Religious rites and rituals - what is it? Perhaps some believe that only those who are closely associated with religion experience such phenomena. However, in reality, such rituals have long been intertwined with the daily lives of ordinary people. What can we say about a believer, for whom religious customs and rituals are an integral part of being.
And yet, despite this, many interesting questions remain in the shadows. For example, even the meaning of the word "religious rite" causes a number of bewilderment. After all, how to understand which rituals should be attributed to them, and which not? Or what is the difference between Orthodox sacraments and Catholic ones? And after all, how long ago was the first religious ceremony? So, let's consider everything in order.
Meaning of the word "religious rite"
As always, you need to start at the root of the problem, namely the exact meaning of the given expression. So, a religious rite is a certain action based onmystical representation of a person about the surrounding reality.
That is, the main task of such a ritual is to strengthen the connection of the believer with his higher beginning, or God. At the same time, it does not matter at all whether such an action is carried out individually or if it is a collective event.
What is a religious ceremony?
Yet it is not enough just to know the meaning of the word. To fully understand its essence, it is necessary to look at everything from a special angle, relying on illustrative examples and arguments. That is why let's look at what a religious ceremony really is.
First, let's take finger baptism as an example, which is common among all Christians. It would seem that there is nothing mystical, the usual 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. First, the established ritual, which has not changed 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 conclude the following: any custom that combines these two points is a religious rite.
The first mystical mysteries
No one knows exactly when a person began to believe that the world is 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 reasonable way of lifeare the pattern and notches on the rocks. However, even this meager information is enough to understand what a religious rite is 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 had no idea about the laws of physics and chemistry. Therefore, it is not surprising that over the years they began to attribute to her the presence of her own will and mind.
Therefore, to answer the question: “What is a religious rite among ancient people?” will be pretty easy. 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 noticeable impact on the entire history of mankind. After all, it was thanks to the ancient sacraments that the first priests appeared - people who communicate with otherworldly forces.
Rites of the Slavs
Before the arrival of Christianity in Russia, our ancestors were pagans. They believed in the existence of many gods, forming the Slavic pantheon. So, warriors worshiped Perun, peasants worshiped Lada, and creative people worshiped Veles.
Initially, rituals were invented by ordinary people in order to somehow appease their beloved deity. A little later, the priests themselves began to select the most favorable rites and insist that this was the will of the higher mind.
It got to the point that not a single holiday or significant event could get byno religious sacrament. And the more often and systematically they were repeated, the stronger they stuck into the consciousness of people. Over the years, they became an integral part of the daily life of the Slavs and were taken by the people for granted.
For example, peasants always made a sacrifice to Lada before starting sowing. After all, if this is not done, then the goddess will not bestow her grace on the sowing, and then the harvest will be bad. The same applied to other aspects of the life of the Slavs: the birth of children, marriage, war and death. Each occasion had its own religious rite, aimed at strengthening the relationship between the deity and man.
But what about other countries and continents?
The most curious thing is that such a worldview was inherent in almost all nations and peoples. So, the Greeks believed in the gods of Olympus, the Egyptians - in the powerful god Osiris and other equally powerful creatures. And the indigenous people of Africa had so many different deities at all that there is not the slightest possibility to count them.
And they all practiced religious rites. For example, the Greeks made rich offerings to their gods in temples, and on holidays they organized festivities with a 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 ceremonies in the modern world
Despite the fact that now is the age of popularization of scientific theoriesand atheistic views, religious rites have not gone away. Moreover, some of them are so deeply rooted in the minds of people that they have become the usual norm. Let's look at the most popular ceremonies 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 from original sin. In addition, Christians believe that during baptism, God will give a person a guardian angel.
Another ancient religious rite that has survived to this day is the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. They believe that every true believer should make such a trip at least once in his life in order to show his devotion to Allah.
Loy alty bordering on fanaticism
However, not all rituals and rituals are harmless. Unfortunately, sometimes faith develops into fanaticism, and then the first victims appear. In particular, some religious rites require blood, sometimes even human. And a fanatic 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, a bloody trail from religious rites stretches from the very depths of history, now disappearing, then reappearing. What are the Christian Crusades or holy wars of Muslims against the infidels. Not to mention the fact that the ancient Aztecs sacrificed people by the hundreds, or even thousands, just to satisfythe mystical appetite of the sun god.
In this regard, it should be understood that religious rites 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 procedure for the ritual.
