Ceremony

A ceremony is an activity, infused with ritual significance, performed on a special occasion.

Celebration of life

A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human career, marking the significance of (for example):

• birth
• initiation
• puberty
• social adulthood
• graduation
• marriage
• death
• burial

Government ceremonies

Sometimes, a ceremony may only be performed by a person with certain authority. For example, the opening of the British Parliament is led by the Speaker of the House. The naming and launching of a warship will be under the supervision of its captain or a higher-ranked naval officer. A wedding will be performed by a priest or a Civil Celebrant, as in Australia. The President of the United States is customarily sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States, and the British sovereign is typically crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Celebration of events

Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events like:

• vernal equinox
• winter solstice
• weekly Sabbath day
• inauguration of an elected office-holder
• occasions in a liturgical year or "feasts" in a calendar of saints

Other ceremonies underscore the importance of irregular special occasions, such as:

• coronation of a monarch
• victory in battle

In Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important role, for example the tea ceremony.

Process

Ceremonies may have a physical display or theatrical component: dance, a procession, the laying on of hands. A declaratory verbal pronouncement may explain or cap the occasion, for instance:

• I now pronounce you man and wife.
• I swear to serve and defend the nation ...
• I declare open the games of ...

Both physical and verbal components of a ceremony may become part of a liturgy.

See also

• rite of passage
• gift
• human condition
• initiation rite
• Tjurungazh-min-nan:Lé-sio̍k

da:Ceremoni de:Zeremonie es:Ceremonia fr:Cérémonie he:טקס mk:Церемонија no:Seremoni nn:Seremoni pl:Ceremonia sv:Ceremoni

Wikipedia information about Ceremony This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ceremony". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.