Rituals of Communion/Sacrifice & Thanksgiving

Communion/Sacrifice & Thanksgiving Rituals

1. Describe the communion ritual⁽¹⁾ in the video clip as completely as possible (physical arrangements, colors; leaders and participants in the event--their sex, age, dress, speech, actions, location, etc.; what the ritual means to the participants).
2. Describe the communion ritual⁽¹⁾ you observed over the weekend as completely as possible (physical arrangements, colors; leaders and participants in the event--their sex, age, dress, speech, actions, location, etc.; what the ritual means to the participants).
3. What signs or symbols mark off the sacred space and sacred persons in these rites?
4. Which of the features listed above do you find each of these two rituals?
5. What do you see as the basic "ritual process" in each rite?
6. What connections do you see between words and ritual actions?
7. What are the "mythic narratives" underlying these two rituals?
8. What similarities and differences do you see between these two mythic narratives?
9. Compare/contrast these two rituals with your family Thanksgiving celebration. What common features does your Thanksgiving celebration have with either or both of these two rituals? What do you make of that?

1. The key features of a communion rite are:

• sacrifice (explicit or implicit)
• gathered community
• shared prayers of thanks for sacrifice and community gathered
• narrative (myth) of impact of sacrifice on community gathered
• shared meal (full or symbolic)