Applied literally, a magic ceremony.

Applied more widely, to habits more readily than instincts, I'd have thought, anything it's amusing to compare with a magic ceremony.

My own thoughts:

Ritual: it depends on religious and sacred practices during centuries. Their cause is profess a doctrine which can pass through generations.
For example: when Islam prayers go to the Mecca during the Hajj pilgrimage.

Habit: it comes from experience and doesn't depend on religious or pagan doctrines but life actions. Habits can help us to elaborate a progress in our lives to do it better.
For example: the habit of having a healthy diet to keep a balanced body or weight.

One obtains a birth certificate for a baby by means of a ritual of 'registration', which ritual confers the status of citizenship on the infant. Rituals are typically social enactments that change status and relationships.

The comparison I would make is not with ordinary habits as such, but with obsessions. Such private enactments never quite attain the status of ritual, but obsessions come closest to being enactments that are intended to change, or at least maintain some relation to the world.

One might reasonably claim that rituals are social obsessions. How many times does one have to declare ones nationality, marital status, age, and so on? The social obsession that amounts to a religion is with money. Every interaction, almost, is associated with a money ritual, that gives it extra significance and legitimacy. Without the money ritual, shopping is theft.

What about non-religious ‘rituals’?

Thank you for some well presented clear examples.

I would be very interested to hear how you equate these with ‘habits’ and ‘instincts’. Does one act as the seed of the others? Are they all effectively the same animal? That kinda thang. :)

I think instincts are rather limited in humans to things like fear of heights, startle reactions, smiling, suckling, babbling, and a few more. They would act as a foundational repertoire of behaviours subject to modification and extension by learning.

Habits cover a huge range of stuff, bound up with what we might call 'knowledge' - reading and writing are learned and habitual, to the point of becoming unconscious and automatic - and of course they are socially imparted and given their meaning. But I suspect interpreting these marks on the screen the we way do, is not something either of us would really think of as a habit? Let alone a ritual?

But I'm not altogether clear why not. Perhaps it is that I think of ritual as a sort of language of its own, that one learns the meaning of by being embedded in a social world. One is taught to say 'please' and 'thank you' in the appropriate situations, and that is a verbal ritual and a habit, just like saying grace at mealtimes.

There seems to be a layering here, where the habitual becomes the medium of the creative at a new level, but I'm interested to hear your thoughts, because your questions are making me wonder whether there is really as much consistency in this as I thought ...

I see a ritual as a symbolic gesture.

Often its an outer appearance meant to convince you of an inner essence.

It has some parallels with magic tricks, as both are dealing with convincing appearances, but magic tries to convince you of literal occurrences while rituals try to convince you of inner essences.

I think when there is an essence, the outer symbolic gesture is often unnecessary.

Sometimes rituals/ceremonies can work like placebos / self fulfilling prophecies.

What about non-religious ‘rituals’? — I like sushi

True. But I don't know any example of them.

Erving Goffman in the 60's to 80's wrote about talk and conversation as ritual. Indeed one of the books of essays is called 'Interactive ritual'. Although notionally a sociologist, I think he has lots of good clear things to say about the norms of talk and how they are ritualised.

True. But I don't know any example of them. — javi2541997

Marriage ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, inauguration ceremonies, award ceremonies, funeral traditions, birthday and holiday rituals. Pledging allegiance to the flag. Customs? "Blood brother" blood sharing and pinky swears. Hand shaking and high fives.

From Dictionary.com
Instinct: an inborn pattern of activity or tendency to action common to a given biological species.

Habits are actions that have been repeated so often that they become ingrained in the unconscious which are performed without conscious thought.

From Merriam-Webster:
Ritual: an act or series of acts regularly repeated in a set precise manner

The ultimate root for acts of ritual are as a way to relieve anxiety:
This can be seen most directly in an individual with OCD. Performing the acts results in the alleviation of their anxiety. The acts typically become increasing elaborate if the efficacy of the ritual is not consistent.

Religious rituals are typically much more elaborate performances that are codified for a culture:
An ancient culture performs a series of acts to ensure a good harvest. They can rest assured.

