The Roles of Rituals in Guests of the Sheik by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea

Rituals marked important sites for the creation of gender identity. Ritual activities provided the stage settings for women and men to carry out socially appropriate behaviors marking key points along the moving edge of their life course. In the process, rituals posited a set of gender expectations that were complicated by the realities of everyday life, for ritual practices embodying definitions of masculinity and femininity were alive to other variables such as age, class, personal circumstances, or changing political relationships. Men and women constructed both each other’s honor and gender identity by means of a complicated ‘network of oppositions and dependencies’. Shows a view of gender constructs alongside the practical relationships and tasks that bound men and women together.

In Eliade’s The Sacred and the Profane, he accentuates the inevitable distinction between the sacred and profane.This develops when an individual tries to establish himself in his world and acknowledges his own individuality of the worldly and physical spaces he takes up. Chaos seems to be in the areas where the profane governs and there are no principles in a profane universe. The idea of the sacred comes from knowledge itself. The brahmanas defines religion and human existence with the sacredness embedded in water which brings forth life.

The writings of various ethnographers and anthropologists are intended to inform and educate the reader by imparting awareness and understanding of unexplored cultures. The value of such a work is directly related to the author’s familiarity with the culture. For instance, an individual intimately acquainted with a situation have different insights, but also different biases than an outsider. Elizabeth Fernea’s work "Guests of the Sheik" is a combination of the two perspectives. It documents her immersion into the society and culture of El Nahra, a village in Iraq, during the first two years of her marriage to Bob, an

“An Arab is defined as an individual who was born in an Arab country, speaks the Arabic language, and shares the beliefs of an Arab culture” (Kridli 2002). Many Arabs are very religious and typically practice either Muslim or Christianity. There are 22 countries that make up the ‘Arab world’ they are located in the Middle East and Northern Africa. Did you know that there are about two hundred thousand Arab Americans living in Erie, PA? There has been a great influx in the past decade of Arab Americans coming to and living in Erie County, PA. Since the area is becoming more diverse, it is necessary for nurses to better their communication to enhance the patients’ experience. As a nurse, it is important

This Essay will unpack and argue the pilgrimages of Hajj in Islam and the World Youth Day pilgrimage. These pilgrims are seen as profound statements of faith. As the essay develops, the author will articulate sophisticated language, proving and validating that both pilgrimages are full of rich symbolism, ceremony and rituals, prayer and reflection. Additionally, the author will posit the important history of each pilgrimage and the significance of the pilgrim to their respective faith communities. Finally, valid and credible research is used throughout the argumentative essay.

I also asked the witches about the last time they performed a ritual. The first witch performed a ritual quite recently in support of the witch who introduced her to Paganism. Not only does this witch have lupus; her husband was very ill and had been hospitalized. The informant performed a healing ritual on their behalf. She described her altar, which she adorned with healing objects, such as blue and white candles to promote healing and protection, amethyst crystals for healing, quartz crystals for protection, and different incenses to aid healing and protection. She also placed a photo of her friend and her friend’s husband on the altar so that she may “be in tune with their souls” so she could send her spell to them directly. During the ritual, she recited her healing chant and meditated to help focus her energy on her spell.

1. One of the first rituals that pilgrims must do in order to begin the pilgrimage is to wear the Ihram which is the traditional clothing worn during the Hajj. According to the video, men have to wear two white sheets to cover their bodies. One sheet is draped over the shoulder while the other is secured at the waist with a belt. However, women do not have a traditional garment, but they must dress modestly while covering all of their head. The main objective of wearing the Ihram is to make everyone appear the same because to God there is no difference between a wealthy and poor when they are dressed in the same garments. Also, there are certain behaviors that the pilgrims are expected and forbidden to do once they put on the ihram.

