Ritual and the brain

[Shelter]

When my husband was in the US Air Force, he mentioned that some returning soldiers were going to the desert to do a ritual to transition back to life on the base. I think it involved burning some stuff and/or scattering it to symbolically transition from deployment to normal life. He said it seems the transition requires a physical action which makes it real in your mind.

Is creating a state of mind/changing something in the brain the primary purpose of religious rituals? If someone does a ritual and it doesn’t have any effect on their state of mind, did they accomplish anything? Are there states of mind that can only be created through ritual (in other words, you couldn’t imagine yourself there without doing some kind of physical action)?

Further reading:

Why Rituals Work

How Rituals Alter the Brain to Help Us Perform Better

How PTSD treatment can learn from ancient warrior rituals

Child Soldiers in Africa

 

[Brickjectivity]

When my husband was in the US Air Force, he mentioned that some returning soldiers were going to the desert to do a ritual to transition back to life on the base. I think it involved burning some stuff and/or scattering it to symbolically transition from deployment to normal life. He said it seems the transition requires a physical action which makes it real in your mind.

Is creating a state of mind/changing something in the brain the primary purpose of religious rituals? If someone does a ritual and it doesn’t have any effect on their state of mind, did they accomplish anything? Are there states of mind that can only be created through ritual (in other words, you couldn’t imagine yourself there without doing some kind of physical action)?

Further reading:

Why Rituals Work

How Rituals Alter the Brain to Help Us Perform Better

How PTSD treatment can learn from ancient warrior rituals

Child Soldiers in Africa

Reading things together out loud helps you to memorize them. I can tell you that from experience. Pick something that you want to memorize and read it together with a room full of people. Do this several times on different days. You will remember it for life.

 

[sun rise]

Is creating a state of mind/changing something in the brain the primary purpose of religious rituals? If someone does a ritual and it doesn’t have any effect on their state of mind, did they accomplish anything?

To me if someone puts his heart and soul into a ritual, it will have an effect even if it's subtle. Superficially done rituals don't really change anything although superficiality might lead to deep involvement which would have an effect.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

while many cultures do have rituals for life transitions, most of America does not. Rites of passage and rituals of preparation and purification are not commonly practiced here, and are often not recognized outside of the particular subculture or community in which they are practiced.

I've always thought people would do better if they had some sort of rituals. When I got laid off some years back along with a couple of other people, we had a party at a bar...that certainly helped.

 

[Shelter]

Reading things together out loud helps you to memorize them. I can tell you that from experience. Pick something that you want to memorize and read it together with a room full of people. Do this several times on different days. You will remember it for life.

Interesting- I might try that.

Is there something about doing this with a group of people instead of alone that makes it especially effective?

 

[Brickjectivity]

Interesting- I might try that.

Is there something about doing this with a group of people instead of alone that makes it especially effective?

I do not know, but I learned a psalm this way. The difficulty lies in finding other people willing to participate.