Word: ritualization
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...this coming-of-age rite for all regular church members occurs only in temples that are strictly off limits to nonbelievers, and initiates vow to die rather than reveal details of the ceremony. Despite the secrecy shroud, news has leaked that Mormon officials last month instituted the most sweeping ritual changes in a century...
...endowment has been altered over the decades, most notably by eliminating the oath to avenge church prophets and blood-curdling secrecy vows ("We agree that our throats be cut from ear to ear"). Ritual secrets are believed to let a Mormon pass into the highest levels of heaven. After performing the rite for themselves, Mormons may repeat it over and over for the vicarious benefit of dead relatives. But by some accounts, the number performing such "temple work" has been falling off. A briefer, modernized ritual could help reverse that trend. Says Mormon author Allen Roberts: "The ceremony is less...
...spectrum of motives and responses. An honest copy becomes a fake when the context of desire is switched. There are Egyptian statues from the 7th century B.C. that deliberately copy the archaic style of Old Kingdom figures done nearly two millenniums before. Chinese craftsmen in the Sung dynasty made ritual bronze vessels almost indistinguishable from those of the Shang period, 2,100 years earlier. Roman sculptors in the 2nd century A.D. made versions of 5th century B.C. Greek prototypes, and from then on, there would be an immense industry in the copying, overrestoration and outright forgery of everything antique -- marbles...
...become an annual ritual on the tranquil lakes of northern Wisconsin. As the sun sets behind the dense pines that surround Lake Nokomis, tribal drumbeats signal the start of the Chippewa spearfishing season. While the Indians steer their boats into the calm, dark waters, angry protesters try to drown out the drums with air horns, whistles and taunting choruses of songs with such lyrics as "Where have all the walleye gone...
Bungee jumping is based on an age-old ritual practiced by the "land divers" of Pentecost Island in the South Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu. Every spring villagers there collect liana vines and wind them into long cords. Young men then scale high wooden towers, lash the vines around their ankles and jump. A successful leap is considered a demonstration of courage -- and a harbinger of a plentiful yam harvest...