puberty.Therefore these rites are usually performed at theonset of menstruation or when a girl’s breasts begin togrow. These rites emphasize womanhood because thegirl has become a woman and therefore has to knowwhat womanhood is about and how she shouldbehave as a good woman. Female initiation ritesemphasize the girl’s responsibility for her future mar-riage, her future husband and children, food taboos,domestic duties, agricultural duties, and duty to oth-ers in the community. They also emphasize showingrespect, in particular to elderly people.

Male initiation rites prepare boys for adulthoodand manhood and emphasize male duties such ashunting. Because such duties are mainly communityduties that can be done together, boys are initiated asa group. Male initiation rites usually include circum-cision and the filing of teeth. The age of the boys canvary.

Symbolic Death

The initiation rite is a preparation for adult life andthe hardships that one may encounter as an adult.Therefore, the initiation rite is a difficult period when

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the novice has to experience hardship. After the initi-ation rite the novice is considered an adult and isreincorporated into society but with a different status.In initiation the novice symbolically dies in order tobe reborn as an adult.

These stages can be seen in rites of passage all overthe world, whether they are initiation rites for passageinto adulthood or for the installation of a chief orpriest.

Healing

Another type of ritual is that of healing. Healing ritu-als are performed when a person is ill or experiencesmisfortune. A priest asks the ancestral spirits to revealthe cause of the illness or misfortune, then a ritual isperformed to cleanse the person of the illness or mis-fortune. Usually the person has to offer something tothe spirits, often a chicken or goat, money, or othergoods.

A ritual also is performed in cases of infertility. Inthe case of a woman who fails to deliver a child, herhusband and relatives are involved, showing that aritual is not only for the person involved, but also forthe community.

There are also agricultural rituals, such as the firstfruit rituals performed at harvest (March and April).These are performed to honour the spirits that havebeen willing to provide the people with a new har-vest. In these rituals the first fruit is offered to thechief.

Another agricultural ritual involves setting a busharea on fire. This is done at the beginning of the annu-al agricultural cycle (August and September) to burnthe old and dead branches of the plants and to fertil-ize the soil with the ashes. The chief gives the sign toset the bush on fire after he and a traditional priesthave said prayers for the ancestors.

Many rituals are centuries old. An example is theNyau ritual in Malawi. The Nyau ritual is a maskdance ritual and is related to initiation rites for boysbut also to rain-making rituals.

Only a few rituals are held for a large audience. Anexample is the Kazanga festival, which takes place inLusaka, Zambia’s capital, and is organized by and cel-ebrated for the Nkoya, a small ethnic group. Otherethnic groups in Zambia also have their rituals, suchas the Ngoni, the Lozi, and recently the Bemba withtheir Ngweena festival. These rituals developed in the1970s or later. They serve to establish unity amongmembers of an ethnic group as well as to distinguish

that group from other ethnic groups. These rituals arenot authentic but rather came into being as a result ofethnic mingling in towns, migration and urbaniza-tion, and globalization.

In general, rituals are performed to provide unityto a community, to emphasize norms and values, andto honour the spirits, which are an intrinsic part ofdaily life in central Africa.

Thera Rasing

See also Africa, West

Further Reading

Bell, C. (1992). Ritual theory, ritual practice. Oxford, UK:Oxford University Press.

Beattie, J. H. M. (1970). On understanding ritual. In B.Wilson (Ed.), Rationality (pp. 240–268). Oxford, UK:Basil Blackwell.

Beidelman, T. O. (1997). The cool knife: Imagery of gender,sexuality, and moral education in Kaguru initiationritual. Washington, DC: Smithsonian InstitutionPress.

Bloch, M. (1986). From blessing to violence: History and ide-ology in the circumcision ritual of the Merina ofMadagascar. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Devisch, R. (1993). Weaving the threads of life: The Khitagyn-eco-logical healing cult among the Yaka. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.

Douglas, M. (1975). Implicit meanings: Essays in anthropol-ogy. Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Droogers, A. (1980). The dangerous journey: Symbolicaspects of boys’ initiation among the Wagenia ofKisangani, Zaire. New York: Mouton.

Grimes, R. L. (2000). Deeply into the bone. Berkeley andLos Angeles: University of California Press.

La Fontaine, J. S. (1986). Initiation. Manchester, UK:Manchester University Press.

