PAPER

One sacred ritual that I personally experience often in my life is taking communion which is the sacred act of taking the bread and wine of Jesus Christ prepared by the church.  I am a very religious person and grew up in the Oriental Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Before talking about the process of taking communion, I would like to explain a couple of things that make my church different than most churches that I have been to.  My church is one of the most traditional and conservative churches. One thing that makes my church different than other churches is that women are not allowed to wear short skirts or pants to church. Women are to wear long skirts or dresses, cover themselves and their hair by a white veil.  And when people get to church, the women and men can not sit together. The women sit on the right side of the church and the men sit on the left side of the church and no man or woman is to sit with the opposite sex unless they are small kids.

Church services start at 5 A.M. and run until around 1 P.M.  When people want to take communion, the should have not eaten since 12 A.M. the day of communion, they should take a shower, have confessed their sins to a priest, and the women should not have their periods.  That is the general rule to follow if someone was to take a communion.

In my religion and the process of taking communion, it is considered profane to take the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ if you are in a fight with someone or have a grudge on someone.  And if you do end up taking the blood and flesh of Jesus Christ knowing it is profane, then it will be held as a sin against you instead of a blessing. Another thing that is considered profane in my religion is taking communion after having sex.  After being involved in any sexual activity, you cannot take the holy communion for 24 hours.

Transcendence is defined as being able to move from the sacred to the profane world and from the profane world to the sacred world.  One way to move from the sacred to the profane world in my religion is to commit a sin. You could also move to the sacred world from the profane world by confession, taking the holy communion, prayer, and fasting.  

Sacrilege is the violation or disrespect of what is considered as sacred.  One thing that is considered sacrilege in the process of the sacred taking of the holy communion in my religion is going to parties.  Other things that are considered sacrilege are talking about people like gossiping, having sex, getting in fights whether verbal or physical, and taking a shower or washing your hands or feet for 24 hours after taking the holy communion.

Experiential or emotional is defined as “ a change in consciousness, emotion, sensation, bodily states brought about through religious practices of any sort, including ritual….” One ritual that is experiential or emotional in my religion that I have personally experienced is confession.  The ritual of confession in my religion is considered experiential and emotional because people are supposed to feel more pure, in peace, calm and cause a change in your consciousness.

Revelation is divine disclosure to human beings of something relating to human existence and the world.  Another ritual that is experiential or emotional in my religion that I have personally experienced is baptism.  The ritual of baptism is considered experiential or emotional in my religion because it is supposed to reveal something that you did not know before then.  The revelation of baptism is something beyond the something worldly.