Magic, Religion and Witchcraft
Term Paper: My Secular Ritual
Guidelines: Your term paper will involve analyzing a secular ritual that comes from your own life using of three of the theories we have studied.
• Identify one ritual you habitually engage in. It must be one that you practice regularly, for instance it can be daily, weekly or annually. Think about things you do because you believe that there is a positive outcome when you do or a negative if you don’t. Do you practice/celebrate a certain holiday the same way, or drive a certain route for a certain reason? What about a process you go through to make a decision? Describe this ritual in detail. The steps and phases that you pass through, and the order things are done in and why. This section is an emic view of your ritual and should be about ¼ to 1/3 of your paper.

• You will then analyze your ritual using the ideas of three theories/theorists we have covered in class. This analysis will be the remainder of your paper. Chose those theories that will help you best make sense of your ritual behavior. It is up to you to decide which ideas best describe how the ritual you are practicing helps to make sense of your world.

• Use the theories one at a time to analyze your ritual behavior as an anthropologist, what does your theory, or what would your theorist, say about your behavior? Give detailed analysis, use examples from your own behavior and outside sources. Be sure you are applying the theories in such a way as to show your understanding of the subject matter. This should be written in an etic view.

• Cite your sources! Please be diligent to avoid plagiarism. You must cite any time you use the ideas of another in your paper. Even if you have properly paraphrased, you must cite! If you have any questions on how to go about this please ask.

• Review the grading rubric to see how the paper will be scored.

• The paper should be 5-7 pages long without a cover sheet or works cited page.

If you need a little help getting started here are some possible theories to explore:
Enculturation
◦ How does the ritual you practice teach or inform your cultures values, norms, or beliefs to others or to group members?
Functionalism
◦ Does your ritual serve a purpose that supports society? Does it create social control? Bonds? Taboos?
Structuralism
◦ Are their universal patterns that can be found in your ritual? Is it something that all humans do in one form or another?
Collective effervescence
◦ Does your ritual create a heightened emotional sense?
Embodiment
◦ Does the physical enactment or the role of the body have key significance in your ritual? Does muscle memory, trance or altered states play in to it?
Binary Opposition
◦ What are the possible opposites that may be exposed in your ritual? Are there Sacred and Profane aspects? Things that must be kept separate?