Levi-Strauss, C. (1966). The savage mind. Chicago:University of Chicago Press. (Original work pub-lished 1962)

Linden, I. (1975). Chewa initiation rites and Nyau soci-eties: The use of religious institutions in local politicsat Mua. In T. O. Ranger & J. Weller (Eds.), Themes inthe Christian history of central Africa (pp. 30–44).London: Heinemann.

Lutkehaus, N. C., & Roscoe, P. B. (1995). Gender rituals:Female initiation in Melanesia. New York: Routledge.

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Mauss, M. (1974). The gift: Forms and functions of exchangein archaic societies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.(Original work published 1954)

Moore, H. L. (1999). Gender, symbolism and praxis:Theoretical approaches. In H. L. Moore, T. Sanders, &B. Kaare (Eds.), Those who play with fire: Gender, fertil-ity and transformation in east and southern Africa (pp.3–38). New Brunswick, NJ: Athlone Press.

Rasing, T. S. A. (1995). Passing on the rites of passage:Girls’ initiation rites in the context of an urbanRoman Catholic community (Research Series No. 6).London: Avebury/Africa Studies Centre.

Rasing, T. S. A. (2001). The bush burnt, the stones remain:Female initiation rites in urban Zambia. Leiden,Netherlands: African Studies Centre.

Richards, A. I. (1982). Chisungu: A girl’s initiation ceremo-ny among the Bemba of Zambia. London: Tavistock.(Original work published 1956)

Schoffeleers, J. M. (1979). Guardians of the land: Essays oncentral African territorial cults. Gwelo, Zimbabwe:Mambo Press.

Turner, V. W. (1967). The forest of symbols. New York:Cornell University Press.

Turner, V. W. (1969). The ritual process. New York: CornellUniversity Press.

Turner, V. W. (1981). Encounter with Freud: The makingof a comparative symbolist. In G. D. Spindler (Ed.),The making of psychological anthropology (pp. 558–583).Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of CaliforniaPress.

Van Binsbergen, W. M. J. (1981). Religious change inZambia: Exploratory studies. London: Kegan PaulInternational.

Werbner, R. P. (1977). Regional cults. New York: AcademicPress.

Werbner, R. P. (1989). Umeda maskerade: Renewingidentity and power in the cosmos. In R. P. Werbner(Ed.), Ritual passage, sacred journey: The process andorganization of religious movement (pp. 149–184).Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Africa, West

Although a number of belief systems and ethnicgroups exist in west Africa, many of the region’sreligions and religious rituals have a number oftraits in common. This commonality is one of thereasons why the region’s rituals influenced thedevelopment of rituals and practices in many other

regions, including the United States, Latin America,and the Caribbean. A significant feature of westAfrican religious rituals is the blending or absorp-tion of diverse religions into contemporary practicesso that even among modern Christian or Islamicchurches, many older traditions and rituals continueto be practiced.

The region is comprised of the modern nations of:Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameron, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire,Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau,Liberia, Mauritania, Mail, Nigeria, Niger, Senegal,Sierra Leone, and Togo.

Religious Commonalities

Among west African nations are three broad cate-gories of religion: indigenous religions, Christianity,and, Islam. Among the indigenous, or traditional reli-gions, are a number of similarities and common prac-tices that are manifested through the rituals andceremonies of different groups. For instance, mostindigenous religions are animistic in that they believethat all or most objects, whether alive or inanimate,contain spirits. Many religious rituals are thus per-formed in order to maintain or curry favor with ani-mals, crops, the seasons, and so forth because spiritsmay live in mountains, streams, or forests. In order tomaintain the favor of deities, spirits, and ancestors,most tribal groups utilize a variety of everyday rituals.

West African tribal groups usually do not makemuch distinction between religious rituals and socialrituals. Usually the two kinds of rituals are blended sothat religion reinforces the cultural and traditionalmores of a tribal group. For instance, tribal initiationrites use religion to reinforce notions of duty and obli-gation to the group. Furthermore, increase rituals—designed to improve crop or livestock yields—serveboth a religious purpose and a social purpose.

The majority of religious groups do not have a for-mal hierarchy of priests. Instead, religious rituals areoverseen by one of two groups. The first are tribal eld-ers, who within many cultures serve as the main reli-gious figures and determine the time, nature, andintricacies of rituals. The second are shamans (priestsor priestesses who use magic to cure the sick, divinethe hidden, and control events). Shamans are believedto have special insights or an ability to communicatewith the spirit world beyond that of most individuals.The elders or the shamans have special roles in reli-gious rituals and retain their power based on the per-ceived success or failure of rituals.

