Religion not only gives a person hope for help higher powers, on afterlife and serves as one of the forms of social consciousness. Religion creates certain moral foundations of society, defines the boundaries of good and evil, teaches morality and respect for others. In addition, each type of religion imposes certain obligations on its followers, requires compliance with canons, rituals, and ceremonies corresponding to a particular event in a person’s life.

Types of religions and their characteristic rituals, rites and customs

The oldest of all forms of religion is Judaism, which originated in ancient Palestine. Judaism is characterized by strict observance of customs; prohibitions must not be violated under any circumstances; upon reaching a certain age, all boys must be circumcised. One of the main prohibitions concerns food - Jews are strictly forbidden to eat meat products of kosher origin, that is, the meat of animals whose limbs end in a cloven hoof. The wedding rituals of the Jews are unusually beautiful, and the funeral rites touch the soul even of those who have no idea about this type of religion.

But Islam is considered the youngest world religion; the date of its first mention in historical chronicles is the 7th century AD. Adherents of Islam sacredly revere the Prophet Muhammad, perform the so-called namaz daily, that is, say prayer five times a day, and consider it their duty to help the poor. The peculiarities of this religion are that a man can have several wives at the same time, even of a different faith, but an Islamic woman is obliged to marry only. True admirers of Islam never drink alcohol, observe strict fasting once a year, the so-called Ramadan, and perform the Hajj - a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Christianity is the religion followed by most people. The Christian faith is divided into Catholic and Orthodox and each of them has its own customs and rituals, some of them are similar, and some are completely opposite. Against the background of these disagreements, wars arose more than once, during which brother killed brother, and son killed father. But both directions are characterized by the observance of such rituals as baptism, communion, wedding, and regular repentance for one’s sins. All rituals are carried out by clergy and are necessarily strengthened by ablution or irrigation with holy water.

The most unusual religious rituals

But on the peculiarities of ritual ceremonies great importance They also impose customs characteristic of a particular ethnic group or nationality.

For example, in one of the Indian states, Islamists throw newborns from a pretty temple onto a rag cloth stretched below and firmly believe that this is good for the child.

In Scotland, it is compulsory for a Catholic bride to rotten eggs, molasses and flour - this ritual serves as a guarantee of the happiness and well-being of the future family.

Among some peoples of the Christian faith, it is still customary to use real blood during communion, and among some African peoples woman, according to religious custom, for each year family life receives a metal ring around his neck. But if she cheats on her husband, all the rings are removed, and the woman’s neck simply breaks.

Religious rites and rituals - what are they? Perhaps some people believe that only those who are closely associated with religion encounter such phenomena. However, in reality, such rituals have long been intertwined with the everyday life of ordinary people. What can we say about a believer, for whom religious customs and rituals are an integral part of existence.

And yet, despite this, many interesting questions remain in the shadows. For example, even the meaning of the word “religious rite” raises a number of confusions. After all, how do you understand which rituals should be classified as them and which ones should not? Or what is the difference between Orthodox sacraments and Catholic ones? And finally, how long ago was the first religious ceremony held? So, let's look at everything in order.

As always, you need to start from the root of the problem, namely exact value of this expression. So, a religious ritual is a certain action based on a person’s mystical idea of ​​the surrounding reality.

That is, the main task of such a ritual is to strengthen the connection of the believer with his higher principle, or God. It does not matter at all whether such an action is carried out individually or is a collective event.

What is a religious ceremony?

Yet it is not enough just to know the meaning of this word. To fully understand its essence, it is necessary to look at everything from a special angle, relying on clear examples and arguments. That's why let's look at what a religious ceremony actually is.

To begin with, let's take as an example finger baptism, which is common among all Christians. It would seem that there is nothing mystical, just ordinary manipulation of the hand in a given order, which is used during prayer. And yet this is a religious rite... Do you know why?

Because there are two important points here. Firstly, an established ritual that has remained unchanged for all Christians for many centuries. Secondly, it is based on the belief that such an action can shed God's grace on a person.

