Flyin West By: Pearl Cleage Act 1 Scene 3

Definitions of the word ritual and explanations of the purpose rituals serve in general in a culture. Two specific examples of rituals from any cultures and identify by name the 2 rituals and explain their purpose

In the play, Flying West by Pearl Cleage, in Act 1 Scene lll, there is an important ritual performed together by the sisters Fannie, Minnie, and Sophie to honor and remember their arrival in Nicodemus in search for a better life away from racism. There ritual involves them standing in a circle outside their home, holding hands, as they recite to each other that they are free Negro women, who left their homes where their lives were not their own, and moved from Memphis to the West to be free women bonded with trust, strength, courage, and love. A ritual can be defined in a variety of ways depending on the situation. In the play, Flyin West, the ritual is represented as a spiritual ceremony. In every culture, there are different rituals performed that serve for a certain purpose in that culture.
According to a dictionary online, I found two definitions of the word ritual. The first one defined ritual as a set of actions done regularly which has symbolic value or meaning and is well known in religious practices. The other meaning I found defined ritual as a performance of ceremonial acts prescribed by a tradition. Each culture in the world has many different rituals each one serving as a specific purpose in their culture. Some ways people in their culture do rituals are such acts like dancing, chanting, story telling, singing, gift exchanging, praying, basically any kind of act done by a group of people all together. Rituals play a very important role because it continues the existence of a culture for many years passing it down from one generation to the other. Rituals teach younger generations about their culture’s past and history and give them a greater sense of who they are and where they came from.
Although weddings in every culture have the same purpose of combining the love and life of two human beings, each culture has they’re very own tradition and ritual of celebrating them. In the African culture, it is diverse and has various ethnic groups and because of that, specific wedding rituals vary from region to region in Africa. In West Africa, Nigeria, for instance, they have an engagement ceremony held before the wedding day which is a time of festivity and fun. After the engagement ceremony, the bride goes to the father’s house to make preparations and the groom’s family visits her and pays the bride of traditional clothes, shoes, bags, and jewelry. On the night of the wedding there is a grand party held where they have traditional music and peopling dance and singing throughout the entire night. Some may do henna designs on the hands and feet of the bride and elders of the family help bathe her before the wedding day. The wedding celebration may last for days.
In a Japanese culture wedding, spring and fall are the favorite seasons to do a wedding because it represents good luck. The ceremony itself is held in Shinto Shrines. Members of families, close relatives, and friends attend the wedding. The bride is painted pure white from head to toe to visibly declare her maiden status to the gods and wears a traditional wedding kimono called shiromuku and a headpiece covered with ornaments to invite good luck to the couple. The Japanese grooms wear black kimonos. As the two exchange vows, their families face each other instead of the couple marrying. The ceremony also includes sake drinking rituals and exchanging of wedding rings. The guests and families also drink sake to symbolize the bonding of the couple. The fathers of the groom and of the bride then introduce their respective family members to each other. Following the wedding is a reception which is a party full of games, skits, and karaoke. Each dish at the reception has a symbolic wish for happiness, prosperity, long life, and many children. For example lobster is served for its deep red color symbolizing the color of “luck.”
Rituals in every culture can involve partying, singing, dancing, or it could just be a group of people together celebrating an important and memorable event in their lives. Just like in Flyin West, Fannie, Sophie, and Minnie’s ritual was an act of just remembering who they were and most importantly where they came. Rituals may be done occasionally or regularly but the significance of them is to keep cultural traditions going from generation to generation, like Fannie, Sophie, and Minnie so that they’re stories and existence is never forgotten.