Modern day rituals were born of the same root:
Eucharist/holy communion as an assurance of good standing with God.
Wedding rituals as an assurance of a successful marriage.

So I went down the Google rabbit hole on this one a bit, and I found that this question is a major topic in anthropology.

See, for example https://journalofchinesesociology.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40711-018-0073-x

One obtains a birth certificate for a baby by means of a ritual of 'registration', which ritual confers the status of citizenship on the infant. Rituals are typically social enactments that change status and relationships. — unenlightened

In my limited research limited to the past 15 or so minutes, this seems an over expansion of the ritual concept into the secular. The definition of ritual is:

"A religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order."

What I take this to mean is that a ritual is not any performative act (like decreeing and conferring citizenship upon completion of an act), but it's more, which suggests a mystical and metaphysical change (as opposed to just a socially recognized change) in the individual from the act. So if I must drink of the lion's blood or run the gauntlet before being declared a man, that is only a "ritual" if one believes it imparts something from the gods and changes the individual, as opposed to it just being a procedural requirement, like submitting the form in triplicate with a $5 fee.

I do suspect that as we philosophize on the terms, we might make them more abstract and elusive, but I would think the actual social sciences that explore these issues prescribe less mutable definitions to their terms for their purposes.

Of course should my research double to 30 minutes, my views may change

Marriage ceremonies, graduation ceremonies, inauguration ceremonies, award ceremonies, funeral traditions, birthday and holiday rituals

All of these examples were always been religious rituals... (except award ceremonies, good example).

religious or solemn... — Hanover

Registering a birth is fairly solemn, conferring nationality and name; I think it would be a serious mistake to imagine that ritual is something we moderns have grown out of because we are not religious. clearly we do things that serve the same functions to do with birth marriage and death and many other things, that were the province of religious organisation and are now governmental. Baptism is a naming ritual and changing one's name by deed poll is not? That is arbitrary to the point of special pleading. Likewise a civil union has the same transformative effect on the social status of a relationship as a religious ceremony, the declarations of both parties freely made and un-coerced are required - there is a tendency to regard ritual as other people's mumbo jumbo, while our arrangements to do the same thing are entirely sensible and rational.

Fear of death (instinct).
Always wearing a seat belt (habit).
Touching your lucky shirt 3 times every time before you get in your car (ritual).

Well, this is a topic that has had my attention on an doff for decades. It is (as was pointed out above) a major question in anthropology.

One approach I like to take is to view concepts and ideas as items expressing human nature (as primarily temporal beings). By this garbled language I simply mean I find it interesting to view Instinct, Habit and Ritual on a temporal basis.

Instinct has no ‘temporal’ basis as it is not a conscious item for, nor a key feature of, conscious awareness in our ability to segment time.

Habit is something that is of an idealised nature and sets into motion goals that parallel Instincts and/or veer away from them based on wants and needs.

Ritual … I actually think the term is more or less a group of quite varied items.

As stands I have these five items.

1) Perception : Visualising
2) Thought : Articulating
3) Realisation : Acting Out
4) Reversal : Analysing
5) Development : Inventing

The danger going down this road is starting to refer to literally everything as a “ritual” just like some state that “everything is art!” Or some such nonsense. The difference here being I do not see “rituals” as perspectives one can hold to (like one can view the world through the lens of Art) but as something that absconds from any lens gazing in favour of developing an abstract world.

I am not sure that “rituals” need to have a set purpose either. Maybe it is that some forms of “rituals” are more about exploring purpose and/or imbuing purpose by selecting some segment of time and addressing it by Visualising, Articulating, Acting Out, Analysing or Inventing.

A lot of this does tie into several other areas but I think that is a broad enough outline of my thoughts on “ritual” for now.

I have noticed plenty of people declaring something as a ‘ritual’ yet declaring this does not really pin point what differentiates a ritual from other things. I think it is not merely a superstitious behaviour nor has to possess any hint of superstition to it either.

