A ceremony (, ) is a unified
ritual
A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...
istic event with a purpose, usually consisting of a number of artistic components, performed on a special occasion.
The word may be of
Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
**Etruscan ...
origin, via the Latin ''
caerimonia''.
Church and civil (secular) ceremonies
According to
Dally Messenger
Herbert Henry Messenger, nicknamed "Dally" and sometimes "The Master" (12 April 1883 – 24 November 1959) was one of Australasia's first professional rugby footballers, recognised as one of the greatest-ever players in either code. He played f ...
and
Alain de Botton
Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993), w ...
, in most Western countries the values and ideals articulated in both church and
civil ceremonies are generally similar. The difference is in what Messenger calls the "supernatural infrastructure" or de Botton the "implausible supernatural element".
[Messenger, Dally; ''Murphy's Law and the Pursuit of Happiness: a History of the Civil Celebrant Movement'', Spectrum Publications, Melbourne (Australia), 2012 ]
Most churches and religions claim some extra advantage conferred by the deity e.g. Roman Catholics believe that through the words of
consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
in the
mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
ceremony, God himself becomes
actually present on the altar.
Both church and civil ceremonies share the powerful psychological, social and cultural influences which all ceremony seeks to attain. Obviously, the style of music played, words used, other components and the structure vary.
Shared traditions
As
Edward Schillebeeckx
Edward Cornelis Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx (November 12, 1914–December 23, 2009) was a Belgian Catholic theologian born in Antwerp. He taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. He was a member of the Dominican Order. His books on ...
writes about the
marriage ceremony
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
, there are a surprising number of ancient traditional elements in both church and civil ceremonies in the western world. Key ceremonies date from the pre-Christian Roman and Greek times and their practices have continued through the centuries. For example, from pre-Christian Roman times in the marriage ceremony, we inherit
best men
''Best Men'' is a 1997 American crime comedy film directed by Tamra Davis, and stars Sean Patrick Flanery, Luke Wilson, Andy Dick, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Ward, Drew Barrymore and Dean Cain.
Plot
Four groomsmen are preparing for a wedding, don ...
and
bridesmaids
Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party in a Western traditional wedding ceremony. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman and often a close friend or relative. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditi ...
, processions, signing of the contract, exchange of
rings
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
and even the
wedding cake
A wedding cake is the traditional cake served at wedding receptions following dinner. In some parts of England, the wedding cake is served at a wedding breakfast; the 'wedding breakfast' does not mean the meal will be held in the morning, but at ...
.
Sharing non-supernatural content
Writer and philosopher
Alain De Botton
Alain de Botton (; born 20 December 1969) is a Swiss-born British author and philosopher. His books discuss various contemporary subjects and themes, emphasizing philosophy's relevance to everyday life. He published ''Essays in Love'' (1993), w ...
maintains
atheists
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no d ...
should appropriate many of the useful insights, artistic treasures and symbolism inspired by religion. He argues that the secular world can also learn from the religions the importance of community and continuity. Messenger agrees, and points out that the success of
civil celebrants in Australia has been partly due to their espousing of these principles, both in theory and practice, since 1973.
[Messenger III, Dally (1999), ''Ceremonies and Celebrations'', Hachette -Livre Australia (Sydney), ]
History of secular ceremony
The main impetus to the development of quality civil ceremonies in the Western world was the foresight of the Australian statesman, Senator and High Court Judge,
Lionel Murphy
Lionel Keith Murphy QC (30 August 1922 – 21 October 1986) was an Australian politician, barrister, and judge. He was a Senator for New South Wales from 1962 to 1975, serving as Attorney-General in the Whitlam Government, and then sat on the ...
. In 1973 in Australia the
civil celebrant program entrusted appropriately selected individuals to provide non-church people with ceremonies of substance and dignity. This initiative to a great extent has now been followed by New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom and some states of the US.
[
]
Purpose of secular ceremony
According to Dally Messenger III
Dally Messenger III (born 1938) is a civil celebrant, author, publisher, commentator, and a founder and chronicler of the civil celebrant movement which originated in Australia. He is the grandson of the rugby union and rugby league footballer ...
secular ceremonies are “roadmap” influences which lead to an acceptable, ethical and dignified life.
Ceremonies contribute to the unseen ingredients of psychological stability, a sense of identity, reassurances of life's purposes, and the personal sense of self worth.
The mysterious cultural power of quality ceremonies lead our society along an honourable and ethical path.
Lionel Murphy considered that personal genuine ceremonies were central to a civilised, stable and happy society. Here he echoed the conviction of the renowned mythologist Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...
who had maintained the strongly asserted generality that the level of civilised behaviour in a society is directly linked to the practice of ceremonies and rites of passage
A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...
.
