TERM 1 SECTION 1: RITUALS: AN INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS TO DEVELOP

. OBSERVATION SKILLS GRADE 10

1. What is a Ritual?
 It is a behaviour that is different from ordinary behaviour.
 Rituals include solemn (serious) actions and speech , repeated in a set order.
 All religions have rituals.
 Rituals take place at special places such as churches or mosques even
forests where special clothes are worn to symbolise what type of ritual taking
place.
2. Some background on Rituals and Rites of Passage.
 Rituals are ceremonial acts in a religion that mark rites of passage –the
passage of individual from one social or religious status to another.
 Many of the most important and common rites are connected with biological
stages of life.
 Rites of passage include wedding ceremony, funeral, birthday ceremony
usually 21st , birth and rebirth, Initiation, spiritual cleansings, baptism..
 Rites of passage are usually rich in symbolism because they carry rich
indigenous and western heritage interconnected with deep meanings.
 Rites of passage are usually sacred ceremony.
3. Baptism ceremony in the Christian church.
 Baptism is a ceremony that is practiced by Christians it is welcoming a new
member in the Christian community.
 The symbol of water for new life and taking a new name relates to a former
life and the emergence of a new person.
 Churches practice baptism differently some believe that new born babies can
be baptised while some believe adult are to be baptised since they are are
matured and understand baptism, they attend classes.
 New babies who are baptised have spiritual guiders called godparents who
take an oath to raise the children faith until they are adults.
 We have various types of baptism , baptism by sprinkling where they use a
special bowl to perform baptism service young and old are baptised usually
done by the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, baptism by immersion is
the type of baptism that baptised adult a big round built when adult person
enter to be baptised also baptism by the river an old practice from biblical
times which is believed to be the correct one Zion churches use this method
while other churches use swimming pools.
 Most wear white clothes as a sign of purification and new life in Christ
4. Muslim Initiation.
 The ceremony is performed as soon as a baby is born.
 It is called Adhan ceremony.
 The baby is washed and the father whispers the call to prayer into the baby’s
right ear and then the command to rise and worship into left ear.

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TERM 1 SECTION 1: RITUALS: AN INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS TO DEVELOP
. OBSERVATION SKILLS GRADE 10

 On the baby’s seventh day , there is a naming ceremony called Aqiqa.. when
the fathers names the baby after reading the Quran.
 The baby’s head is shaved or washed , then olive oil is put on the head and
money equal to the weight of the hair from the baby’s head, is given to the
poor.
 Goats or sheep two for a boy and one for a girl are sacrificed.
 Circumcision of boys take place shortly after the birth of the child.
5. Bar mitzvah.
 Is the Jews tradition a ceremony that marks a young boy’s entry into
adulthood at the age of 13.
 It is preceded by the period of intense study.
 During the ceremony in the synagogue the boy is called to read the Torah and
then is presented with his tallit (prayer shawl)- strands and knots represents
the 613 commandments in the Torah.
 Girls are considered to have reached maturity at age 12 ,but their ceremony
called a Bat mitzvah is much less of an occasion.
6 Initiation among Xhosa nation.
 Boys and Girls is important before they are recognised as mature members of
their communities and allowed to marry.
 At the age of 18 years , Xhosa boys are taken away in a group and
circumcised.
 There are stages of initiation- a few weeks later before the ceremony the
abakwetha ( boy initiates) decorate themselves with ochre and wear a feather
headdress, symbolising the last days of their freedom as boys.
 On the day of the ceremony they are led to the circumcision hut or ibhuma by
a group of stick fighters.
 An animal is then sacrificed and circumcision is performed by an ingcibi (
traditional surgeon) using a sharp spear..
 They spend two or three months in the hut and their instructor teaches them
about African way of life and cultural heritage.
 After the hut is set of fire after all stages have been reached.
 A great feast is prepared to welcome them
 Some young rural woman under still undergo initiation in a ceremony known
as Intonjane.
7. The Sacred Thread Ceremony.
 It is the rite of passage of Hindu boy from childhood to a student.
 There is no comparable ceremony for girls.
 During the ceremony the boy is given a sacred thread to wear around his
waist.
 He is dressed in yellow cloth with a grass girdle to represent a new body.

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TERM 1 SECTION 1: RITUALS: AN INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS TO DEVELOP
. OBSERVATION SKILLS GRADE 10

 The girdle goes around him 3 times as a sign that he has to study the three
sacred texts in Hinduism.
 The boy has to honour five obligations:
 Worship – offering food to the gods.
 Reverences for holy many –reciting the Vedas.
 Honouring relatives and elders –offering rice and water to ancestors.
 Helping the poor or holy man with food and shelter.
 Feeding animals.