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In addition, most religions are polytheistic, havinga large number of gods and other deities. Somegroups, such as the Yoruba of Nigeria, believe in ahigh god, Olorun, and a number of lesser deities. Oneresult of this belief is that there are usually elaboraterituals to honor the higher deities, whereas lessergods may be acknowledged through simple ritualssuch as pouring a libation onto the ground. Thesecommon traits result in a great degree of similarityamong religious rituals.

Ancestor Worship

One specific feature common across west Africanreligions is ancestor worship. Most African religionsaccord the dead great reverence, although distinc-

tions are made between the dead who are honoredand the dead who are dishonored because of the cir-cumstances of their death or actions during theirlives. Honored or remembered ancestors are oftenperceived to be intermediaries between the livingworld and the dead. Long after the death of honoredancestors rituals are performed whereby descen-dants of the dead “feed” them by placing theirfavorite foods near their graves or offering sometokens of esteem. Once every sixty years the Dogonpeople of west Africa perform a community-widecollective ritual to honor the dead. Meanwhile, thedishonored dead, often referred to as the “undead”or “living dead,” often create problems or causepain and disease among people. Some societiesbelieve that if a person is not buried according to a

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ISLAM AND INDIGENOUS RELIGION WEST AFRICA

A marked feature of religion and rituals in west Africa is the merging of indigenous religion with Islam andChristianity. The following example indicated how rural Hausa combine a belief in Allah with their indige-nous beliefs in spirits.

As might be expected from the long period during which, as we have seen, the bush Maguzawa have been in

contact with the Mohammedanized life of the cities, many Islamic elements have become thoroughly incorporated

into Maguzawa culture. One of these elements is the belief in Allah as a supreme being.

The Maguzawa freely admit that Allah is the ultimate control of the universe. Yet He does not occupy the cen-

tral role in their beliefs and practices that is so characteristic of the Moslem Hausa. Among the Maguzawa there

are no rites connected with the belief in Allah, and all supernatural response to worship, whether good or bad, is

attributed to spirits called ‘iskoki (singular, ‘iska). The ‘iskoki only perform their work with the permission of Allah,

but the Maguzawa in their traffic with the supernatural consider it sufficient to deal with the ‘iskoki, and ignore

Allah as being remote and uninterested in the affairs of men. Although the pagan Hausa have no formal cult of

Allah, it should be noted that Allah is particularly implored for rain and that formerly, in times of drought, the

women donned men’s clothes and, carrying implements characteristic of men’s occupations, went into the bush

crying, “Allah, give us rain.”

It must be understood that the concept of Allah as the Supreme Being is only elicited by direct questioning.

Ordinarily the Maguzawa pay no attention to Allah, and His name is only heard in the oaths and common expres-

sions involving God’s name which these folk share with their Moslem neighbors, but which, unlike them, they use

less frequently.

Source: Greenberg, Joseph H. (1946).The Influence of Islam on a Sudanese Religion.

Monographs of the American Ethnological Society, Vol. 10. New York: J.J. Augustin, p. 27.

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specific ritual, that person will return as the livingdead.

Many burial rituals can be elaborate. For instance,when a chief dies among the Ijaw and Ibo peoples, theformal burial ritual occurs over an entire year. Suchrituals are marked by extensive protocols, and anydeviation from custom is considered a harbinger ofbad times for the village or tribe because the breach ofprotocol will anger the gods and prevent the spirit ofthe chief from entering the spirit world. Among theKalabari people a chief’s burial involves three ritualsover a year. Each ritual features funeral plays, knownas “Kala Ekkpe Siaba,” ritual body painting, dancing,and often sacrifices. These rituals are culminatedwhen a specially carved image of the chief is placed ina shrine (arua), which also contains the images of thechief’s ancestors.

Great care is usually taken of the deceased’s body.Almost all tribes utilize some form of ritual cleansing ofthe body. For some tribes this may involve a ritualwashing of the body by family members, whereas othertribes use special solutions that may not be allowed todrip and touch the ground. During the actual burial,dancing may be used to ritually pack the earth as thedancers perform over the grave. The LoDagaa people ofGhana believe that a river conveys the dead from thisworld to the next, so the deceased would be buried withthe items necessary for a river journey.

Burial rituals are less elaborate for the commonpeople. For example, among the Ijaw people, if an oldwoman or man dies, that person is given a single bur-ial ritual with feasting and dancing. Younger mem-bers of the tribe are given less elaborate burial rituals.In general, among many tribes ritual masks are usedonly in the funeral rituals of males. In addition, whenpeople die a dishonorable death, such as whenwomen die during childbirth or people commit sui-cide or outlive their children, their bodies are dis-posed of without ritual, often being thrown into ariver or secretly buried.

