Hidden Rituals Right in Front of My Face

Ritual - the word makes me think of smoldering sacrifices, incense, and bells... people on mystic islands doing things with dead birds and their entrails. But what about here and now? What do we all do that we don't even realize that we do every day? Quick, pretend you are brushing your teeth; do you always start in the same place? always proceed in the same direction? Most of us do. What ELSE do you do that might look like automatic pilot but is secretly one of your day-to-day rituals?
What do you "always" do when you:

• get into your car
• leave your home, apartment, or room
• go on a date or out to be with friends
• clean up your space
• take a shower

Where does "luck" and "superstition" come into it? Why do we do these things? Would we be weirded out if one day we did them differently? Do we sometimes even go back and redo them "correctly"? It all makes me wonder how many of these little "rituals" we would notice if we really looked.

A Ritual of Mine

Nowadays I don't do anything too ritualistic (if I do these decisions are made subconsciously). I'm just a go-with-the-flow kind of guy and I don't really do anything out of my way ritualistically to make myself feel better.
However I do remember when I was about 4 years old and stole pieces of dog food from my dog. I would place a single piece of this food into the red couch in my family room and wait a minute for the dog food to "cook" like it was in a microwave. I believed the couch imbued the food with special powers that made my life better. Then I would eat the dog food and go about my day. This ritual happened almost on a weekly basis and I don't know why. To this day I still know what that dog food tasted like.

Rituals/Good Luck

I do not consider any of my daily acts to be ritualistic but I do have a few constant behaviors that I connect good luck with. One odd behavior that was introduced to me by a friend a few years ago is whenever I drive through a yellow light, I tap the ceiling. This action is supposed to prevent me from getting pulled over, getting in an accident and even bring me good luck. I continue this action because nothing bad has happened in the past after doing it. Another good luck behavior I have is when I find a penny heads up on the ground I always pick it up and put it in my shoe, this action is also supposed to bring good luck. I conciously know these actions do not truly help bring good luck but I execute them because I always have.

Rituals

Well when asked if I have any rituals I take a strong look into my religious views because this is where many of these would show up.I do celebrate lent,but I do not give anything up like I used to be lcause my life is so hectic I often forget. On a day-to-day basis I have the ritual of checking my blood sugar.

I classify this as a ritual because I do it everyday and it is something that is close to me and a part of my lifestyle that I can live without. Other than this I really don't see any thing else being a ritual I have.

Rituals

I don't believe that there is anything i do in my life consistantly or ritualistically, aside from the everyday basic routine. However, i do have a certain security blanket that i often wrap myself in when feeling the need to escape. I often draw for pleasure in order to feel as though i'm actually accomplishing something. It's a great feeling to sit down with a blank piece of paper and a pen and create whatever i desire. Art is a way for me to escape from the noise and chaos that is everyday by centering myself around one object and having that object hold my complete attention for a period of time. When im drawing i don't need to talk, or listen. It isn't even really necessary to think. Being able to sit, relax, and rest the mind is a great thing, but when an end product results in such activity, it makes one feel even more at ease. I usually take between 30 minutes and 3 hours a day on my art, creating a portfolio to, hopefully, someday, frame and sell. The only consequence for my daily art time is the just that. It takes time, and i can often get so caught up in drawing that time goes by faster than expected, leaving little time left for homework or other things that should probably come first.

Rituals

There are a number of different rituals that I can remember having as a kid, but none of which seemed as important as some rituals I had on some of the teams I was on in high school. In hockey, we would all align ourselves in numerical order on the blue line for the national anthem. In soccer, we would listen to the same warm up c-d as we did our pare-game warm ups. We would huddle up on the field right before the game started to just get ourselves ready. These are just things that I have gotten to share with my friends and teammates over the years. It is a way to bond and come together as a team. We wouldn't have to question one another as to when we do this or that. Everyone was on the same page, and its a great feeling and experience to share with your friends.

Ritual

I don't really have any rituals that i do on a day to day basis. As a kid i did. I used to always wake up and sit on the floor and look at myself in the mirror and say " I am going to live my life to the fullest today". I'm not exactly sure how i started that, or how it ended, but it did. As of today i don't think i do anything special in my day, but it is all possible.

Rituals and Lucky Habits

I'm Jewish, so I fast every year for Yom Kippur, but I understand the reasons for it. I feel good after spending the day cleansing myself. I also observe Passover and watch what I eat that week. I consider that an homage to my ancestors.