Based on this, we can draw the following conclusion: any custom that combines these two points is a religious rite.

The first mystical sacraments

No one knows exactly when man began to believe that the world was controlled by a higher mind. After all, for the first time this happened in those days when our distant ancestors did not yet know how to write. The only evidence of their intelligent lifestyle is the drawings and incisions on the rocks. However, even this meager information is enough to understand what a religious rite was among ancient people.

In those distant times, a person’s life directly depended on how favorable Mother Nature was to him. Just imagine how majestic it was for people who did not have the slightest idea about the laws of physics and chemistry. Consequently, it is not surprising that over the years they began to attribute to her the presence of her own will and intelligence.

Therefore, to answer the question: “What is a religious rite among ancient people?” it will be quite simple. Almost all of their rituals were aimed at appeasing the spirits of nature so that they would grant them their protection.

This belief in the power of sacred rites has had a marked influence throughout human history. After all, it was thanks to the ancient sacraments that the first priests appeared - people who communicated with otherworldly forces.

Rituals of the Slavs

Before the arrival of Christianity in Rus', our ancestors were pagans. They believed in the existence of many gods, forming Slavic pantheon. Thus, warriors worshiped Perun, peasants - Lada, and creative people - Veles.

Initially, rituals were invented ordinary people, in order to somehow appease the beloved deity. A little later, the priests themselves began to select the most favorable rituals and insist that this was the will of the higher mind.

It got to the point that not a single holiday or significant event was complete without a religious sacrament. And the more often and systematically they were repeated, the stronger they sank into people’s consciousness. Over the years they have become an integral part Everyday life Slavs and were taken for granted by the people.

For example, peasants always made a sacrifice to Lada before starting sowing work. After all, if this is not done, then the goddess will not bestow her grace on the crops, and then the harvest will be bad. The same applied to other aspects of the life of the Slavs: the birth of children, weddings, war and death. Each occasion had its own religious ritual, aimed at strengthening the relationship between deity and man.

What about other countries and continents?

The most curious thing is that such a worldview was inherent in almost all nations and peoples. Thus, the Greeks believed in the gods of Olympus, the Egyptians believed in the powerful god Osiris and other equally powerful creatures. And the indigenous people of Africa had so many different deities that it is not possible to count them.

And they all practiced religious rituals. For example, the Greeks made rich offerings to their gods in temples, and on holidays they organized festivities with masquerade. The Egyptians built pyramids so that their pharaohs would live there even after death. And some African tribes ate human hearts, hoping in this way to gain the strength and courage of a defeated enemy.

Religious rituals in the modern world

Despite the fact that now is the age of popularization of scientific theories and atheistic views, religious rituals have not gone away. Moreover, some of them are so deeply ingrained in people’s minds that they have become the norm. Let's look at the most popular rituals of two giant religions - Christianity and Islam.

So let's start with Orthodox baptism children. This religious rite is considered one of the most ancient in our history. According to his laws, small children are washed with holy water in order to cleanse them of original sin. In addition, Christians believe that during baptism God gives a person a guardian angel.

Another ancient religious ritual that has survived to this day is the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. They believe that every true believer should make such a trek at least once in his life in order to show his devotion to Allah.

Devotion bordering on fanaticism

However, not all rituals and ceremonies are harmless. Unfortunately, sometimes faith develops into fanaticism, and then the first victims appear. In particular, some religious rituals require blood, sometimes even human. And a fanatical believer is ready to present such a gift. After all, this is God's will, and human life compared to her - just dust.

At the same time, the bloody trail from religious rituals stretches from the very depths of history, then disappearing, then appearing again. What are the Christian Crusades or the Muslim holy wars against the infidels? Not to mention the fact that the ancient Aztecs sacrificed hundreds, or even thousands, of people just to satisfy the mystical appetite of the Sun God.

In this regard, it should be understood that religious rituals can be carried out both for good and vice versa. At the same time, it is not God who creates evil, but people, because it is they who ultimately determine the essence and order of the ritual.