A ritual is an established procedure or ceremony for a Religious purpose or another rite which consists of numerous actions that are performed in an ordered manner. The Lourdes Pilgrimage is a major pilgrimage site for Catholics. The main reason behind the journeys to this Pilgrimage is that in the year 1858, a 14 year old girl by the name of Bernadette Soubirous, said that she had encountered 18 visits with the Virgin Mary on February 11, marking a day of importance where every year, thousands visit. (Rome Reports in English, 2012) Bernadette stated that her visions of Mary occurred when she was out collecting wood at Massabielle with her sister and a friend. As they were collecting wood, they came upon a river where her sister and her friend

Another common that Christianity and Islam has that they believe that those people who have purified themselves can come before God. However, accomplishing the ritual purity is not the same in both religions. In Islam, men become unclean if they touch alcohol and pork meat while women become impure by either menstruation or giving birth. However, Ritual purity in Islam is accomplished by washing with water, and that helps in strengthening the faith and purifying Muslims.

Most often when the word ritual comes to mind, you immediately associate the term with religion or spirituality. Richard Schechner, a well known founder of studies in performances, talks about in his book “Professional Studies” that ritual is an action that is performed mainly for the purpose of traditional value. Schechner throughout his book reveals images of religious rituals from all over the world from different time periods. He informs us that we obtained many of our ideas of ritual from cave art that has remained over the years. Evidence in these caves consisted of many performances. Ideas such as music, theatre, and dance are behaviors that were introduced from these paintings and varied from place to place. The long lasting cave art

Our world is filled with a variety of different religions yet they all share common characteristics. They have some sort of history, or myth, which is often told as a story. They tend to develop doctrines, which are basically a set of principles that guide people’s actions. All religions have a wide variety of rituals, in which are practiced in their specific sacred place. Many different emotions are associated with religious experiences. Also, religion contains ethics, or morals, which offer a code of conduct for their followers to live through (Robson, 12-15). Although there are many differences between the diverse religions of the world, the similarities seem to be more apparent. One subject that seems to be underrepresented in the study of religion is the involvement of women and the roles that they play. “…there is much value in examining how women are perceived and treated in different traditions” (Anderson, xii).

Jon Mitchell and Hildi Mitchell use this view of ritual to describe what goes on in Catholic Church’s when children receive First Communion. The Mitchell’s cited Laurence Hérault’s observations of First Communion practices in rural France. Hérault describes how participants must walk in a certain way and use the prescribed words or actions at the correct time (Mitchell 86). The emphasis is placed on doing external things in the correct way, so that reverence can be maintained. According to Hérault, it is though doing the reverent actions that the participants learn what to belief (Mitchell 86). The children receiving First Communion learn come to realize the importance of transubstantiation through kneeling, bowing, not biting into the host, walking in a solemn manner, and all other regulations on their actions during the ritual. Doing the actions every time the ritual occurs reinforces the belief. In this way of thinking rituals are preforming external actions that bring about an internal

Pilgrims come from many different parts of Middle East, but it stretches out as farther to the other continents of the world to Asia, Africa, Europe, North and South America and Australia, and by no surprise, different cultural diversities are present during this annual pilgrimage. As acclaimed by Michael Wolfe, One Thousand Roads to Mecca: Ten Centuries of Travelers Writing about the Muslim Pilgrimage (New York: Grove, 1997), 22–23. “and the people shall observe Hajj pilgrimage . . . they will come to you from the farthest location.” (Wolfe 230). Whether they are kings, rich people, professionals, or poor all those differences are disregarded to convey unity and equality among other pilgrims. After successfully performing the pilgrimage Hajj,

When it comes down to it, Wicca is not about rites and ritual. What you will find here, is the basic ground work. It’s still up to you to decide if this is the path that you want to take.

Eid has for a long time defined Muslim customs, being among the most popular annual festivals marked within the religion. Both Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha are significant events during which Muslims show thankfulness to Allah. A rich history defines the festival; hence all Muslims take pride in commemorating it every year. As part of the Islamic culture, different Muslims have different ways of commemorating the festival, hence its celebration differs from region to region. However, the central idea of cleanliness and goodwill guides Muslims worldwide so that they have a positive impact on society during the festival. This essay will provide a detailed account of Eid celebrations ranging from its history to the rituals associated with the festival, as well as changes in its commemoration as a result of changes in technology. First hand experience will be used with research information from scholarly articles and books towards providing a plausible written depiction of the event.