Nicole Voyles A “Thing Done” By Any Other Name. 3/17/11

Another throw back to the Ancient Art and Ritual, sorry. On or about page 68, the book talks about ritualistic mimesis. In the reading, the author goes into detail about several situations where a ritual acts out the wanted or feared natural occurrence. Some of these include life, death, rain, a good harvest and the sun. in all of these cases, one or multiple members of the group dress and or act like the thing being personified (i.e. the sun., Death...) and are interacted with such that if the deity or thing were able to be interacted with, they would react in whatever way they pleased, be it worship, anger, aggression or fear. I have seen my fair share of these and it is easy to get lost in the moment when you are a part of the group yourself. More so, I would think, than an outside observer from a more “modern” culture. It is refreshing to feel less than a repulsed audience is watching here though, and respect is given where deserved.