This page groups rituals by the year their recorded history begins. Wikipedia notes that "the word 'ritual' is first recorded in English in 1570, and came into use in the 1600s to mean 'the prescribed order of performing religious services'." Browsing by start year lets a visitor see how far back a given ritual's documented history actually reaches.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingRites 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 CategoryA standard analytic category in the study of religion 2 Learn More
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.
Origin Period Start Year
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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