Five New Year’s Rituals of Renewal
In Auckland, New Zealand, Māori people celebrate the rising of Mataraki, also known as the Pleiades star cluster, as the start of the new year in July. Hannah…
Author: Dimitris Xygalatas
Explaining the Emergence of Coronavirus Rituals
People in Rome, Italy, go out on their balconies at a specific time to give one another a round of applause during the coronavirus lockdown. Alessandra Tarantino/AP Photo…
How Rituals of Pain Help Heal
During the kavadi attam ritual in Mauritius, devotees are voluntarily pierced, in some cases hundreds of times. Dimitris Xygalatas Inside a stuffy, overcrowded, and overheated room, a gro…
Are Religious People More Moral?
While religious practices might remind participants of specific moral codes, they do not make followers more moral, overall, than unbelievers. Dimitris Xygalatas This article was original…
The Perennial Power of Ritual
A rain dance won’t make water fall from the sky. Casting a spell won’t cure cancer. Tarot cards can’t really reveal the future. Yet rituals like these have…