Traditional or cultural practices are time honored rituals and beliefs which are prevalent in the community and they may pertain to a wide range of activities. A charm is defined as something worn about the person to ward off evil or ensure good fortune. Commonest purpose for use of a charm is for general wellbeing, and is found to be higher among people living in rural areas in joint family wi...

The possibility that victims of child abuse can repress or otherwise lose memories of early traumatic experiences and then recover them years later is currently the subject of heated debate (Alpert et al., 1996). Concerns about false memories are particularly intense in cases involving repressed memory of alleged acts of satanic ritual abuse (Wright, 1994). Allegations of ritual abuse, which of...

fasting is a form of islamic worship to approach god.  there is a direct relationship between fasting, abstaining from eating and drinking, and an individual’s health as well as his ill-health. therefore, it is of utmost importance in the islamic perspective to weigh the spiritual benefits achieved through fasting against its probable harmfulness to an individual’s health. regarding fasting, th...

conclusions rectifying the life style is one of the most effective factors on the individuals’ health. an important part in the life style of individuals which is related to fasting is sleeping. early rising, in other words, the optimum time for sleeping is an aspect of fasting and it can be concluded that fasting is meaningful with early rising. sleeping well and having enough time to sleep fo...

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of men's experiences of pregnancy, birth and early fatherhood. It does so using a framework of ritual transition theory and argues that despite its earlier structural-functionalist roots, transition theory remains a valuable framework, illuminating contemporary transitions across the life course. The paper discusses the historical development of transi...

The indelible memories of my medical undergraduate days include one of a lecture delivered by the late Karl Stern, then professor of psychiatry at McGill. His topic was the role of ritual in preventing anxiety. He began by asking us to recall the silly games we had played as children — avoiding cracks in the sidewalk (“step on a crack, break your mother’s back”) or holding your breath when you ...

The Daily Ritual was one of a series of cultic rituals performed for the statue of the god by temple priests each day. Performed in the morning after the fi rst light of dawn, it was complemented by similar but more abbreviated rituals in the afternoon and evening. The Egyptians believed that the gods themselves had established the correct form of the rituals, and along with the celebration of ...

For four hundred years, the zikir ritual has been performed weekly in Kadirîhâne Istanbul. Sufi rituals are believed to have compiled by founder (pîr) of order. The conductor (şeyh, postnişin) symbolizes founder. form consists chanting (dhikr) several divine names (esmâ). While participants perform with drone-like melodic repetitions or guttural rhythmic ostinatos, musicians songs, recitations,...