Faith acquires a religious character and becomes an element of religion if it is included in the system of religious actions and relationships, in other words, it is included in the religious cult system. The main element of religion, which gives it originality, that is, distinguishes it from other forms of social consciousness and social institutions, is the cult system. Consequently, the specificity of religion is manifested not in the special nature of belief, or in some special subject or object of belief, but in the fact that these ideas, concepts, images are included in the cult system, acquire a symbolic character in it and, as such, function in social interaction.

It follows from this that there is an organic relationship between religious consciousness and religious actions. Religious cult is nothing more than a social form of objectification of religious consciousness, the implementation of religious faith in the actions of a social group or individuals. Certain views and ideas that form ideological constructs, when included in a cult system, acquire the character of a creed. And this gives them a spiritual and practical character.

The cult system, first of all, is a set of certain rituals.

Ritual- this is a set of stereotypical actions established by the custom or tradition of a particular social community, symbolizing certain ideas, norms, ideals and ideas. The ritual performs important social functions in society. One of the main social functions of the ritual is the accumulation and transfer of experience both by individuals to each other and from generation to generation. In the ritual, the experience of social activity of many generations is accumulated and becomes visible, as if human activity and communication are concentrated. In the general system of social interaction, the ritual fixes the most important, key moments in the life of a social group. The specificity of religious rituals lies in their ideological content, that is, exactly what images, ideas, ideas, and values ​​they embody in symbolic form. Each religious organization, in the process of its formation and development, develops its own specific system of religious actions.

Ritual- “a set of rituals accompanying a religious act” or “developed custom or a set procedure for doing something; ceremonial Both the dictionary definition and other sources show that ritual is a special case of a broader concept - custom, however, the relationship between the concepts of “ritual” and “rite” is defined differently in different sources:

concepts are considered identical;

ritual is considered a special case of rite;

ritual is a set of rituals.

5. Sign, symbol, propitiatory actions, prayers, types of prayers.

Researchers of this social form call its symbolic nature as the most important feature of the ritual. In philosophical literature there is a tradition of considering symbol as a special type of signs - an “iconic sign”, which has partial similarity with the designated object. The sign and symbol have a similar structure, including: 1) material form, 2) replaced (designated) object, 3) meaning or meaning. The main functional property of these social forms also similar. They are intended to represent (present externally) content different from their forms. However, the sign and symbol have significant differences. Signs- These are artificial formations. Their material form is largely arbitrary and does not significantly affect function. The sign does not reproduce the object, but only replaces it. On the contrary, the shape of the symbol is partially similar to the designated object. It plays an important role in revealing the content, since it itself informs about the content and influences the perceiver. And this fact significantly changes the functional properties of symbols. Sign systems only designate an object. The designation by the sign is external, formal character. It is the process of external expression of formalized meaning. In a symbol, the designation is largely meaningful. This is a figurative designation that to a certain extent reproduces the symbolized content. Consequently, at the level of the symbol, a qualitatively new process occurs, which can no longer be characterized simply as designation, but should be called symbolization. Symbolization can be defined as the ability of consciousness, through certain sensory objects, to figuratively represent (present externally) other objects or phenomena of reality. From these positions, in our opinion, ritual can be considered as a type of symbol.

The evolution of religious rituals followed the line of their spiritualization and spiritualization. The top of this path is prayer– a person’s verbal (verbal) appeal to the object of his faith. Ethnographers claim that prayer as a specific religious rite developed on the basis of pagan conspiracies and spells, as an element of verbal magic (magic of the word). As a verbal component, it was originally included in the ritual of sacrifice. Subsequently, prayer was separated from sacrifice and became an essential component of the cult of many religions. There are two types of prayer. The psychological basis of the first type is a peculiar "deal with God", asking him for certain benefits, and accordingly, a promise to fulfill all divine instructions. The purpose of the second type of prayer is to "communication with God" rapprochement and dissolution of the believer in God. Prayers can be collective or individual. Prayers are performed during services in churches, houses of worship, cemeteries, etc. They are performed in an organized manner. During these prayers, the participants in the worship service experience both psychological and controlling influence on each other. Participation in collective prayer can occur for various reasons, including non-religious ones. A person can join such a prayer during the service, as they say, “for the company”, so as not to seem like a “black sheep” or simply because he came to a temple, to a house of prayer, to some kind of solemn event, such as the consecration of a newly built building , buildings. Individual, solitary prayer, as a rule, occurs only on the basis of religious motivation. Therefore, many sociologists consider it an important sign of true religiosity.