Sacrifice

Many burial rituals involved sacrifice, which played apart in many other religious rituals. Sacrifices wereoffered to appease or gain favor with earthly spirits,ancestors, and deities. Most sacrificial rituals involvedanimals. For example, after someone’s death, a catmight be sacrificed in order to transfer its night visionto the deceased so that the deceased could see in theunderworld. Similarly, a parrot might be sacrificed in

order to provide the deceased with a clear voice.Many tribes would sacrifice a dog during times oftrouble in the hope that the dog’s ability to detect dan-ger would protect the tribe. Some animals, such aseagles, were sacrificed as a means to bestow honor onsomeone living or to acknowledge the importance ofsome who died.

Animal blood was also commonly used to appeasethe gods during a time of famine or drought. Duringthe many agricultural ceremonies and rituals, animalsacrifices were perceived as a means to improve theharvest or the hunt. Finally, animal sacrifices werecommon before a battle. Warriors would be offeredthe blood of “strong” or “brave” animals in order tobolster their courage and ferocity.

Although most sacrificial rituals involved animals,some tribes did practice a limited amount of humansacrifice. However, this practice often took place onlyduring extraordinary circumstances, such as thedeath of a monarch. For example, among tribes inNigeria the death of a king would be followed by thesacrifice of his slaves. Among the Ibo the death of aking resulted in the ritual murder of his favorite slavewife, known as the “Aho’m,” whose body was thenthrown into a large grave. Her sacrifice was followedby a ritual in which the strongest and bravest warriorsof the tribe would break the arms and legs of theking’s other female slaves and bury them alive. Othertribes would sacrifice people by cutting their throatsand hanging them upside down from a tree so thattheir blood could fertilize the ground and appease thegods.

Dance

Dance also was often an integral part of religious rit-uals. Dance was usually a communal rather than anindividual act. The high point of most religious festi-vals usually involved some form of dance. Unlikemost Western dance, African religious dance washighly participatory and involved interactionbetween the dancers, the audience, and the musiciansthrough a “call and response” system, which wasspread by the African diaspora, the movement ofAfricans to the Western Hemisphere as a result of theslave trade, and emulated in the Western Hemispherein religious art forms such as gospel music.

Often dance was symbolic. For example, duringtheir annual agricultural festival, the Irigwe men ofNigeria would jump at heights that mimicked theircrop yields. Dance also was an important aspect of

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therapeutic rituals. At the core of the west African reli-gious practice of bori or ajun was a three-month-longceremony in which women who had mental or emo-tional problems were isolated from the rest of the tribeat a shrine where they learned special dancesdesigned to exorcise their problems.

Although there was wide latitude for improvisa-tion, most ritual dancing had precise components andrhythms that were performed by people according totheir status within the tribe. For instance, among theYoruba, during the igbin dance each tribal memberhad a specific part according to his or her rank andstatus. The dances of the Asante people of Ghanawere usually begun by their king, whose royalauthority was either enhanced or undermined by hisability to dance.

Dances were marked by the use of masks andother ceremonial customs. Masks varied in size from15 centimeters to 4 meters. They may have coveredonly the eyes or the face or the entire body. Masks andcostumes allowed dancers to masquerade as deities orancestors. The masked dancers served to mediatebetween the gods and the people and between the liv-ing and the dead. Dances also allowed elders to passon knowledge about religious beliefs. By imitatingbirds, the Ewe people of Togo had a dance that pre-sented the migratory history of their people, who, theEwe believed, followed a bird to their present lands.

Christian missionaries originally tried to suppressthe indigenous dances of west Africa. In somecolonies such dances were officially banned.However, decolonization and the development ofchurches that blended Christianity and traditional,indigenous, religious practices lifted most of the offi-cial constraints on dance. Nonetheless, by the late1900s traditional dances had lost most of their reli-gious connotations and increasingly integrated U.S.and European influences.

