Many anthropologists agree that rituals and the ritual process play an important role in how people interact with each other and the world around them. Ritual in its simplest terms is characterized as a practice or action that has various patterns and forms which carry significant meaning. When examining how ritual is understood anthropologically, one must take into account three key factors, that being how rituals shape the relationship between living society and “unseen” forces, how it shapes the relationship between an individual and their society and how different forms of ritual serve different purposes and are therefore important to a society in different ways. Understanding these components of ritual will help one to better comprehend how anthropology views ritual today.

Rituals and ritual processes are often associated with unseen, mystical beings. Early anthropologists framed this as a factor in what was considered part of a more “primitive” culture. However, there are many anthropologists, like Emile Durkheim for example, that make the argument that ritual is an integral part of other concepts such as religion. To that extent, certain rituals often involve forms of sacrifice or some kind of interaction with regards to a person’s spirit or soul. Separating from the notion of primitivity, these kinds of rituals are what shape a particular culture’s relationship to the spirit or other mystical beings. In the context of anthropology, this relationship demonstrates how a society views their place in the world and how they interact with the world around them.

In these instances, there are often different dimensions to ritual that come into play. For example, there is a tendency to associate rituals, especially religious rituals, with esoteric themes. These esoteric rituals can be seen as a rejection of orthodox practices and are usually characterized as unconventional. Rituals that fall into this category have less social significance; so much as it is characterized as practices meant to confront dangerous or extreme conditions in order to harness its power. However, while this particular category of rituals may have less of an impact socially compared to others, there is a level of social significance as it can be said that some rituals and ritual processes are meant to enforce a particular social structure.

The importance that ritual has socially is described in the works of those such as Victor Turner. Here, importance is placed mostly on the ritual process. In this case one can draw from examples of rites of passages or initiation rituals. Turner takes a more functionalist approach to examining such rituals. An analysis of Turner’s works suggests that when it comes to “initiation” or a rite of passage, it is the middle stage of the process that has the most significant impact socially. This is due to the fact that when people have separated from their previous status, they are able to express social tension in the safety of “ritual.” In this stage normal social structures recede and it can lead to a sense of communitas and as one shifts to the final stage in the process, reincorporation resolves prior tensions and the social order is once again affirmed. The importance of liminality and its influence on an individual’s relationship to their society ties in with their relationship with the “unseen” as well. As explained by Turner:

“We are not dealing with structural contradictions when we discuss liminality, but with the essentially unstructured (which is at once destructured and prestructured) and often the people themselves see this in terms of bringing neophytes into close connection with deity or with superhuman power, with what is, in fact, often regarded as the unbounded, the infinite, the limitless” (Turner, p.98).

Turner stressed the importance of liminality and its social influence when it came to an individual’s relationship to their society and believed that this was able to identify ritual processes across cultures. However, some of the strongest criticisms to Turner’s theoretical model argue that it not only overemphasizes the integrative aspects of ritual, but also romanticizes the aspect of functionality thereby overlooking other dimensions of ritual. For example, while rituals may provide a way for an individual to reaffirm or make a transition when it comes to their place in their society, there is also the factor of ritual and power to consider.

The factor of ritual and power brings into question whether or not ritual brings people together or enforces a particular social structure. It demonstrates the aspect of ritual that is more often than not controlled by those in power and how the influence what and how rituals are practiced. In this sense, the individual’s relationship to their society may not always be one of reaffirming existing social structures and their place within it, but also as agents of political change. It is in this way that one can see that the form in which rituals take and its purpose influence how ritual is understood.

Where some forms of ritual demonstrate how a society views their place in the world and how they interact with the living and unseen realities, others illustrate the ways in which an individual may reaffirm or change their place in society as well as bring about social and political change, Following the notion of these different dimensions of ritual, it is clear that when attempting to understand the importance of ritual in an anthropological context, the subjective experience of the individual who has lived that rite must be taken into account. Ritual and ritual practice as understood anthropologically, is not only about bringing people together or cultivating a relationship between a society and their notion of the spirit and mystical beings. It also involves being able to acknowledge the ways in which a society is able to express themselves ritualistically is often influenced by what authority deems acceptable to practice and how this affects and individual’s relationship not only with themselves, but their society and culture as well.

Ritual can be understood in terms of it being a practice or action that has various patterns and forms which carry significant meaning. The factors that influence how ritual is understood involve how rituals shape the relationship between society and spiritual forces, the relationship between an individual and their society and how the different purposes and forms of ritual result in different influences. Understanding these three key components of ritual and ritual practice enable one to better understand how ritual is understood and viewed in the context of anthropology.

Turner, Victor. “Betwixt and Between: The Liminal Period in Rites de Passage”. In The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembu Ritual, pp. 93-111. 1967