Image and Pilgrimage...Ritual- Mary Ragan

Reading the sections on ritual in Turner's book I think ritual is a relatively easy concept to understand. In some ways I see a ritual as a very concrete thing, as people have to stay within the channels to achieve the peace and harmony and as Turner describes it as "formal behavior" (p. 243-244). However, I also interpret it as something personal that different individuals put somewhat of different meaning to or relate different things to. For some reason I tend to relate it to tradition to understand it better. Sometimes tradition is something we feel like we have to do, continuing to do some of the very same things time after time. But I think there is significance in tradition, such as instilling or upholding certain family values achieved through doing these things in a certain way. I thought the information about symbols and signs was also interesting because it talked about how they are two very different things. Signs do not seem to be as personal and are classified as being organized in “closed systems.” A symbol has a multiplicity of meanings. I feel like I am a big sign person as I always tend to take things as signs for one thing or another. So I think this makes sense because signs are more concrete, telling you to go one way or another. I see symbols as having more behind them and more room for meaning and interpretation. Therefore, they fit as being "the smallest unit of ritual behavior" (p. 244).