Initiation Rituals

Initiation rituals were the main vehicles throughwhich religious knowledge was passed down to suc-cessive generations. These rituals often included bothsacrifice and dance. At a minimum, most west Africatribes had at least one initiation ritual designed totransition the young of the tribe to full membership.Many tribes had multiple rituals. For instance, theAsanti had a naming ritual one week after the birth ofa child (the high infant mortality rate was the reasonfor having it in one week). A child of the Ifa people

underwent an ikose w’aye or “stepping into the world”ritual, which was performed by a priest in order todetermine the probable future of the child. This ritualwas followed three months later by the “knowing thehead” ritual, which was designed to divine the ori inu(spirit or personality) of the child.

Usually the most important initiation ritual occursaround puberty or soon after. Such a ritual involvesthe segregation of men and women and is designed toprepare the young for full membership in the tribe,including marriage. Among many tribes the initiates’heads are shaved as a symbol of their new life afterthe ritual. Some tribes, such as the Dagara, forceyoung males to go through a ritual death that actual-ly can be fatal because of the deprivation of food andsleep.

Often initiation rituals involve both male andfemale circumcision and some form of isolation fromthe rest of the community (there are also usually peri-ods of fasting and silence). The impact of Christianityand Islam has altered many rites of passage in con-temporary times. For instance, many male infants arenow circumcised at birth, and among Muslim com-munities cattle have replaced pigs as sacrificialanimals.

Among most groups these rituals occur annually,although some groups have extended periodsbetween initiation rituals. For example, the Jola peo-ple of Senegal hold their male initiation rituals onlyonce every twenty to twenty-five years (about oncefor each generation). These mass rites of passage areknown as bukuts. Males between the ages of twelveand thirty-five undergo a mass initiation ritual thatculminates in a period of seclusion in the forest, afterwhich the men emerge as full adults. Part of the rea-son for the length of time between rituals is their elab-orateness; villages often begin preparing years inadvance so that people can learn the intricate dancesand other rituals involved.

Ritual Calendar

Because most traditional west African societies areagrarian, their religious rituals are based on thechanging of the seasons. The main exception occurswhen funeral rituals or battle rituals take place.Among the Yoruba the main festival is Bere in Januaryof each year. The ritual marks the end of the harvestseason and is celebrated with a ritual burning of thefields, which symbolizes the start of a new season ofgrowth. Other Yoruba festivals include a celebration

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for the god of divination in July and a series of cere-monies to honor Olorun Orun, the god of fate, everySeptember (and in preparation for the harvest sea-son). Meanwhile, the Bambara people end their har-vest season with a celebration of the tribe’s mythicalancestor Thy Wara, who is believed to have taughtpeople how to grow crops and raise livestock. Manytribes also perform rain ceremonies at the start of therainy season in order to ensure that there is enoughprecipitation for the crops.

Many west African tribes have a New Year’s cele-bration in March. The celebration usually involvesboth individual and community-wide purification rit-uals. For the individual these rituals may mean con-fessions, whereas for the community they may meansacrifices and special cleansing rituals. In Benin thereare annual whipping festivals in which the youngmen of different villages literally beat each other in aneffort to prove toughness and to cleanse impurities.The Dogon people of Mali celebrate the dead eachyear in a festival that begins in April and lasts throughMay. Usually initiation rituals occur well before theharvest season and often begin in June or July in orderto allow the men to heal from any ritual wounds,including circumcision, in time for harvest.

Tom Lansford

See also Africa, Central

Further Reading

Awolalu, J. (1979). Yoruba beliefs and sacrificial rites. NewYork: Oxford University Press.

Baeta, C. (1962). Prophetism in Ghana. London: SCMPress.

Bascom, W. (1969). Ifa divination: Communication betweengods and men in west Africa. Bloomington, IndianaUniversity Press.

Booth, N. (Ed.). (1977). African religions. New York: Nok.Buckley, A. (1985). Yoruba medicine. New York: Oxford

University Press.Fardon, R. (1990). Between God, the dead and the wild:

Chamba interpretations of religion and ritual.Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.

Horton, R. (1993). Patterns of thought in Africa and theWest: Essays on magic, religion and science. New York:Cambridge University Press.

Isichei, E. (1977). Igbo worlds. London: Macmillan.Levtzion, N. (1973). Ancient Ghana and Mali. London:

Methuen.

Matthews, D. H. (1998). Honoring the ancestors: An Africancultural interpretation of black religion and literature.New York: Oxford University Press.

Mbiti, J. (1969). African religions and philosophy. London:SPCK.

Parrinder, G. (1954). African traditional religion. London:Sheldon Press.

Parrinder, G. (1975). West African religion: A study of thebeliefs and practices of Akan, Ewe, Yoruba, Ibo, and kin-dred peoples. London: Epworth Press.

