This page groups rituals by whether they are open to observe or restricted to initiates. Wikipedia describes Masonic ritual as being "progressively taught to entrusted members during initiation into a particular Masonic rite comprising a series of degrees conferred by a Masonic body." Browsing this way separates rituals anyone may witness from ones reserved for members who have already been initiated.
Facts
Overview
What Defines This GroupingRites in which something is given up by a prescribed procedure to a recipient the tradition names - an animal, grain, ghee, a substitute. The one English word covers acts with no common mechanism: a Vedic oblation poured into fire, a Norse blot and an Islamic qurbani whose meat is distributed to the poor answer to different accounts of what the giving does. 2 Origins
Whose Classification This IsThe comparative category was built by successive theorists - Tylor's gift theory, Robertson Smith's communion, Hubert and Mauss's essay of 1898, later Girard and Burkert - each generalising from a different tradition. No one theory has been accepted as covering the field, and the category holds only loosely. 2 Status
Standing as a Comparative CategoryUsed, but its validity as a comparative category is disputed 2 Learn More
The sacrificial rituals
This group gathers sacrificial rituals, the rites of offering, in which something of value (food, drink, animal or symbol) is given to the divine, whether in thanksgiving, petition, atonement or communion. Sacrifice is among the most ancient and widespread forms of religious act.
The browser will find sacrificial rituals from across the traditions. The entries describe each rite's form and meaning, noting the tradition that performs it and the purpose the offering serves.
Closed Practice Status
Sources
1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Tree
2. Encyclopedia of Religion
Mircea Eliade (ed.); Lindsay Jones (ed., 2nd ed.), Macmillan Reference, 2005s.v. SacrificeView the Source Divinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptions
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