Assignment 3-2: Ritual Development

A ritual is something that someone or a group of people do over and over. Rituals can be linked to ceremonies, religion, or behaviors, but are always done faithfully. There are many rituals easily found in our society. One ritual in the Columbus area is watching The Ohio State Buckeyes play football every Saturday during their season. For the people of Columbus who are fans, which is just about everyone, watching the Ohio State football game is something that you must do on Saturdays. Bruce Hooley, 2003, author of “Buckeye’s Bask in Glory,” explains the importance of the Buckeye football ritual, saying that the players are part of history for winning the football game (288). Of course there are many other rituals in society, from celebrating holidays to eating dinner at 7:00 every night.

One ritual in my family came every year at New Years Eve. When I was a child, every year, my mom would make me eat a piece of pickled herring before midnight. She said it would bring me good luck for the following year. This was a ritual that was passed down in her family, but I don’t know where it came from. For the past few years, since being out of my parent’s house, I have stopped the ritual, but I know my mom still does it every year, and my brother claims to as well, so the ritual still lives on with them.

There are many rituals that are prevalent today. Ray B. Brown, (2005), editor of Profiles of Popular Culture, identifies secular rituals as, “passing from childhood to adulthood, graduating from high school, or entering a profession” (127). These are going on all the time, with people never really looking at them as rituals. Other rituals could be doing laundry every Sunday, or the order in which you get ready in the morning.

One ritual I would like to develop is a scheduled dog walking time every day. I find myself only walking him a few times a week because I feel like I never have enough time. For the health of myself and my dog, though, I need to set a time when I know I will be available every day to walk my dog.



References

Browne, R. B. (Ed.). (2005). Profiles of popular culture. p. 127 Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.

Hooley, B. (2003). Buckeyes bask in glory. In R. B. Browne (Ed.), Profiles of popular culture. p. 288. Madison, WI: The University of Wisconsin Press.