Van Binsbergen, W., & Schoffeleers, M. (Eds.). (1985).Theoretical explorations in African religion. London:Kegan Paul International.

Zuesse, E. M. (1979). Ritual cosmos: The sanctification of lifein African religion. Athens: Ohio University Press.

African-American Churches

African-American churches have been the corner-stone of the African-American community since theirfounding in the eighteenth century. They are a combi-nation of faiths and denominations within faiths.Although there is evidence of religious practice andthe praise house, a specific designated place for wor-ship, dating back to the early days of the slave com-munity in the United States, the first organized blackdenomination may have been founded as early as1750. The first black or African-American churcheswere Baptist. The first institutionalized, independentblack churches were Methodist.

Denominations and Distinctions

The majority of African-American churches areChristian. Eighty percent of African-Americans belongto seven major Protestant denominations: AfricanMethodist Episcopal (A.M.E.), African MethodistEpiscopal Zion (A.M.E.Z.), Christian MethodistEpiscopal (C.M.E.), National Baptist Convention ofAmerica, Unincorporated (N.B.C.A.), National BaptistConvention, USA, Incorporated (N.B.C.), ProgressiveNational Baptist Convention (P.N.B.C), and Church ofGod in Christ (C.O.G.I.C.). All but the Church of Godin Christ are black outgrowths of related Euro-American denominations. Approximately 10 percent ofAfrican-Americans are Catholic.

African-American churches differ in terms ofstyle of worship, hermeneutics (the study of the

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methodological principles of interpretation) andhomiletics (the art of preaching), and music andhymnody. With respect to style of service, somechurches are sermon centered, whereas others areliturgy (rites prescribed for public worship) centered.Some allow active and spontaneous participation ofthe congregation, whereas others engage the congre-gation in relatively limited and specified ways. Theminister’s activities in some churches are shared withother members (e.g., deacons, ministers, or layassistants).

Scholars have categorized African-Americanchurches as ecstatic, emotional, escapist, or liturgical,with a few churches being a combination. The ecstaticand emotional churches are highly demonstrative withrespect to the role of the clergy and their assistants andthat of the congregation, often having a dialogue-and-assent form of interaction between the celebrant andthe congregation and spontaneous eruptions of danc-ing, shouting, and testifying. Emotionality varies byintensity from church to church. The content of servic-es is centered on other-worldliness as well as on con-temporary issues. The structure of services of thesechurches is relatively informal.

By contrast, liturgical churches have a more for-mal structure of services. The more central the liturgyis to the service, the more structured the service.These churches allow less opportunity for emotionaldemonstrativeness—especially by an individual—onthe part of the congregation and the clergy.

African-American affiliation and type of churchare largely based on socioeconomic status. The upperclass is more likely to attend liturgical churches ofdenominations such as Episcopal, Congregational,and Presbyterian. The sociologist V. E. Daniel (1942)identified these churches as the churches of the blackelite. The lower and working classes are more likely toattend Baptist and Pentecostal churches. The sociallives of the lower class are more church centered. Theblack church functions to build morale within thisclass. The social lives of the upper class are not partic-ularly church centered, and the rate of attendancefalls as socioeconomic status rises, as it does amongwhite Christians.

Black Theology

Influenced mostly by Protestants versus Catholics,black theology grew out of black clergy from bothfaiths speaking out against racism. The civil rightsand Black Power movements gave rise to vocalizing

discontent within black churches. The concept of ablack theology emerged in the late 1960s throughministers who began to, according to theologianJames Cone, “theologize from within the blackexperience” (Cone 1984, 5), as opposed to adopting orcontinuing a Eurocentric theology of Christianity.These ministers tried to respond to the question ofwhat it means to be both black and Christian. Theyattempted to explain how the God of all ofhumankind allows those of color to be categoricallyoppressed—by society and even by the ChristianChurch. They asked how the teachings of Christ cancoincide with white prejudice and discrimination.They also asked how one understands the ChristianGod in this context. Black Catholics, in addition,sought to gain greater individual church communitycontrol. Black Catholics had established caucusesfocused on their issues within the Catholic Church asearly as the 1880s. In the 1960s and 1970s caucuseswere established anew and were similar to such cau-cuses in the black Protestant church community. Blacktheology is important to church ritual because it has asignificant impact on homiletics (the art of preaching),hermeneutics (interpretation of scriptural texts), andhymnody (singing or composing hymns). The emer-gence of black theology reflected the need amongblack Americans to Africanize Christianity as theyattempted to make it relevant to their struggles andexperience and their social location in the UnitedStates. They lent their own interpretations to theBible, church music, sermons, and style of worship.