But one thing I don't understand is what I call my "Lucky Habit" I consider it luck, not divine intervention, because the habit involves me replacing God with the fictional object of my affection. Some consider me obsessive, but it's the only religion I have that wasn't shoved down my throat from age three. It's a kind of healing for me. My mother still thinks I'm incredibly religious, and she's right, but I've made my own religion. When it rains, He's there, I go to the highest point I can reach and feel so close to Him. Why? Because I've been doing it for years. It's what I consider lucky. If I go to sleep one night and it rains without my knowledge I feel incredible guilt, I don't know why. It might just be an after effect of the fear of higher powers ingrained in me as a child.

Liz McGarty, Ritual

When ritual I perform daily is listening to my I-pod at nite. I cannot fall asleep unless I am listening to my music, though it has to be through my headphones. If music is playing through a radio or Tv it annoys me, and I won't be able to fall asleep. I have been practicing this ritual for a good five years. Whenever I am in the situation without my I-pod and I am trying to sleep, I usually will have a very difficult time doing so. I don't believe that listeing to my I-pod leads to any consequences. I suppose it could damage my hearing in the future. I don't know what started this ritual, but I know that it would take alot of effort for me to stop.

OCD Drives My Ritualistic Behaviors

It's an annoyance I'm forced to deal with on an average day, that usually includes: checking my phone for times like 3:33, 5:55, 11:11, etc., or turning the knob on my door nearly a thousand times, to reassure myself that it's locked. If I do not complete one of these rituals, it will be on my mind for the rest of the day. I'm not entirely sure when I developed these behaviors, but I have a feeling they are motivated by my schedule. If I'm having a busy day, then I'm less likely to waste time doing these acts, but when its a slow day, you can bet I'll be preoccupied with my OCD.

To have good luck

As a child, I found a four leaf clover on the soccer field during one of my games. During that one game, I played better than I ever had before. This lead to me to keep this four leaf clover laminated too a piece of paper and kept in my soccer socks up until high school, when I stopped playing. This clover gave me the feeling that I would play better and that our team would always win. Even though that wasn't always the case, I still did it in order to give me hope I guess. This is sort of a ritualistic act that I performed during every game for a good number of years. I feel as though that clover gave me the courage to try and perform my best throughout my soccer career.

Ritual

A ritual I continually take part in, even though it isn't founded in much logic, is wiping down my electric guitar before every time I play. I had gotten this guitar when I was a junior in high school and upon purchasing it, thought it was my most beautiful possession. I still believe it is as beautiful to this day, and I assume my constant shammying of the guitar is some sort of subconscious thing to assure myself it is maintaing its good looks. If I don't wipe down the guitar before I play, it feels unclean and unplayable. Immediately after my ritual, I feel as if I can play better and my guitar seems to sound cleaner. I don't know if I will stop this ritual because it doesn't do harm to me or my guitar, but it is one I have found myself taking part it without knowing exactly why.  

Rituals

When I was younger, I used to sacrifice things that were important to me for Lent. When I was a portly nine years old, things that were dear to me included soda, candy and video games. Candy was usually the least favorite of my vices so I would stop eating chocolate for Lent. I did not understand the concept of Lent because I never went to Sunday school but my relatives and good friends were Catholic, so I joined them in their traditions. Looking back on it, it is sad to think that refraining from inhaling Hersey Kisses was my way to relate Jesus's suffering.

Good Luck Strategy

I can identify one thing that I used to do to ensure good luck during my lacrosse season. I would always wear the sweatband of my cousin on my left wrist. The story behind it is that my cousin was 3 years older than me and he died at the age of 18 in 2005. He was a big part of my life, and he always played football when he was growing up. He wore the number 52, and after he died I had my varsity number changed to 52. My aunt ended up giving me his sweatband that he wore that had he number 52 on it in the Colchester Lakers School colors. This means a lot to me, so I put it on before every game and wore it hoping it would give me the extra boost if I needed it.

The Lottery and Community

Can you identify any ritualistic acts (e.g. fasting for Lent/Passover/Ramadan)you perform without examining the reasons for or the consequences of your behavior? What motivates you?
If not...
Do you do anything such as make sacrifices to ensure good luck?
What set of beliefs motivates the sacrifice?

Contact Zones and Responding

As a way of encouraging you to respond to each other, please post a response to any one of the postings or my comments and offer your ideas.

For example, consider Will's thinking about the cafeteria.
Can you identify a space in the cafeteria people of varying cultures (social, age or ethnic groups) would meet for a common purpose and inevitably clash and grapple?

You may want to respond to one of the discussions about zones in Burlington.
Where and why do cultures meet?