StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema - Case Study Example

Cite this document
Summary
The Celtic festival of Samhain signifies summer’s end. “In the tenth-century Gaelic text Tochmarc Emire”, Samhain is the first four quarter days in the medieval Irish calendar, marking the start of summer’s resting period…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER93.6% of users find it useful
The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema"

Download file to see previous pages

In contemporary American culture the festival of Halloween appears to be derived from the pagan traditions of Samhain, although Halloween is based on Christian beliefs. From observing the customs related to Samhain, the roots, core features and stereotypical concepts associated with Halloween become evident. Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the Celtic festival of ‘Samhain’, and examine its rituals and symbolism in relation to Halloween. According to Ohogain (2003), the influence of the Celts is far more extensive than is indicated by its fragmented survival beyond the fringes of western Europe.

This culture which had been once been considered a highly significant one, continues to remain as a vital component of European civilization and heritage from east to west. Among the Celts, the feast of Samhain involved stock-taking, and reorganizing communities for the winter months which included the arranging of quarters for traveling warriors and religious teachers. Samhain also denoted a period of supernatural intensity, when darkness and decay prevailed, emerging from the ancient mounds of the countryside, known as sidh.

For protection against these spirits, the Irish built large, symbolically life-sustaining bonfires, and appealed to the gods for help by means of “animal and perhaps even human sacrifice”. Of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, Samhain on November 1st was more important than Beltane on May 1st, since it marked the beginning of a completely new cycle; similar to the Celtic day which begins at night. “The most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st” (Freeman, 1999), known today as Halloween.

Samhain marked took place between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. Halloween is derived from All Hallow Even, or the eve of All Saints Day, 1st November. Together with All Souls Day on the 2nd November, the Christian calendar assigns the festival “for honoring the saints and the newly departed” (Rogers, 2003, p.22), and in past centuries for praying for souls in purgatory. Samhain distinguished the first day of winter, “when the herders led the cattle and sheep down from their summer hillside pastures to the shelter of stable and byre” (Freeman, 1999).

All the harvest should be gathered in by this time, of barley, apples, turnips, wheat and oats; with the beginning of November the faeries were believed to destroy any remaining crops or plants. Peat and wood for winter fires were stocked up close to the hearth. “It was a joyous time of family reunion, when all members of the household worked together baking, salting meat, and making preserves for the winter feasts to come (Freeman, 1999). Samhain was the major feast of the year; and everyone gathered together for the “Feast of Tara”, when the royal seat of the High King as the heart of the sacred land, and the creator of the new year was celebrated.

Every household in the country put out their hearth fires, and waited for the Druids to light the new fire of the year. At Samhain the gods came

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved de https://studentshare.org/other/1391263-the-body-ritual-among-the-nacirema
(The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
https://studentshare.org/other/1391263-the-body-ritual-among-the-nacirema.
“The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/other/1391263-the-body-ritual-among-the-nacirema.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema

Horace Miner's Body Ritual among the Nacirema

The paper analyzes a sociological aspect of Horace Miner's “body ritual among the nacirema”.... A profound form of ethnocentrism has been used by Horace Miner in his sardonic paper body ritual among the nacirema.... Horace Miner describes vividly the nacirema's mouth rituals with the intention of demonstrating the traditional rules behind the cultural narrative that guided the theme of intellectuals describing the cultural practices of other societies: “The daily body ritual performed by everyone includes a mouth rite....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

The Body Rituals of the Nacirema

This paper describes ways in which the Body rituals of the nacirema helps us to understand our own view of other cultures and how we are viewed by other cultures.... Due to this habit enshrined in their customs and traditions, members of the nacirema community are necessitated to institute a separate room in their homesteads as it will enable them to conduct their body rituals clandestinely within the comfort of their houses.... Available sources posit that the nacirema possess a lot of magical equipment and concoctions that sometimes render them difficult to comprehend the aim of some of them (Minner, 2002)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

The Nacirema As A Mirror of The Modern Consumer

The mountain tribes of Southeast Asia and other far-flung regions have rituals that equal, or even surpass that of the nacirema in their mysticism and peculiarity. … In his article in the American Anthropologist, however, Horace Miner manages to depict the tribe's extraordinary body rituals as beyond human comprehension, "poorly understood" (Miner 1956, p.... the nacirema are apparently taught from birth that "the human body is ugly" (Miner 1956, p....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Nacirema People and Their Rituals

nacirema culture is a unique society, which inhabits territories between the Canadian Cree, the Northern Mexican States, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles.... hellip; nacirema culture is a unique society, which inhabits territories between the Canadian Cree, the Northern Mexican States, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles.... nacirema People and Their Rituals nacirema culture is a unique society, which inhabits territories between the Canadian Cree, the Northern Mexican States, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Response Paper to Miner Reading

In my opinion, the consideration of Nacirema is quite approved as many cultures and religions around the world seek refuge from all Body Ritual among the Nacirema of the of The Body Ritual Among the Nacirema The article that I have used for writingabout is entitled as “Body Ritual among the Nacirema” written by Horace Miner.... body ritual among the nacirema.... Miner informs that the system adopted by nacirema depends upon their fundamental belief that human body is naturally prone to get diseased and gain weakness....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Body Ritual among the Nacirema

n addition to that, the culture of body ritual among the nacirema asserts that the body is quite in an ugly state and is vulnerable to diseases and infections.... body ritual among the nacirema.... It is more of the usual Body Rituals among the nacirema Magical practices and beliefs are a common characteristic in every society.... The life of the nacirema targets a quantifiable developed economy that has with time matured into a valuable natural habitat....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Body Ritual among the Nacirema

The article ‘body ritual among the nacirema' appears to be a humorous allusion to popular practices in American culture as observed as observed by a foreign anthropologist who chances upon the nation in his travels.... The name ‘Notgnihsaw' is ‘Washington' spelt backwards; while the Bodyritualnacirema Bodyritualnacirema The article ‘body ritual among the nacirema' appears to be a humorous allusion to popular practices in American culture as observed as observed by a foreign anthropologist who chances upon the nation in his travels....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Body Ritual among the Nacirema- Read hand out and analyze

Such ritual activities mainly focus on the human body, health, body ritual among the nacirema Introduction Nacirema is a tribe in northern America, which anthropologists have limited knowledge about its origin.... embers of the nacirema are faithful and true believers of their rituals.... nacirema has its unique ways of life based on its outstanding cultural backgrounds that are non-existent in other parts of the world.... Anthropologists refer to nacirema as the… Developed market economy provides nacirema community with good yields, most of which its members spend on ritual activities....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us