I have been working on a piece about human ‘Ritual’ and wondered how others define, distinguish and explore what ‘Rituals’ are?
For a common set of related terms how do you compare and contrast ‘Ritual’ with ‘Habit’ and ‘Instinct’? — I like sushi

Most interesting set of questions and responses.
I haven't given the topic of 'ritual' much thought, never mind comparing and contrasting with 'habit' and 'instinct'.
So guess what my initial reaction or instinct was? Something along the lines of:
Help, I don't know...I might have an opinion but how valuable would that be?
I needed to fill what I considered to be a gap in my knowledge.
Rather than pause, reflect and explore, I have developed the unsavoury habit of googling, especially for definitions.
Why? Was it to enlighten myself or others? A desire to participate in a TPF ritual?

However, others have beaten me to it!
One post which caught my eye, thanks @mcdoodle. Long time no see!

Erving Goffman in the 60's to 80's wrote about talk and conversation as ritual. Indeed one of the books of essays is called 'Interactive ritual'. Although notionally a sociologist, I think he has lots of good clear things to say about the norms of talk and how they are ritualised. — mcdoodle

How we interact even within this thread - why might some posts be considered more valuable than others. Why might we ignore any uncomfortable, challenging views or those perceived as irrelevant?

So, I did as is my habit and googled the terms 'Goffman' and 'Interactive Ritual':


***

Basically, all of the terms you wish to explore concern social interaction in everyday life.

From the link provided by @Hanover

In some ethnic groups that see childbirth as a normal behavior, “the pattern will be transposed to the rites of childhood, or it may be included in the rites of betrothal and marriage”(van Gennep 1960, 193). Such a statement cannot be made without doubt. If the rite of passage is a ritual structure, how can it be discussed as a childhood, engagement, or wedding rite? It is clear that van Gennep was talking about a mixture of ritual structure and ritual purposes, and the “process pattern” in his text is not just a kind of abstract structure. We should forgive van Gennep since at the beginning of anthropology this type of defect was almost unavoidable. However, the question remains: what is the relationship between ritual, rite of passage, and social relations? — Journal of Chinese Sociology

The patterns of living, thought and action can vary according to culture and context.
If we were brought up with the Sunday dinner ritual of roast beef, then we might find it difficult to change our values and habits re ethical diet and food. We can be uncomfortable at barbecues, as per Goffman video. It can affect our relationships with others.

Of course, it all depends on your perspective on what a 'ritual' is.
I think all of the terms have a common denominator, in that there is a lack of thought - they are automatic.
What might be considered is the degree of harm or hurt involved in their practice.
Do they help or hinder individual or collective progress? Both?
Degrees and flexibility of purpose. The pros and cons of clear thinking v non-thinking process.
The possibilities and ways of change...

This thread is a waste of time. Consult a dictionary Sushi.
You leave me no choice but to put you in my Bad Box for 1 month. I will not respond in any of your threads until you have served our your sentence.

I am a bit suspicious of calling every social interaction a ‘ritual’ for the reason I mentioned above (ie. Viewing everything as ‘Art’). I think that is just a lens we can use whereas a ‘ritual’ is not really about viewing the world.

The comeback then would be are all social interactions a ‘lenses’ for viewing the world? Is it a ‘ritual’ when I meet someone? Is shaking hands a ‘ritual’? Is a cultural custom (like hand shaking) the same thing as a ‘ritual’?

I am not convinced ‘customs’ are the same thing as rituals. For instance, the most common signal people give around the world to someone is more or less an instinct - it that common! Just curious if anyone actually knows what it is … it is that common it is probably not something that springs to mind, something we do unconsciously.

Is a Sunday Roast necessarily a ‘ritual’ or a cultural custom? Can a cultural custom be a ritual on some level as well? I see no reason why any act cannot be a “ritual” but not every act is … what is it that makes a “ritual” a “ritual” rather thanjust some episode in time. I would say I am getting closer by looking away from mere ‘lenses’ and ‘perspectives’ referring to lived world. By this I mean a “ritual” must be some item ‘set apart from’ the world in some manner.

