© Chris Craymer/Trunk Archive
January 4, 2024
Margit Hiebl
- Mind
- Psychology
The Power of Rituals
How we can use them. Why they can sometimes be quite annoying and even make us sick. And why we should still protect rituals.
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© Chris Craymer/Trunk Archive
January 4, 2024
Margit Hiebl
How we can use them. Why they can sometimes be quite annoying and even make us sick. And why we should still protect rituals.
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Everyone knows them. Everyone has them. The small or large frequently celebrated actions. The first espresso behind the Brenner that marks the start of the vacation in Italy. The bedtime story without which we didn't want to fall asleep as children. The same old Christmas menu. Rituals are something fundamentally human and have always played an important role in all cultures and societies.
They are something very personal and at the same time social bonding agents. Their familiarity gives us stability in life because rituals provide a guideline that one can follow. For children and adolescents, they are of particularly high value because they make things more predictable and also give young people an idea of what is expected of them.
Their familiarity gives us support in life.
Studies also show that children fall asleep faster and sleep through the night better with the help of rituals such as the bedtime story. It is also known that rituals promote social and emotional development. And at the end of life, when physical and mental strength wanes, they provide support, comfort, and security.
Like many other cherished and proven things, rituals are increasingly threatened with extinction.
The recurring processes act as a memory aid. For those with dementia, they can be a valuable lifeline to guide them through daily life. But like many other cherished and proven things, rituals are increasingly threatened with extinction.
The German-Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han addresses this very social phenomenon in his much-discussed essay The Disappearance of Rituals (Ullstein Verlag). He analyzes the threat of a society in which the community is lost due to the increasing individualization of individuals. The so-called digital campfire, around which we like to gather, provides an illusion of togetherness.
Who doesn’t know the fundamentally sad picture of families or friends seemingly sitting together at a restaurant table – and everyone is staring wordlessly at their smartphones, not really present, but somewhere on the digital globe.
Mourning rituals help to better process the loss of a person.
Byung-Chul Han speaks of a dis-location, with which spaces disappear where rituals take place. The philosopher defines these as symbolic techniques of enclosure, through which being-in-the-world first becomes being-at-home. Rituals, according to Han, "bring a community without communication" while the internet "brings communication without community."Rituals are formative not only when it comes to celebrating the tried and true, but also in personal changes such as baptism, graduation, or academic completion, strengthening the sense of belonging.
This also applies to farewells: mourning rituals or symbolic actions help to better process the loss of a person or the end of a romantic relationship. A Harvard Business School study found that these personal rituals can even partially restore a sense of control. And that they not only comfort but can also evoke feelings of happiness – even in competitive situations.
New Zealand rugby players rely on the traditional Maori haka dance ritual.
A training or starting ritual can provide the decisive advantage – even if it sometimes seems bizarre: tennis pro Rafael Nadal adjusts shirt, pants, and hair in the same choreography before serving. Serena Williams only entered the court when her shoelaces were tied exactly the same way. The New Zealand rugby players rely on the traditional Haka dance ritual of the Maori.
What's behind it? The rituals remind us that this performance has been called upon many times before. Furthermore, they also provide support and security, helping to focus and keep nerves in stressful situations. This also highlights what distinguishes a ritual from routine and habit: it's not just a repetition of actions but possesses an emotional component. This isn't always understandable to others, but it works for the individual.
However, rituals can also have a dark side. Especially when one can't perform them and can't celebrate the performance. Serena Williams sensed beforehand that she would lose the 2007 French Open final because she hadn’t tied her shoes as usual.
Rituals can indeed have a dark side.
So those who use rituals as a magic formula should keep them simple and applicable at all times. They shouldn't be overly emotionally charged. Familiar examples are Christmas or New Year’s Eve: Heaven forbid if the celebration or party doesn't go as planned – stress, arguments, and disappointment are often the results.Other people's rituals can also be really annoying – for example, when fellow travelers on an intercontinental flight first take off their shoes.
It becomes really problematic when they turn into compulsions and thus close off the communal "space" that they are supposed to define. Keyword: cleaning obsession. And rituals certainly also carry social dynamite, especially when their identity-forming effect leads to exclusion. This begins seemingly harmlessly with the handshake choreography of teenagers, which tells others "you don't belong to us" – and ends in farreaching conflicts when they have a political, economic, or religious background, and it is primarily about power.