Religious rites and rituals - what are they? Perhaps some people believe that only those who are closely associated with religion encounter such phenomena. However, in reality, such rituals have long been intertwined with the everyday life of ordinary people. What can we say about a believer, for whom religious customs and rituals are an integral part of existence.

And yet, despite this, many interesting questions remain in the shadows. For example, even the meaning of the word “religious rite” raises a number of confusions. After all, how do you understand which rituals should be classified as them and which ones should not? Or what is the difference between Orthodox sacraments and Catholic ones? And finally, how long ago was the first religious ceremony held? So, let's look at everything in order.

The meaning of the word "religious rite"

As always, you need to start from the root of the problem, namely the exact meaning of this expression. So, a religious ritual is a certain action based on a person’s mystical idea of ​​the surrounding reality.

That is, the main task of such a ritual is to strengthen the connection of the believer with his higher principle, or God. It does not matter at all whether such an action is carried out individually or is a collective event.

What is a religious ceremony?

Yet it is not enough just to know the meaning of this word. To fully understand its essence, it is necessary to look at everything from a special angle, relying on clear examples and arguments. That's why let's look at what a religious ceremony actually is.

To begin with, let's take as an example finger baptism, which is common among all Christians. It would seem that there is nothing mystical, just ordinary manipulation of the hand in a given order, which is used during prayer. And yet it is a religious rite... Do you know why?

Because there are two important points here. Firstly, an established ritual that has remained unchanged for all Christians for many centuries. Secondly, it is based on the belief that such an action can shed God's grace on a person.

Based on this, we can draw the following conclusion: any custom that combines these two points is a religious rite.

The first mystical sacraments

Nobody knows exactly when man began to believe that the world is controlled. After all, this first happened in those days when our distant ancestors did not yet know how to write. The only evidence of their intelligent lifestyle is the drawings and incisions on the rocks. However, even this meager information is enough to understand what a religious rite was among ancient people.

In those distant times, a person’s life directly depended on how favorable Mother Nature was to him. Just imagine how majestic it was for people who did not have the slightest idea about the laws of physics and chemistry. Consequently, it is not surprising that over the years they began to attribute to her the presence of her own will and intelligence.

Therefore, to answer the question: “What is a religious rite among ancient people?” it will be quite simple. Almost all of their rituals were aimed at appeasing the spirits of nature so that they would grant them their protection.

This belief in the power of sacred rites has had a marked influence throughout human history. After all, it was thanks to the ancient sacraments that the first priests appeared - people who communicated with otherworldly forces.

Rituals of the Slavs

Before the arrival of Christianity in Rus', our ancestors were pagans. They believed in the existence of many gods that formed the Slavic pantheon. Thus, warriors worshiped Perun, peasants - Lada, and creative people - Veles.

Initially, rituals were invented by ordinary people in order to somehow appease their favorite deity. A little later, the priests themselves began to select the most favorable rituals and insist on what was of higher intelligence.

It got to the point that not a single holiday or significant event was complete without a religious sacrament. And the more often and systematically they were repeated, the stronger they sank into people’s consciousness. Over the years, they became an integral part of the daily life of the Slavs and were taken for granted by the people.

For example, peasants always made a sacrifice to Lada before starting sowing work. After all, if this is not done, then the goddess will not bestow her grace on the crops, and then the harvest will be bad. The same applied to other aspects of the life of the Slavs: the birth of children, weddings, war and death. Each occasion had its own religious ritual, aimed at strengthening the relationship between deity and man.

