ISTOTA RYTUAŁU
THE NATURE OF RITUAL

Summary/Abstract: The article “The Nature of Ritual” presents the analysis of a ritual – a fascinating and complex phenomenon that has been the core of human life since the dawn of time. It has to be strongly emphasized that a predilection for rituals is one of the main features of humankind. Each human community developed certain rituals that determine the attitude of a given group towards the world it lives in and the life it leads, as well as express society’s approach towards the formative reality, at the same time having many features in common. At first, it may seem surprising to some people, but it is usually true that the same rituals – although in more or less modified versions – occur in many communities in different areas of the world. It corroborates their undoubted universality as an element of human culture, for accompanying all types of important – both religious and secular – events; they are at the same time a sum of personal emotions and experiences, being of great significance both for individuals and whole communities, and the prime mover, too. The author of this article has based his analysis on the research conducted by such illustrious scholars as Bronislaw Malinowski, Arnold Van Gennep, Victor Turner, Mircea Eliade and some others, who made their contribution to the research in this field. The author discusses the genesis, types and individual elements of rituals (here one can find, for example, characteristics of places, where ritual activities take place or people taking part in them), as well as their – definitely significant – influence on human communities living in different parts of the globe. Psychological analysis of behaviours occupies an important place in this article – being utterly different from the standards of behaviours occurring in the so-called “ordinary” life – of people strongly engaging themselves in a practised ritual. Especially, it is analysed from the point of view of the theory of biogenetic structuralism. Additionally, another interesting aspect of ritual – the phenomenon of ritual trance – is also mentioned in the article. KEY WORDS: ritual, culture, community, behaviours, universality.

• Details
• Contents