Serious communication
Ceremonies are the time and place setting wherein people communicate seriously. For example, in front of witnesses the groom tells the bride that he loves her and wants to be with her for the rest of his life. Such a statement has much more force than if said privately.
It is in the ceremony that groups of people come together. It is in the ceremony that they make compacts, recognise achievement, assert identity, establish connections, declare love, pay tribute, express grief.
In addition Messenger makes the following observations:
* A complex of good ceremonies raise the level of human happiness in society.
* Ceremonies assist humans to adjust to change.
* Ceremonies are signposts of the culture and indicate that such a culture has life-affirming substance.
* Ceremonies are an important means of expressing, reinforcing and transmitting values.
* Ceremonies are constructed from the visual and performing arts. In a chosen setting they are an important vehicle for telling stories, reciting great poetry and prose, using symbolism, and performing great music.
* Ceremonies, done well, leave lifelong lasting memories and therefore permanent good effects.
* The better a ceremony is done, the better its psychological, cultural, and social outcomes.[
]
The components of ceremony
To be powerful and effective, such ceremonies, in the view of all the scholars in the field,[ had to have impact. This occurred when the ceremony was framed by the visual and performing arts.
Great care had to be taken in creating and choosing the poetry, prose, stories, personal journeys, myths, silences, dance, music and song, shared meditations, choreography and symbolism which comprised a ceremony.
To reinforce the psychological and cultural power of ceremony it should be enacted, as far as possible, in a beautiful interior and exterior place. Beauty is the essential core of ceremony, having always been part of “raising the spirit” and embedding the good in the memory.][
Ceremonies, as they always had been, are historically the bridge between the visual and performing arts and the people. Murphy and his followers, and international practitioners such as David Oldfield of Washington DC understand that ceremonies are core expressions of the culture. Done well, they can assist in major ]decision-making
In psychology, decision-making (also spelled decision making and decisionmaking) is regarded as the Cognition, cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible alternative options. It could be ...
, bring emotional security
Emotional security is the measure of the stability of an individual's emotional state. Emotional insecurity or simply insecurity is a feeling of general unease or nervousness that may be triggered by perceiving of oneself to be vulnerable or in ...
, strengthen bonds between people, and communicate a sense of contentment
Contentment is an emotional state of satisfaction that can be seen as a mental state drawn from being at ease in one's situation, body and mind. Colloquially speaking, contentment could be a state of having accepted one's situation and is a m ...
. To quote David Oldfield
''Rituals and ceremonies are an essential and basic means''
''for human beings to give themselves and others''
''the necessary messages''
''which enable the individual to stay human.''
''They communicate acceptance,''
''love, a sense of identity, esteem,''
''shared values and beliefs''
''and shared memorable events.''
''Every ritual contains tender and sacred moments.''
''And in those moments of sensitivity''
''We are taken out of the normal flow of life,''
''And out of our routines.''
''We are then in an event''
''that is irreplaceable and sacred''.
''In ritual we participate in''
''something deep and significant.''
''They are moments which move our heart''
''And touch our spirit.''
Qualities of a celebrant
Lionel Murphy also knew that the superficial, the unaware, were not the right persons to bring this about. The civil celebrant needs to have a rich skill-set and knowledge base. Murphy is on the record as asserting that the civil celebrant needed to have a “feel” for ceremony and be professional, knowledgeable, educated, creative, imaginative, inspired, well presented, idealistic, and well practised.
The civil celebrant should be a person inspired to improve lives at a deep and lasting level. For this reason they must be carefully chosen. The ideal is that they be educated in the humanities and trained to expertly co-create, creatively write and perform ceremonies.[
]
Ceremonial occasions
* Marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
, or a wedding
A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...
, is the flagship ceremony of every culture.
* Almost as important is the funeral
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
or burial ceremony
A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect th ...
.
''The funeral ritual, too, is a public, traditional and symbolic means of expressing our beliefs, thoughts and feelings about the death of someone loved. Rich in history and rife with symbolism, the funeral ceremony helps us acknowledge the reality of the death, gives testimony to the life of the deceased, encourages the expression of grief in a way consistent with the culture’s values, provides support to mourners, allows for the embracing of faith and beliefs about life and death, and offers continuity and hope for the living.
''
* Birth
Birth is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring, also referred to in technical contexts as parturition. In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the f ...
, i.e. a naming ceremony
A naming ceremony is a stage at which a person or persons is officially assigned a name. The methods of the practice differ over cultures and religions. The timing at which a name is assigned can vary from some days after birth to several months o ...
''Naming Ceremonies existed in human culture long before Christianity or any of the major religions came on the scene. Every community has a ceremony to welcome a new child into the world, to give that child recognition, and to celebrate the birth of new life.
''
* Baptism or christening ceremony
* Initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...
