Word: rituals
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...succeeded to the throne on the death of his father, King Mahendra, in January 1972 but has waited for more than three years for the "most suspicious" moment, as determined by the royal astrologers, to be crowned. The ceremony, which will take place today, is largely a symbolic religious ritual. After the king is bathed with butter from a gold jar, mud from a silver jug, honey from an earthen jug and waters from eight rivers that cleanse the body according to Hindu beliefs, he is then annointed with several clays including mud from a mountaintop and dust from elephant...
...helpless against rebound shots. Parent's approach, copied from his idol and teacher, Stand-Up Master Jacques Plante, requires more finesse but provides far tighter defense against rebounds. When attackers start to charge his net at speeds revving up to 30 m.p.h., Parent begins a familiar ritual: he knocks his stick on his skates, moves a few feet up ice to the edge of the "goal crease," reaches back to tap the top of his stick and the end of his glove against the steel goalposts to get his bearings, drops to a crouch, and challenges the shooter...
...prepares carefully for every game with a psyching-up ritual that begins on the eve of the game. Before home games he sits alone in the family room for more than an hour under a miniature replica of the Stanley Cup, thinking about opposition players and the moves he may have to make to block their shots. Then after half a dozen or so beers, he retires for eight hours of sleep. On the day of the game, he enjoys a steak for lunch and then returns to sleep. He likes the family German shepherd Tinker Bell to nap with...
...Delilah pale by comparison to female fireflies of the genus Photuris. Like other fireflies, these nocturnal, winged beetles send out short, rhythmic flashes of light as part of a special signal system that attracts males of the same species. The female Photuris practices a deadly variation of this ritual. It modifies its signal to mimic the flash pattern of different species of fireflies and thus lures unsuspecting males. Once they are in reach, the female devours them...
...volumes of short stories and as many books of essays. He was Japan's literary exotic, sometimes mentioned for the Nobel Prize-a slick self-promoter and deliberately flashy vulgarian who redeemed his excesses with a gift that sometimes approached genius. In November 1970 he committed his famous ritual suicide (seppuku) after attempting to incite the Japanese army to a ridiculous uprising in behalf of the country's imperialistic traditions...