Divinity Atlas

Sacred Correspondences
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This page groups rituals by whether performing them is a required duty or a voluntary devotion. Wikipedia notes that "for daily prayers, practicing Muslims must perform a ritual recitation from the Quran in Arabic while bowing and prostrating." Browsing this way lets a visitor separate a mandatory rite from one an adherent may choose to observe or not.

Facts
Overview
What Defines This Grouping
Rites tied to a recurring point in a tradition's calendar rather than to an event in a life - a weekly sabbath, a seasonal turning, an annual first-fruits offering. Each is reckoned in its own calendar, so the recurrence is regular within the tradition and irregular against the civil year. 2
Status
Standing as a Comparative Category
A standard analytic category in the study of religion 2
Directory
Category
Rituals 1
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The Calendrical Rituals

This group holds calendrical rituals, the rites fixed to the cycle of the year and the calendar: the observances of seasons, new moons, solstices and the recurring festivals that structure sacred time. They bind the community to the turning of the year and the rhythm of its tradition.

The browser will find calendrical rituals from various traditions. The entries describe each rite's timing, form and meaning, noting the tradition and the moment in the year it marks.

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Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions
Catherine Bell, Oxford University Press, 1997Basic Genres of Ritual ActionView the Source
Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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