Anthropology Rituals

Anthropologists define a ritual as an act of social practices that are repeatedly performed but are not always associated with religious beliefs or practices. These rituals are not the same as the day to day normal activity a person partakes in but more of symbolic gestures performed in a specific manner by a specific order in doing them (Lavenda & Schultz, 2013). The Nacirema culture performs specific ritual acts on a daily basis and as I quickly realized American culture is not that much different than the Nacirema’s. I am beginning to realize that it isn’t the cultures around the world that differ so much as the languages that portray them. In class we discussed different definitions for the same words and how one meaning can completely contradict another meaning when the graphical locations differ. I have especially found this to be the situation when I was reading Article 33, what appeared to be acts of witchcraft and voodoo practices was nothing of the sort but instead my assumption of a culture based solely on my translation of their language. After I realized my perception was based on words rather than practices I noticed just how much alike the Nacirema culture and the American culture truly are. Naciremas’ perform daily rituals that consist of then having a shrine where they perform private rituals that consist of practices such as hog hairs into the mouth with magical powders, men lacerating the surface of their faces by scraping them with sharp objects and the women placing their heads in hot appliances for an hour. These are the rituals practiced in American culture except our language calls them a tooth brush with toothpaste, men shaving their faces, and women sitting under a hairdryer getting their hair done. These mere definitions of these practices from one language to the next is what differs vastly with culture not the actual acts being practiced.
Every culture in the world has some sort of belief system that defines who they are and how they came to be. Some cultures practice rituals based solely on their beliefs but rarely if ever would a belief be based on practices from a ritual. Reading article 33, “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” there were lots of rituals those people practice that reminded me of voodoo type rituals until I came to realize it wasn’t the rituals or the way they performed them but instead it was how I perceived them through the interpretation of language. Once I paid attention to ritual rather than the words describing these practices I realized the Nacirema practiced beliefs very similar to my own. Like the Nacirema, Americans are very self-conscious about their appearances. Nacirema culture focus the majority of their daily rituals toward their body’s because they perceive their bodies to be ugly. Nacirema culture believes if they do not practice the daily rituals their bodies would become diseased and disfigured (Miner, 2013). Like Nacirema culture, American culture constantly tries to improve upon their image and the way they perceive beauty to be giving both cultures similar beliefs and practices. There were several daily rituals I identified with once I figured out the language describing the rituals. Nacirema culture consists of many different practitioners that specialize in a variety of different fields. Of these specialized practitioners the medicine man is perceived as the most powerful of them all and if a person wishes to interact with one of these medicine men they must give those riches, rewards, or gifts for their assistance (Miner, 2013). Much like these medicine men are the doctors in American culture they are perceived as being smarter, richer, and higher social status. We too must give them something for their services but unlike the Nacirema our physicians only take cash, credit, or personal checks. Some religions ward of those who practice magic and believe that magic is the practice of witchcraft and is evil. Some cultures believe there is dark magic and white magic, one being bad and one being good. Magic is considered to be the outside force that controls an outcome. White magic promotes heeling, happiness, wealth, and positivity but black magic instills darkness, disease, hunger, and anything negative (Lavenda & Schultz, 2013). Religion is based on faith and believing in something greater than ourselves, it is a belief that requires us to have faith in something we cannot logically explain and like magic religion has good and evil. Once again I am led to believe that there are not many differences between religion and magic especially when one culture refers to something as magic and another culture refers to that same practice as a miracle.
Bibliography
Lavenda, R. H., & Schultz, E. A. (2013). Making Meaning: Worldview, Religion, and Art. In R. H. Lavenda, & E. A. Schultz, Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology (pp. 55-63). St. Cloud: McGraw Hill.
Miner, H. (2013). Body Ritual amoung the Nacirema. In E. Angeloni, Anthropolgy 13/14 Annual Editions (pp. 181-183). Pasadena: McGraw Hill.

Bibliography: Lavenda, R. H., & Schultz, E. A. (2013). Making Meaning: Worldview, Religion, and Art. In R. H. Lavenda, & E. A. Schultz, Core Concepts in Cultural Anthropology (pp. 55-63). St. Cloud: McGraw Hill. Miner, H. (2013). Body Ritual amoung the Nacirema. In E. Angeloni, Anthropolgy 13/14 Annual Editions (pp. 181-183). Pasadena: McGraw Hill.