American Cultural Rituals

The world is filled with several different cultures with their unknown beliefs. Culture can be defined as complex system of values, traits, moral and customs shared by a society. Another word that shapes culture is its rituals, which is formed by different countries. Rituals are associated with religious observation and beliefs. Culture can be viewed as a different prospective. Many anthropologists found discoveries of many rituals among humans and animals that are being practiced today in the world. They believe that these rituals have the power to bind or tear people from their culture. Victor Turner is a famous anthropologist who made many contributions to culture religion and its rituals.
In the text from Essentials of Cultural Anthropology, anthropologists define religion as 3 basic characteristic which are, beliefs in relation to supernatural powers, teachings and traditions of those supernatural powers
For example, in the Jewish culture circumcision of the newborn is performed. In Indian culture, Mendhi, the decoration of hands, is performed on special occasion before young girls marriage. In Puerto Rico, The Quinceañera a rite acknowledging a girl’s passage from childhood to womanhood around the age of fifteen, and the Bar/Bat Mitzvah – a rite marking when boys and girls assume adult responsibilities around the age of thirteen, are both rites of passage that mark the transition from childhood to adulthood. Graduation, for example, represents the passage of members of a school 's student body out of the school and into another stage of education or experience. Rites of passage comprise a large and important category of rituals, but not all rituals are rites of passage. For instance, according to the article, The Ritual Process, Turner describes Thanksgiving Day parade, as a celebration of change of seasons from summer to fall, and considers it as a cyclic ritual, not a rite of