Ritual Classification

Salvation Ritual: religious – The Meditation on the 5 Values ritual

The Meditation on the 5 Values is a salvation ritual, intended to help Equalitarians who may have strayed from the socially accepted religious path throughout the year to realign themselves with their community’s value norms, in effect “saving” the person from their own perceived failings throughout the year and allowing them to grow as a spiritual being.  

Though Equalitarian society normally denies the importance of the individual in comparison to the group as a whole, this ritual acknowledges that having even one member of their society out of sync spiritually can cause harm to the region’s stability, and focuses on changing each individual participant’s interior state to one of mental purity and engagement with the Higher Power’s commands.

Participants often report feeling a strong connection to the Higher Power during the meditation portion of the ritual. Many enter a brief trance-like state that allows them access to a mystic plane, after which the Higher Power reveals the steps necessary to move beyond their spiritual shortcomings and to move their individual destiny in a positive direction along the chosen path.

Technological Ritual: economic - The 5 Plates Harvest Ritual

Though it may not seem to be one at first glance, the 5 Plates Harvest Ritual is a technological ritual in that the people of Equalitiva unite to perform this ritual in part because of their belief that honoring the Higher Power and the Founders through food offerings will ensure continued agricultural success.

Their belief that they can perform certain ritual actions in order to win over the blessings of the Higher Power is an example of the use of ritual to seek protection (in this case from famine or economic decline) and to control nature (securing this blessing is said to induce the earth to produce for the agricultural industry.)

Ideological Ritual: community – The Star of the Valley Ritual

The Star of the Valley ritual is a clear example of an ideological ritual, bringing the people of Equalitiva together to perform a common task through ritual in order to reinforce the communal structure and to enhance group unity.

This is a rite of intensification because it brings the people together and reinforces the highly prized value of group cohesion. In addition, the communal undertaking of a difficult and sometimes dangerous task promotes the intense group bonding necessary for the survival of the Equalitarian way of life – ie. communalism.

The end result, the symbolic star or prosperity shining above the people as a result of their group effort, ceremonially reinforces the idea that the Equalitarian values produce positive payoff for everyone to enjoy, and the crowd experiences collective effervescence at the moment they first see the Star shining above them.

Therapy Ritual: government – The Council Change Ritual

While the Council Change ritual would seem to be more of an ideological ritual on first observation, a deeper examination of the intent behind the ceremony demonstrates that the Council Change also serves as a therapy ritual for the outgoing delegates, who take part in a symbolic transfer of responsibility to new delegates (privately handing over the book of knowledge and publicly lowering the flag) as a way to demonstrate to themselves and the public that they are no longer in a stressful position of heightened power, and are representing only themselves as undifferentiated citizens just like everyone else in their community from this point out.

In this light, the Council Change ritual serves as a way for outgoing delegates to control their mental health and restore themselves to a state of mental well-being free from the additional stress of Council duty.