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“In cases of organized and multi-perpetrator abuse when the abuse occurs in the context of rituals and ceremonies, some elements of the experience may have been staged specifically with the intention of encouraging the disbelief of others if the victim were to report the crime. For example, someone reporting such a crime may mention that the devil was present, or that someone well-known was there, or that acts of magic were performed. These were tricks and deceptions by the abusers-often experienced by the victims after being given medication or hallucinogenic drugs - that render the account unbelievable, make the witness sound unreliable, and protect the perpetrators.
(page 120, Chapter 9, Some clinical implications of believing or not believing the patient)”
― Graeme Galton, Forensic Aspects of Dissociative Identity Disorder

“Awards and ceremonies are all an applause of discipline.”
― Sunday Adelaja

“If obedience is the chief thing good stood upon, why are not other laws and statutes urged as strictly as those which concern ceremonies?”
― George Gillespie, A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies Obtruded on the Church of Scotland

“As you begin a life of service to your nation, your family, and your god, may your experience at Valor be like the sharpening stone. A blunt and hard movable object that is used to bring an edge to a blade.”
― Scott McEwen, Camp Valor

“Zemii sunt animale sociabile şi inteligente, mai mult sau mai puţin. Viaţa lor de zi cu zi cuprinde numeroase reguli de comportamentare, ritualuri şi ceremonii, încălcate însă atât de des încît e greu de distins între regulă şi excepţii.”
― Mircea Cărtărescu, Enciclopedia zmeilor

“The poetics of politics had to be observed.”
― Tom Clancy

“All ceremonial events such as initiation (baptism) and incorporation, signs of communal membership, signify in the final analysis the renunciation of the intimate sphere of the person, if not emotionally, as in the bond of a biological blood-based kinship, then nevertheless spiritually, ideationally, and symbolically.”
― Helmuth Plessner, Grenzen der Gemeinschaft

“The way
I heard it
was
in the old days
long time ago
they had this
Scalp Society
for warriors
who killed
or touched
dead enemies.

They had things
they must do
otherwise
K'oo'ko wouldn't haunt their dreams
with her great fangs and
everything would be endangered.
Maybe the rain wouldn't come
or the deer would go away.
That's why
they had things
they must do
The flute and dancing
blue cornmeal and
hair-washing.

All these things
they had to do.”
― Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony

“Γι' αυτό είναι οι ιεροτελεστίες. Κάνουμε πνευματικές τελετές ως άνθρωποι για να δημιουργήσουμε έναν ασφαλή χώρο ανάπαυσης των πιο πολύπλοκων συναισθημάτων χαράς ή θλίψης, έτσι ώστε να μην κουβαλάμε αυτά τα συναισθήματα για πάντα και μας βαραίνουν.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

“Οι θρησκευτικές τελετές προκύπτουν συνήθως από μυστικιστικούς πειραματισμούς. Κάποιος γενναίος αναζητητής ψάχνει ένα καινούργιο μονοπάτι προς το θείο, έχει μια υπερβατική εμπειρία και επιστρέφει σπίτι του προφήτης. Φέρνει στην κοινότητα περιγραφές του ουρανού και χάρτες για το πώς πάνε εκεί. Ύστερα, οι άλλοι επαναλαμβάνουν τα λόγια, τα έργα, τις προσευχές ή τις πράξεις του προφήτη προκειμένου να φτάσουν κι αυτοί εκεί. Μερικές φορές τα καταφέρνουν - άλλοτε ο ίδιος, γνώριμος συνδυασμός συλλαβών και λατρευτικών πρακτικών, επαναλαμβανόμενος επί γενιές ολόκληρες μπορεί να μεταφέρει πολλούς ανθρώπους στην άλλη πλευρά. Μερικές φορές όμως δεν έχει αποτέλεσμα. Αναπόφευκτα, ακόμα και οι πιο αυθεντικές ιδέες θα καταντήσουν κάποτε δόγμα ή θα πάψουν να είναι αποτελεσματικές για όλους...
Προσέχετε, προειδοποιεί η ιστορία, να μη σας γίνει έμμονη ιδέα η επανάληψη αυτής καθεαυτής της θρησκευτικής τελετής... Η ευελιξία είναι εξίσου απαραίτητη στο θείο με την πειθαρχία.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

“Rites, rituals, and sacred ceremonies are not performances. They’re holy portals you can travel through, doorways of change, paths to your greatest potential. The Holy Source of all life is your collaborator in this work, guiding you forward.”
― Ahriana Platten, Ph.D

“(In Spain) there is no formal recognition of manhood. There are no investment ceremonies, no visible emblems, no curtain calls. Endorsed rather than ordained, manhood remains forever in doubt, requiring daily demonstration.”
― David D. Gilmore