(college orientation week
Student orientation or new student orientation (often encapsulated into an orientation week, o-week, frosh week, welcome week or freshers' week) is a period before the start of an academic year at a university or tertiary institutions. A variety ...
)
* Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...
* Social adulthood
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of major ...
( Bar (or Bat) Mitzvah), coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...
ceremonies
* Graduation
Graduation is the awarding of a diploma to a student by an educational institution. It may also refer to the ceremony that is associated with it. The date of the graduation ceremony is often called graduation day. The graduation ceremony is a ...
* Award ceremonies
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An award ...
* Retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
* Death
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
(Day of the Dead
The Day of the Dead ( es, Día de Muertos or ''Día de los Muertos'') is a holiday traditionally celebrated on November 1 and 2, though other days, such as October 31 or November 6, may be included depending on the locality. It is widely obser ...
)
*
* Spiritual (baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...
, communion)
* Grand opening
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.
* Aging
Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...
Celebration of events
Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events such as:
* Vernal equinox
A solar equinox is a moment in time when the Sun crosses the Earth's equator, which is to say, appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of the equator. On the day of the equinox, the Sun appears to rise "due east" and se ...
, winter solstice
The winter solstice, also called the hibernal solstice, occurs when either of Earth's poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the winte ...
and other annual astronomical positions
* Weekly Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
day
* Inauguration
In government and politics, inauguration is the process of swearing a person into office and thus making that person the incumbent. Such an inauguration commonly occurs through a formal ceremony or special event, which may also include an inaugu ...
of an elected office-holder
* Occasions in a liturgical year
The liturgical year, also called the church year, Christian year or kalendar, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches that determines when feast days, including celebrations of saints, are to be observed, and whi ...
or "feasts" in a calendar of saints
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
* Opening and closing of a sports event, such as the Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
Other ceremonies underscore the importance of non-regular special occasions, such as:
* Coronation
A coronation is the act of placement or bestowal of a coronation crown, crown upon a monarch's head. The term also generally refers not only to the physical crowning but to the whole ceremony wherein the act of crowning occurs, along with the ...
of a monarch
A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...
* Victory in battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
In some Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important social role, for example the tea ceremony
An East Asian tea ceremony, or ''Chádào'' (), or ''Dado'' ( ko, 다도 (茶道)), is a ceremonially ritualized form of making tea (茶 ''cha'') practiced in East Asia by the Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. The tea ceremony (), literally transla ...
.
Process
Ceremonies may have a physical display or theatrical
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
component: dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
, a procession
A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner.
History
Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
, the laying on of hands. A declaratory verbal pronouncement may explain or cap the occasion, for instance:
* I now pronounce you husband and wife.
* I swear to serve and defend the nation ...
* I declare open the games of ...
* I/We dedicate this ... ... to ...
Both physical and verbal components of a ceremony may become part of a liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
.
See also
* ''Religion for Atheists
''Religion for Atheists: A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion'' is a book by Alain de Botton published in 2012. It argues that while supernatural claims made by religion are false, some aspects of religion are still useful and can be a ...
: A non-believer's guide to the uses of religion'' is a book by Alain de Botton published in 2012. It argues that while supernatural claims made by religion are false, some aspects of religion are still useful and can be applied in secular life and society.
* Builders' rites
Builders' rites are ceremonies attendant on the laying of foundation stones, including ecclesiastical, masonic or other traditions connected with foundations or other aspects of construction.
One such custom is that of placing a few coins, newspap ...
* Ceremonial dance
Ceremonial dance is a major category or classification of dance forms or dance styles, where the purpose is ceremonial or ritualistic. It is related to and overlaps with sacred dance and ecstatic dance.
Definition
History
Description
L ...
* Cornerstone
The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.
Over time ...
* Event planning
Event management is the application of project management to the creation and development of small and/or large-scale personal or corporate events such as festivals, conferences, ceremonies, weddings, formal parties, concerts, or conventions. ...
* Gift
A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment or anything in return. An item is not a gift if that item is already owned by the one to whom it is given. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation ...
* Groundbreaking
Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...
ceremony
* Human condition
The human condition is all of the characteristics and key events of human life, including birth, learning, emotion, aspiration, morality, conflict, and death. This is a very broad topic that has been and continues to be pondered and analyzed fr ...
* Liturgy
Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
* Opening ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.
* Ribbon cutting ceremony
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mater ...
* Rite of passage
A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...
* Tjurunga
A Tjurunga, also spelt Churinga and Tjuringa, is an object considered to be of religious significance by Central Australian Aboriginal people of the Arrernte (Aranda, Arunta) groups. Tjurunga often had a wide and indeterminate native significa ...
* Topping out
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. Nowadays, the ceremony is often parlaye ...
(when the last beam is placed at the top of a building).
* Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...
Notes
External links
*
{{Authority control
Anthropology
Social gatherings