Rituals Help Us Celebrate Life

At this time, millions of people around the world of different religions will be praying devoutly at home or perhaps attending a ceremony in a temple. Others go to a sports stadium in the hope that their team will win and, whether or not that victory occurs, the excitement will become intense.

These disparate examples have a common characteristic, that human beings are a very special “animal”, since they endow everything they do with a meaning that goes beyond the concrete and material. In the aforementioned cases, addressing an invisible supreme being or believing that it is important for a ball to enter the opponent’s goal are facts that cannot be valued without understanding the meaning that motivates them.

Immersed in a rhythmic order

The word “rite” derives from the Sanskrit rita , the meaning of which is “order” in the sense of universal harmony. It has the same meaning as dharma in the context of Hinduism, tao for the ancient Chinese and maat for the Egyptians of the Pharaonic era.

The rite allows the human being to relate in some way to something that surpasses his individuality. This would be the origin of the ceremonies of a spiritual or magical nature that we can find in all cultures and whose origin seems to be immemorial.

There is a universal order that is expressed through immanent laws, through cyclical rhythms and natural balances. The course of the sun is clear that it does not depend on our will, but we can admire it or even venerate it as a giver of light and life. That is, to contemplate it as a physical and symbolic reality at the same time.

Although the human being continues to be a homo religiosus inside , the current way of life focused on technology is fading that gaze capable of glimpsingwhat is hidden behind appearance.

Repetition drives away the fear of the unknown

Children arrive in this world without knowing the natural and social mechanisms of this new reality. In such circumstances, it is easy to be afraid. There is the warmth, the tenderness and the food that come from the mother, but it is not always next to the baby; sometimes he must be absent … happily he returns. Sometimes there is light behind the windows, but at other times darkness reigns: this is how you discover the round of days and nights.

This is why children love repetition, both in life and in play. They like to be told a story before going to sleep and often ask for the same one, the one they already know and allow them to imagine more easily. They feel comfortable knowing in advance what is going to happen. For the same reason, they also appreciate that limits are set for them,one of the essential tasks of education.

Repetition is one of the characteristics of the ritual. On the one hand it reminds us that everything obeys cyclical changes and on the other that it comforts us, driving away evil in the sense of the unknown: that which can bring us difficulties (disharmonies) or death itself (end of a cycle).

The offerings of light, pure and immaterial substance, express the desire for union with the spiritual world, seeking mental clarity and protection. We can light the place at home for meditation or prayer with a candle. Also in front of the photograph of an absent loved one.

Celebrate around a table

So we have a natural tendency to ritualize many aspects of living. It is not worth us, as animals do, to eat food as it is presented, be it fruits that fall from the tree or hunted animals. You have to cook them first and then they will be served on a properly prepared table with a tablecloth and cutlery.

It is very significant that meals are prepared to celebrate family events (anniversaries, farewells) or social events (religious or secular holidays).

By ritualizing what we do at a given moment, we give it a touch of “eternity” in the midst of the stresses of pure temporality. We also extol the value of the place where this happens, a kind of small space that becomes “infinity” for a moment.

A way to protect ourselves from misfortunes

Through the ritual we seek to harmonize with the internal rhythms of reality and at the same time protect ourselves from misfortune. We would find ourselves here before one of its aspects that, although of minor importance, is still present in our lives: superstitions.

The Roman Emperor Julius Caesar, owner of a vast empire, was very careful not to get up in the morning with his left foot. Many popular beliefs warn of good or bad omens, or recommend wearing certain protective charms.

Some are due to cosmological analogies and correspondences that are still studied and applied today in the ancient Hindu science of Jyotish. Derived from Vedic astrology, Jyotish advises each person which gemstones to wear, for example, or which date is most conducive to a certain activity (travel, starting a business, getting married). In this case, one could not properly speak of superstition because it is based on mathematical calculations regarding the time of birth and stellar cycles.

From these remnants of ancient beliefs, or from inner atavism, a multitude of apparently irrational acts derive: soccer players who cross themselves with the sign of the cross when jumping onto the field, toasting (cup and heart are designated with the same Egyptian hieroglyph), take a photo in such a place, eat the 12 grapes for New Year’s Eve, etc.

We cannot fail to mention, in this sense, the importance given to the ceremonial relating to death. Unlike animals, the human being knows that he is going to die and also wishes – or intuits – that death may be a new birth. That is why there are funeral rites and on each anniversary the deceased person is remembered, who is desired to be in a happy place and even protect us.

Parties to celebrate life

Every day is the same and different from the others. It lasts the same hours, but what happens in it is unrepeatable and valuable. There are special days – gifts of destiny or consequence of our efforts – that shine with their own light: sometimes something as extraordinary as the birth of a child or simply a happy moment in the most unexpected place.

But along with the unforeseen, there are special days marked on the calendar that, generally in a collective way, invite us to have a certain attitude. It’s the holidays.

All cultures, from the most remote antiquity, have their holidays. In the first place are the celebrations of a sacred nature, from which most of the traditional festivals derive. In the same way that a temple is to delimit a space that will have a special meaning, the festival is a palace built in time. Likewise, the annual or multi-year repetition of a holiday emphasizes the sense of rhythm and continuity.

Another characteristic of the party is that it does not work. Work, necessary for many purposes, has been seen by humans as a kind of punishment. So the important thing then is to recover the value of the game, of the ludic in the sense of having no other purpose than the very fact of being produced. Return, in some way, to the spontaneity of the child.

Ultimately, it is about celebrating within each one, and in the group of which they form part, the most important aspects of life, such as joy, love or hope.

Pythagoras affirmed that the universe is governed by musical laws. Sounds and rhythms modify the mood, that is why they are usually part of many rituals.

Cosmic celebrations

It is not by chance that the most significant festivities are related to the passing of the seasons.

At Christmas the birth of light is celebrated : after the winter solsticethe sun rises again. It originated in ancient Egypt, on the festivals of the god Horus, which ran from the night of December 24 to dawn on January 7.

In spring s and strengthens the vitality throughout nature and take place fertility rites of many cultures. With the arrival of summer, the crops are ripe; the joyous festivals that survive in so many towns celebrate it this way.

In autumn, when life seems to be hidden, the custom of visiting cemeteries is related to the Celtic festival of November 1, when the barrier between the human world and the afterlife was raised.

In many ceremonies, flowers are frequent, symbolizing life and beauty. The custom of offering them covers all areas: personal and social, religious and festive.

Personal holidays

In addition to the collective festivities, there are those of a personal nature. The first would be the birthday, so joyfully celebrated by children – who are proud to grow up – and more serenely awaited by those who are already reaching a certain age.

Behind extinguishing some candles (symbol of light) on a cake, what is coming to be celebrated is a new round of the earth around the sun (more light). The honoree is happy to have spent another year on earth and his family and friends wish him a long life.

Many personal anniversaries are also celebrated: the day when a couple met, the wedding date, the memory of the date on which died a loved one, etc.

Books

The sacred and the profane. Mircea Eliade. Ed. Paidós

Hinduism. S. Satyananda. Fragment Ed.

Something to celebrate. Lola Mayenco. Ed Urano

Guardians of the body. Desmond Morris. Ed. Plaza & Janés