Quotes About Ritual

My dad used to have to open the second bottle of wine in the loo in case Mum heard the cork coming out.

The whole dating ritual was different when I was a kid. Girls got pinned, not nailed.

When the human race has once acquired a superstition, nothing short of death is ever likely to remove it.

You can't choreograph death, but you can choreograph your funeral.

A solemn funeral is inconceivable to the Chinese mind.

According to Gallup polls, more Americans will pray this week than will exercise, drive a car, have sex, or go to work. Nine in ten of us pray regularly, and three out of four claim to pray every day. To

He must desire the scent of the smoke of their sacrifice.

saddle, brushes down my gown, hands me my hat

the goblins were chanting, "One two three four, Kill two three four, One two three four, Kill two three four," on and on endlessly.

Habit is not unimportant.

Neither ritual decisions nor political leadership constitutes the main task of halakhic man. Far from it. The actualization of the ideals of justice and righteousness is that pillar of fire which halakhic man follows, when he, as a rabbi and teacher in Israel, serves his community.

As for the butter-side-up day: Each morning, he makes one extra slice of toast with breakfast, lays it on the kitchen table, and in a contrived-casual way, he knocks it to the floor. If it lands butter side up, he eats it with pleasure, confident that the day will be good from end to end. If it lands butter side down, however, Malcolm throws the toast away, wipes up the butter, and goes about his day with heightened awareness of potential danger.

In order to put a curse on someone and be absolutely certain that it would bring about the desired calamity, a Bocor required an icon of the intended victim.

he pours three types of blood into the hole—cat, rat, and human.

I once again felt an odd flush of admiration for my partner's faith in a religion I had long ago abandoned. She doesn't advertise it or announce it at every turn, and she has nothing but scorn for the patriarchal hierarchy that runs the church, but she nevertheless holds firm to a belief in the religion and ritual with a quiet intensity that can't be shaken.

Regarding morality, intentions matter little; and often, not at all. But when it comes to relating to God (prayer, ritual acts, etc.), intentions matter a great deal.

O Lord, bless the blood and the flesh of this the creature that You gave me," Jamie said softly. He scooped a pinch of the herbs himself, and rubbed them between thumb and forefinger, in a rain of fragrant dust. "Created by Your hand as You created man,  Life given for life.  That me and mine may eat with thanks for the gift,  That me and mine may give thanks for Your own sacrifice of blood and flesh,  Life given for life.

Once there, he took a moment to knead the bedclothes with his paws and turn three times widdershins, as though taking the curse off his resting place, before lying down at my feet, resting his nose on his paws with a deep sigh.

I baptize thee, Germain Alexander Claudel MacKenzie Fraser, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.

within the circle of the fire, where part

Ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle

Bell, book, and candle," he said, his eyes still on my face, and not without sympathy. "What?" "Ring the bell, close the book, quench the candle," he said quietly, and touched the paper on my knee. "It's the rite of excommunication and anathema, Sassenach—and that's what I have done.

Mr. Bodley was already tottering toward them under the weight of a tea tray laden with seedcake, sponge cake, strawberry jam, marmalade, hot buttered crumpets in a basket wrapped in white linen, scones, clotted cream, almond biscuits, sardines on toast, a pot of beans baked with bacon and onion, a plate of sliced ham with gherkins, a bottle of brandy with two glasses, and—perhaps as an afterthought—a steaming teapot with two china cups and saucers alongside.

When I was growing up, we dressed up for church.