LOSS OF SENSE OF SYMBOL: “One of the gravest problems of our day is the lack of commitment to common symbols… Ritual has become a bad word signifying empty conformity. We are witnessing a revolt against formalism, even against form… Shades of Luther! Shades of Reformation and its complaint against meaningless rituals, mechanical religion, Latin as the language of cult, mindless recitation of litanies.  We find ourselves, here and now, reliving a worldwide revolt against ritualism.”  M. Douglas,1970/2003, Natural symbols. London: Routledge Classics, p.1.
WHAT IS A SYMBOL?
•A Symbol is something that stands for something else.
•Some authors make a distinction between sign and symbol; others understand sign is representational (eg. green = go) and symbol is presentational (eg. the cross = suffering).
•Signs are arbitrary and functional, symbols are part of reality, evoke emotions, and are archetypal.
Eliade: Functions of Symbols
1.Symbols are capable of revealing a modality of the real or a condition of […]

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WHAT ARE MYTHS?
Myths are defined as tales believed as true, usually sacred, set in the distant past or other worlds or parts of the world, and with extra-human, inhuman, or heroic characters. William Bascom
Types of Myths:
•Origin Myths
•Hero Myths
•Myth of Fall
•Myth of “Eternal Return”
Joseph Campbell: Four Functions of myths

1.Myths elicit and support “a sense of awe before the mystery of being.” (Eliade: they mediate a religious experience).
2.They render a cosmology, an image of the universe that will support and be supported by this sense of awe ; it is different from scientific explanations.
3.Myths support the current social order, to integrate the individual organically with his group. (Eliade: myths demand a certain behaviour – Hero myths).
4.Myths initiate the individual into the order of realities of his own psyche, guiding him toward his own spiritual enrichment and realization.
Campbell, J. (1991). Occidental Mythology, pp. 519-21.
DOWNLOAD LECTURE NOTES IN PDF: 7 Phenomenology of Religious Myths

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WHAT IS A RITUAL?
“Rituals are symbolic, routine, and repetitive activities and actions through which we make connections with what we consider to be the valuable dimensions of life.” Ring et al (1998), p.73.
A religious ritual can be defined as an agreed-on and formalized pattern of ceremonial movements and verbal expressions carried out in a sacred context.  James C. Livingston
Arnold van Gennep’s (1873-1957) three phases in a rite of passage:
1. Separation: Separation or detachment of the individual or group from the previous status – often marked by a minor ritual (bath) or physical isolation, accompanied by a guide.
2. Transition (Liminality): An ambiguous phase without the old status and the new phase not yet conferred. The person is “betwixt and between” (Victor Turner). A stage of temptation and discernment!
3. Incorporation: New status is conferred and welcomed back to the community; often name is changed to mark the new identity.
STAGES OF SACRIFICIAL RITUAL:
1. Separation – a breach […]

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WHAT IS RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE:

It includes a whole range of subjective experiences in which individuals report to perceive (see, hear, feel) something out of the ordinary that is related to transcendence. 
It is often in the context of religion, but sometimes out of it; generally mediated through nature, silence and meditation.
Mystical experience’ is related to the generic religious experience, but is often within a particular religious tradition.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE ACCORDING TO WILLIAM JAMES

1. INSIGHT INTO REALITY: The religious experience gives a direct insight  into the depths of reality, which cannot be gained by pure intellec­tion.  The knowledge gained through this is real and significant.
2. UNITY: In this experience of knowing there is no subject‑object di­chotomy, but an integral undivided consciousness. As a result, the privacy of the individual self is broken into, and invaded by an universal self, which the individual feels as his own.
3. TRANSCENDENCE OF TIME & SPACE: The […]

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Drawing insights from the anthropologist Mary Douglas this lecture discusses the criteria across religious traditions that set apart the ritually pure from the impure.  Mary Douglas has carried out elaborate study on the Book of Leviticus of the Hebrew Scriptures examining the meaning of ritual purity.  ‘Anomaly’ is the key word.  For instance, body fluids (blood, feces, urine, saliva) out of the body particularly if they are still touching the body are anomalous – they are not expected to be there – hence they render the body impure.  Someone else touching the impure body would render them impure too.
There are degrees of purity: A Brahmin going to offer sacrifice in the temple is expected to possess the highest status of purity as compared to when he is at home not on duty at the temple. For instance, not to have sex before the worship.   However, even at home he […]

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