Rituals, Rites, and Ceremonies

In African tradition rituals in religious practicewere an important element of behavior. WhenAfricans came to the New World, some continued topractice their African religions. Others converted toChristianity. All continued some of the Africanrituals in their religious activities, with Christianscombining the traditions of African religions withthose of Christianity. African-American Christianitywas a blend of religious social experience. Theblended rituals were integrated with a hermeneu-tics of hope in a god of the oppressed. Today thestructures and expressions of many African ritualscontinue.

Rituals in African-American churches vary, deter-mined by factors such as denomination, category ofchurch—for example, liturgical versus ecstatic—social class, and geographic location. Ceremonies,

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systems of formal public rites, also vary and includebaptism, general blessings, induction and invitationto membership, healing, preparation for deathand/or burial, Eucharist and Holy Communion, con-fession, profession of faith, “sainting,”(the ritual ofmaking a saint, whereby a believer receives the HolyGhost and is moved to a state of ecstasy) marriage,ordination, and the blessing of sacred objects. Ritualsand rites in the main service or mass in the CatholicChurch—including black Catholic churches, whichare liturgical and formally structured—include theintroductory rites of entrance, greeting, and praise;liturgy, including the gospel readings and homily;eucharistic offering, liturgy, and prayer; communionrite; and the concluding rite, including the blessing ofthe congregation. Ecstatic churches have fewer ritualsand rites compared to the more formal, liturgicalchurches.

Offerings and Prayers

Monetary offerings are a part of most African-American worship services. Sometimes offerings aregiven and collected in a perfunctory way. At othertimes they are given and collected after the ministerimplores the congregation to be generous and some-times requests that the plate be passed around again.Special collections are frequently taken up for a spe-cific cause or group, such as the poor, flowers for thealtar, or educational programs.

Prayers are a regular part of some but not allchurches’ services. Some churches use several for-mal prayers, whereas others use none. Some useonly the Lord’s Prayer. Prayer themes include com-fort, confession, contrition, praise, thanksgiving,expression of hope for a better life, divine aid/inter-vention/assistance, forgiveness and repentance,repose of the souls of the departed, and specialintentions.

Churches vary greatly in the nature of their reli-gious symbols and the extent of use of such sym-bols. These symbols include candles, the crucifix,prayer books, Bibles, hymnals, ministers’ vestmentsor robes, hymn boards, collection plates and bas-kets, bread, wine, water, uniforms for attendants,choir robes (sometimes more than one change),flowers, and incense. More secular items such asmusical instruments—including pianos, organs,drums, and horns— are often part of religious serv-ices. Seating ranges from pews to benches to foldingchairs.

Water is frequently used as a symbol in baptismrituals. The symbolic use of water is as much a part ofindigenous African religions as it is of EuropeanChristian religions. In Africa water was viewed as sig-nificant to the creation process, linking God andhumankind. Rituals of thanksgiving for rain were notuncommon. Water was used in rites of passage simi-lar to the ways in which it is used in Christian bap-tism—to purify, to symbolize a death of the old and abirth of the new. Community sharing of such rites wasan important reification (the process of regardingsomething as a material thing) of the possibilities ofnew life. Africans’ view of water was incorporatedinto the significance and symbolism of baptism inAfrican-American churches.

Baptism takes different forms in the differenttypes of churches and denominations. The use ofwater ranges from a light sprinkling in liturgicalchurches to a full body dunking in some of the moreecstatic churches. The person to be baptized, andsometimes other participants, is usually dressed inwhite, ranges in age from newborn to adult, andsometimes is in an altered state of consciousness.There is typically preparation for baptism, especiallyfor adult initiates.

Invitation to Membership

During the worship service of many churches anacknowledgment and a greeting of visitors are given.An invitation to membership is typically extendedduring the service in most Protestant churches; inBaptist churches such an invitation is extended afterthe sermon. Many churches provide some sort ofpreparation for membership.

