Religion and Culture - Rites of Affliction

Religion and Culture ANTH 2301 Rites of Affliction The majority of rituals of affliction are unplanned and non-calendrical, in contrast to many rites of passage and intensification. These rituals, which are typically categorised as requests for divine intervention or healing, aim to find a cure or recompense for the ailment. Communities ask the spirits or divinity for blessings or healing, either directly during a shamanic journey or through the intermediary of a religious leader. Well-being is viewed as a relationship between body and soul and thus is believed to have a religious component in non-Western societies and localised religious traditions across cultures, while most Western societies understand illness and health as biomedical phenomena based on empirical evidence. ceremonies of suffering are beliefs or practices that have no reliable proof for their effectiveness, which nonbelievers could call superstition. However, believers see these religious ceremonies as a means of pleading for aid and occasionally exerting influence over life-threatening situations. The early descriptions of rites of suffering differ significantly according on the situation. To find the root of a disease, people might use divination, exorcism, or witchcraft and sorcery. Exorcism is the process of driving out an evil spirit. Divination is an exercise or examination meant to provide insight, direction, or counsel on a circumstance or occurrence. There are literally hundreds of variations on divination techniques. Some examples are bibliomancy (opening a book at random and looking for a message in the passage on that page), reading tarot cards, checking astrological signs, oomancy (rubbing an egg over an area of illness or pain and then breaking it open to read a pattern), tasseomancy (reading tea leaves at the bottom of a cup), and scapulimancy (burning the shoulder blade of a cow or antelope and reading a message in the burn pattern). The laying on of hands is one frequent ceremony of sorrow in the Christian faith. The Bible describes this rite as being used to both bring the Holy Spirit (Num. 27:15–23; Acts 8:14–19) and to represent Christ's healing operation (Luke 4:40). The laying on of hands ritual is still performed by congregations in many Pentecostal and Evangelical churches today. In order to help a fellow believer who is experiencing social, mental, or physical distress, believers lay hands on that person's head or shoulders. They do this because they believe that through intense prayer and hands-on support, the Holy Spirit can move from one person to another, strengthening, healing, and anointing them with God's grace. Sometimes the "helpers" stand directly in front of the person asking for assistance or lean over them. On occasion, Christians may walk behind a chair-ridden person in need, lay hands on their shoulders, and pray—either silently or out loud so the person in need can hear the prayer being given. These deeds, which are a potent remedy for disease regardless of faith tradition, include the religious community pooling its social and spiritual resources to support the affected individual. Pilgrimage is frequently carried out as a ritual to seek healing and restitution, even if it is not always connected with rituals of affliction and can also be done as acts of obedience, celebration, spiritual merit, enlightenment, or even penance. Pilgrimage is a religious journey to a sacred site that is observed by people of many different religions. The Christian pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, a spot in France where Mary is said to have appeared, the Hindu pilgrimage to the River Ganges in India, and the Islamic hajj to Saudi Arabia are some of the most well-known pilgrimages. One of Islam's five pillars, or core precepts, is the hajj. Completing the hajj to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is crucial to the faith of believers who possess the necessary financial resources and physical capacity. The most important rites take place during the final five or six days of the 12th month, although the pilgrimage itself can take place at any point throughout the final three months of the Islamic calendar. The hajj is a moveable feast, meaning that its dates change annually and it takes place in various seasons during a cycle of years, according to the lunar calendar. The Islamic calendar, which is lunar in nature, does not align with the Gregorian calendar that is currently used by the majority of the Western world on a yearly basis. In the past, pilgrims travelled on foot and used the time and challenges of the journey to concentrate on strengthening their faith. While some devotees follow the traditional way of finishing the hajj, others go by bus, ferry, or aeroplane and spend their time in reflection upon arrival. Because the Prophet Muhammad was born in Mecca, it is a significant symbolic location for Muslims. The pilgrims will engage in a variety of religious practices during the hajj ritual, such as praying, running between the neighbouring hills of Safa and Marwah, cutting their hair, circumnavigating the Ka'aba, a structure in the middle of the mosque symbolising the most sacred place, seven times clockwise to begin the ritual, and going east of Mecca to confess their sins and seek atonement. To conclude the hajj, one must gather stones to carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil, purchase sacrifice vouchers to have an animal slaughtered on their behalf, and circle the Ka'aba seven times in an anticlockwise direction.