Abstract
Secular rituals are ceremonies having the characteristics of religious rituals but without a transcendental reference. The traditions and ceremonies associated with graduation from the secondary school system in Denmark is apparently such a secular ritual, and the entire period of graduation has all the characteristics of a rite of passage. The graduates wear a traditional cap with a cross as cockade emblem; this special cross is a symbol of Denmark. For graduates of non-Christian background, alternative cockade emblems are available, e.g. a Star of David or a crescent; this shows that the cross emblem is also perceived as a Christian symbol. Social anthropologists Sally Moore and Barbara Myerhoff have suggested a scheme of the categories of religious versus scared for analysing secular rituals where religious symbols are sometimes exhibited. The applicability of their approach is discussed in the analysis of a central part of the Danish graduation ritual, which is a tradition-laden ride through town with the graduates sitting on the platform of a richly decorated old truck. Finding that the approach of Moore and Myerhoff is not particularly yielding in this case I suggest that it is more meaningful to analyse this ritual ride as an expression of Danish civil religion.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Ritual Studies |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Pages (from-to) | 31-42 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| ISSN | 0890-1112 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Faculty of Humanities
- Sociology of Religion
- Civil religion
- Graduation
- Ritual