What about other countries and continents?

The most curious thing is that such a worldview was inherent in almost all nations and peoples. Thus, the Greeks believed in the gods of Olympus, the Egyptians believed in the powerful and other equally powerful creatures. And the indigenous people of Africa had so many different deities that it is not possible to count them.

And they all practiced religious rituals. For example, the Greeks made rich offerings to their gods in temples, and on holidays they organized festivities with masquerade. The Egyptians built pyramids so that their pharaohs would live there even after death. And some ate human hearts, hoping in this way to gain the strength and courage of a defeated enemy.

Religious rituals in the modern world

Despite the fact that now is the age of popularization of scientific theories and atheistic views, religious rituals have not gone away. Moreover, some of them are so deeply ingrained in people’s minds that they have become the norm. Let's look at the most popular rituals of two giant religions - Christianity and Islam.

So, let's start with the Orthodox baptism of children. This religious rite is considered one of the most ancient in our history. According to his laws, small children are washed with holy water in order to cleanse them of original sin. In addition, Christians believe that during baptism God gives a person a guardian angel.

Another ancient religious ritual that has survived to this day is the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. They believe that every true believer should make such a trek at least once in his life in order to show his devotion to Allah.

Devotion bordering on fanaticism

However, not all rituals and ceremonies are harmless. Unfortunately, sometimes faith develops into fanaticism, and then the first victims appear. In particular, some religious rituals require blood, sometimes even human. And a fanatical believer is ready to present such a gift. After all, this is the will of God, and human life in comparison with it is just dust.

At the same time, the bloody trail from religious rituals stretches from the very depths of history, then disappearing, then appearing again. What are the Christian Crusades or the Muslim holy wars against the infidels? Not to mention the fact that the ancient Aztecs sacrificed hundreds, or even thousands, of people just to satisfy the mystical appetite of the Sun God.

In this regard, it should be understood that religious rituals can be carried out both for good and vice versa. At the same time, it is not God who creates evil, but people, because it is they who ultimately determine the essence and order of the ritual.

Many currently existing religious rituals, customs and rituals have existed for a very long time, since they came to us from ancient times, when people used them as a kind of energy support and assistance in various everyday situations.

Ancient rituals and ceremonies

It is no secret that in ancient times people hunted and thus obtained food for themselves. However, the hunt was not successful every time, and in order to avoid starvation, people tried to summon good luck with signs: for example, they painted animals on the rocks and then hit them with spears, symbolizing a successful outcome.

At the same time, for example, the ritual of human burial began to take shape. Flowers, weapons and objects that a person used during life were supposed to be placed in the grave. As a rule, all rituals denote actions that connect a person with the other world.

Later, a special person began to appear in the tribe to conduct rituals and ceremonies, who was called a magician or sorcerer. They performed all the actions themselves and taught others to perform them. Slavic rites and rituals may differ from the rituals of other peoples, since they all have their own specifics.

Religious rites and rituals: then and now

In each era, rituals became more and more complex. People found new ways to ask the gods for what they wanted. Nowadays, each religion has its own rites and rituals, which can be daily (for example), calendar (for example, rites and rituals for Christmas) or single - for example, baptism.

As in our days, a person could pray alone, or by coming to a special temple. In those days, each person had his own small altar at home, at which he was also supposed to pray.

Since ancient times, tribes of northern peoples lived on the Siberian land, whose tribes had shamans who were exclusively engaged in rites and rituals. According to myths, the shaman was chosen by the spirits themselves - the person who was supposed to become him was taken to another world, taken apart and created anew, in a new capacity. Such a person knew how to walk between worlds, could heal people, install energy protection, and influence the weather. Traditionally, music was used in their rituals - the ringing of a tambourine.

It’s interesting, but the Buryats and other peoples of the north, who have preserved their culture today, still have shamans who really have amazing abilities: they can cast and remove a curse or predict fate.