I would say I am getting closer by looking away from mere ‘lenses’ and ‘perspectives’ referring to lived world. By this I mean a “ritual” must be some item ‘set apart from’ the world in some manner. — I like sushi

Here's to a clean lens, clear vision, close reading and real reflection!

I am a bit suspicious of calling every social interaction a ‘ritual’ for the reason I mentioned above (ie. Viewing everything as ‘Art’). I think that is just a lens we can use whereas a ‘ritual’ is not really about viewing the world. — I like sushi

I don’t think that you can get away with dispensing the lens view simply because a ritual may be deeply meaningful to one participant and completely meaningless to another participant. Maybe that’s what distinguishes a ritual from a shared activity, the depth of meaning it invokes.

I would still maintain that a ‘ritual’ is not about viewing the world. I would also say that it is possible for it to be shared.

Can’t someone just go through the motions of a ritual and another participant, in the same ritual, have a deeply meaningful experience?

And to be clear, I think a ritual may necessarily be social in nature.

Of course different people can be more absorbed in some ritual than others. Take the Sunday Roast. Some may just take it as a meal, whilst another will focus deeply on the experience and actions involved and imbue meaning/purpose on the social gathering.

Need a ritual be social? Absolutely not. I can concoct and perform some ritual personal to me that no one else need ever know about.

When I say rituals are not ‘lenses’ I mean they are not aimed at viewing the environment in some way or another. This is not to say they can or cannot be carried out with other people.

In short I class a ritual as something disassociated from the weltanschauung. A ceremony would be something that had passed over from ritual into the social sphere I image.

And to be clear, I think a ritual may necessarily be social in nature.

Not necessarily. Seppuku was a samurai ritual used when someone committed a big act of dishonour or disrespect. The act itself was accomplished in the pure loneliness. Most of the people found out what happened whenever they discovered the corpse.

There's an old tradition of thinking of society as 'the Great Man'. It's out of fashion, but it has some merit.

1) Perception : Visualising
2) Thought : Articulating
3) Realisation : Acting Out
4) Reversal : Analysing
5) Development : Inventing — I like sushi

One might extend your items from the individual to society, or at least look for analogical processes.
As I started to hint earlier, there is at least an aspect of ritual that is to do with communication. If society is the Great Man, ritual is his nervous system.

At the moment I am being bombarded with ritual to do with the death of the queen and accession of the new king. Every cell in the Great Man's body has to be informed and make an adjustment, rather like an individual adjusting to a new home or job. Even the national anthem has changed!

I go back to my earlier idea of ritual as obsession. It catches the pejorative sense of the word rather well: "We have traditions, you have customs, they have rituals." The Great Man has healthy habits, we hope, that lead to a well functioning society, -tradition is maintained when it has a function, and dropped when it no longer has one. Or, in an unhealthy society, traditions are maintained when they do not serve any useful function, like an obsessive, they no longer contribute to an ordered society, but to disorder, and we are talking now about 'empty ritual' that has no meaning, that it might have once had, equivalent to the obsessive thoughts that prevent an individual from thinking straight.

Seppuku was a samurai ritual used when someone committed a big act of dishonour or disrespect. The act itself was accomplished in the pure loneliness — javi2541997

Not that alone.
Wiki tells us more:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

Even when such an act is performed, it's part of a socio-cultural code.
It is telling a story. In this case, the Japanese ritual is mainly about restoring honour for themselves and their families. But there are more aspects or approaches to explore...
https://www.britannica.com/topic/ritual

Arguably, there is a 'social interaction' in the sense of how individuals act and react towards each other; functioning within a given social order or structure. Individual and collective minds and behaviour are influenced in at least a 2-way process.

I am agree with you about kaishakunin. In most of the rituals this specific person helped the samurai to perform the ritual without pain. But kaishakunin would not be in all the rituals. They only appeared when the samurai asked for his help.
A good example is Oda Nobunaga. He committed seppuku in the loneliness when he perceived that his samurai clan was been destroying.