Preaching Style and Sermons

The preaching of the sermon is the first draw toAfrican-American church services. The minister’sstyle may be theatrical, as is typically the case in theemotional and ecstatic churches, or solemn, as in theliturgically centered churches. In emotional andecstatic churches the minister’s style is often charac-terized by a great deal of bodily motion, includingexpansive hand and arm gestures and rapid, jerking,and rhythmic movements, and by dramatic changesin voice inflection, tone, pitch, and volume. The min-ister sometimes incites so much emotion in the con-gregation that the atmosphere of the church nearly

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resembles bedlam. The minister’s sermon may takethe form of a dialogue and assent with the congrega-tion. Common responses to the minister’s wordsinclude “Yes, Lord!” and “Thank you, Jesus!” and“Praise the Lord!” Responses may be specific to theminister’s queries. The congregation may be incitedto swooning, running, dancing, jumping, shouting,“fervent praying,” (ardent, intense with feeling)receiving the Holy Spirit (ecstasy), raising one orboth arms and hands, praying loudly, clappinghands, shuffling feet, and speaking in tongues—including talking rapidly, sometimes saying only oneword, which may resemble gibberish. In contrast, theminister in liturgical churches may incite only themost controlled and conservative displays ofemotion.

Dance

Dance was a traditional part of African religious cer-emony and ritual and was carried over into religiouspractices of slaves in the New World. The Africanring shout or ring dance enabled slaves to performspirituals of African and African-American origin.Performers walk and then shuffle in a ring and grad-ually gain momentum and sing with those personsoutside of the ring, who sing in support and dia-logue. One group (either those inside or outside ofthe ring) sings melody, the other the supportive bassor chorus.

The inclusion of dance in religious practicescomes out of the African tradition of prayer in com-bination with song and movement, the ring signify-ing unity. Contemporary worshipers continue thistradition when they shout and testify, especially inecstatic churches. Running, swooning, shuffling, toetapping, and hand raising are also a part of thistradition.

Music

Music is the second draw to African-American churchservices. Two of the leading contemporary scholars ofthe African American Church, C. Eric Lincoln andLawrence Mamiya refer to church music as “the per-formed word.”(1990, 346) The musical expressions ofAfrican-American people are perhaps the mostinformative and enlightening expressions of theirculture.

African-American music in general grew fromspirituals. Some people say spirituals were created

out of traditional African songs with which first-generation slaves were familiar. Spirituals wereoften sung as slaves worked on plantations. Becauseof the circumstances in which spirituals were creat-ed—with spontaneity and the lack of literacy inthose times—they had to be relatively short, using arepetition of lines so that they could be remem-bered. Although the words and melodies of spiritu-als are simple, they are often embellished upon. Inspirituals as well as in gospel songs, harmonies canbe multiple and complex. Rhythm, as is the case insecular African-American music, is a prominentcharacteristic. Spirituals and gospel songs aretypically sung in one of two tempos: slow (sorrow)or brisk (jubilee). Singers and musicians may impro-vise and stylize a piece in a spontaneous fashion,especially in more fundamentalist churches. Thereis no requisite instrument for accompaniment.Although piano (or organ) is the most popularinstrument for spirituals and gospel music, gospelmusic may also employ bass guitar, drums, andhorns. Body movements (clapping hands, stompingfeet, tapping toes) also provide accompaniment,accentuating a beat and adding to the flow.These are not contrived movements but rathermovements that flow naturally from members of thecongregation.

Spirituals include the themes of hope for salva-tion despite seemingly insurmountable odds andpeople’s worth as expressed in God’s willingness togrant salvation (e.g., “Jesus loves me and will carryme home”). They also include themes of suffering.Black theology and social ethics Theodore Walkerdescribes African-American music and the culturalart form of spirituals as “the emotional articulationof pain and suffering.” He further asserts that “tra-ditionally African American music has been anindigenous folk articulation of our social circum-stances” (Walker 1991, 75). A latent function of suchsongs written in the past is that they teach culturaland historical lessons of black suffering and oppres-sion to the generations who followed their com-posers.

Gospel music was created about 1930, with theChurch of God in Christ and holiness churches (out-growth of a religious movement in the late nineteenthcentury) contributing largely to its birth and growth.Its themes have a broader range than that of spiritu-als. Both are important African-American musicalforms and contributions to African-American cultureand U.S. church music.

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A Blending of Traditions

African-American church music includes forms otherthan spirituals and gospel music. Spirituals began theblack church musical tradition. Some of these werecreated within specific denominations. They were fol-lowed by an African-Americanized version of Dr.Isaac Watt’s English hymns. There was also anAfrican-Americanizing of Anglo-American hymns.Finally, the early era of gospel music was followed bythe contemporary gospel era, which began in the1960s.

Music also varies by type of church. In liturgicalchurches African and African-American musical tra-ditions blended and comb