Ceremony Ceremony Beneden Merwede Category="Cultural conventions"[image]

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

Celebration of life

Traditionally, a ceremony may mark a Rite of passage in a personal human Career, marking the significance of (for example):

Celebration of events

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

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

In Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important role. In particular, the Tea ceremony of several East Asian cultures is very well known.

Process

Often ceremonies have a physical display or theatrical component: Dance, a Procession, the laying on of hands. But even greater importance usually attaches to a declaratory verbal pronouncement which may explain or cap the occasion, for instance:

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

See also