Ritual Studies launched in 2009, with the aim of promoting the critical and creative study of ritual in academe, the arts, liturgics and related disciplines and practices.  If you’d like us to post an upcoming event, the details of a new book, innovative ideas for teaching ritual, or anything else to do with ritual, let [...]

Knowing Body, Moving Mind investigates ritualizing and learning in introductory meditation classes at two Buddhist centers in Toronto, Canada. The centers, Friends of the Heart and Chandrakirti, are led and attended by Western (sometimes called “convert’) Buddhists: that is, people from non-Buddhist familial and cultural backgrounds. Inspired by theories that suggest that rituals impart new [...]

Spirit possession is a phenomenon that often elicits a response of fear, particular in those who are ignorant of its meaning and role within its particular religious and cultural traditions. Possession by divine beings (such as spirits or gods) is, however, a key practice in religions worldwide. It is therefore important to gain an understanding of [...]

I’ve been working intermittently for about 30 years (first as a writer of feminist/neopagan rituals, and then as a sort of wildcat theorist) on the question of aesthetics in liturgical language. Of course there’s more to ritual than language, but the words surrounding ritual actions can make or break them: they may not be infelicitous [...]

Nancy Gibbs ends her August 3, Time magazine “Briefing” with a note on the impending 2011 releases of the final Harry Potter films based on The Deathly Hallows. After then, no more Harry Potter films. Oh, dear. She finishes her piece with the lingering thought: “After that, it will be up to fans to find [...]