Even when such an act is performed, it's part of a socio-cultural code.
It is telling a story. In this case, the Japanese ritual is mainly about restoring honour for themselves and their families. But there are more aspects or approaches to explore... — Amity

Completely agree. But what I intended to argue is that seppuku doesn't need "cooperation" to be performed. It is not like... a Christmas dinner for example. Where is the clue of a Christmas dinner if you're alone in your house? (Or in a birthday party)
Well seppuku is different. The social-cultural code can be committed without the implications of others.

Need a ritual be social? Absolutely not. I can concoct and perform some ritual personal to me that no one else need ever know about. — I like sushi

Interesting but questions then arise as to why you would want to do that.
What, where and how often. [*]
The elements involved in a ritual can relate to your physical, mental or spiritual health.
Fine in itself but isn't it also a way to connect?
Perhaps to be 'present' to 'something' or 'someone'; even your other 'selves'?
Doesn't it form a story or an inner/outer dialogue?
No man is an island...we are multi-dimensional beings.

No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as any manner of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
[ ... ]
Of all of John Donne’s quotes – from his sermons and poetry, “No man is an island” stands apart as the most perfect expression of an individual’s position in relation to society. — No man Is An Island - Meaning and Context

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[ * ]

Personal rituals can take many forms, from simple to elaborate, spiritual to mundane. They don’t have to be fancy or take too long. They only need to be done regularly, full of meaning, and have set intentions...
[ ... ] In every ritual, the steps involved are very much the same: geometry, structure, rhythm, and intent.
[ ... ] The purpose behind your ritual directs your ritual fulfillment. What emotional quality do you want to focus on right now? The possibilities are numerous: opening your heart, grounding, connecting to someone or something, completion, healing, asking for help, gratitude, praise, a blessing, purification, self-reflection, linking with a higher power.
The power of ritual isn’t mindless movement. It’s a focusing technique to systematically give you an anchor point within. — bijab - wellness blog

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As previous comment, if you are someone drawn to 'ritual', then there can be dangers of disorder:

Or, in an unhealthy society, traditions are maintained when they do not serve any useful function, like an obsessive, they no longer contribute to an ordered society, but to disorder, and we are talking now about 'empty ritual' that has no meaning, that it might have once had, equivalent to the obsessive thoughts that prevent an individual from thinking straight. — unenlightened

How many rituals (personal or collective) become 'empty' or harmful without us realising it?

Well seppuku is different. The social-cultural code can be committed without the implications of others. — javi2541997

You mean seppuku can be committed alone. That I understood as obvious.
For the individual it is clearly and hopefully a one-off act; it is only a ritual in the socio-cultural sense.
I was looking at the broader framework; it is/was a Japanese Ritual and then some.

In popular culture:

The expected honor-suicide of the samurai wife is frequently referenced in Japanese literature and film, such as in Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa, Humanity and Paper Balloons,[32] and Rashomon.[33] Seppuku is referenced and described multiple times in the 1975 James Clavell novel, Shōgun; its subsequent 1980 miniseries Shōgun brought the term and the concept to mainstream Western attention. [ ... ]

In the 2022 dark fantasy action role-playing video game Elden Ring, the player can receive the ability seppuku, which has the player stab themselves through the stomach and then pull it out, coating their weapon in blood to increase their damage. — Wiki - Seppuku

I find the idea and practice of seppuku, honour suicides and killings disturbing to say the least.
To think it has survived in fantasy role-playing...

And in modern life within certain religions:

There are estimated to be 12 to 15 so-called “honour” killings in Britain every year. Notorious cases include Banaz Mahmod, whose father, uncle and other relatives plotted to murder her after she left an allegedly abusive marriage and fell in love with another man; and Samia Shahid, from Bradford, who was killed on a trip to Pakistan. Shahid’s ex-husband and father were arrested in Pakistan in connection with her death but her father died while on bail and nobody has stood trial. — Guardian - 'Honour-based' offences

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/31/honour-based-offences-soared-by-81-in-last-five-years

The discussion holds more fascination than I thought it would.
Thanks :sparkle: