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Ritual : how seemingly senseless acts make life worth living
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Ritual : how seemingly senseless acts make life worth living

by Dimitris Xygalatas

This study investigates the evolutionary and social significance of ritual across diverse cultures. It employs scientific research to analyse the psychological mechanisms behind ceremonial practices and their role in fostering community cohesion.

Accession 21998 ISBN 9781788161022 Publisher Profile Books
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Death Death and Burial Honesty Memory Religion The Past
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on_shelf
True
position_updated_at
2026-06-10 09:16
orientation
vertical
Details

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Hard Back
dimensions
196.00 (H) × 128.00 (W) × 20.00 (T) mm
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Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
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Identity

name→ title
Ritual : how seemingly senseless acts make life worth living
vernon_id
32496
accession_no→ accession_number
21998
vernon_slug
ritual-how-seemingly-senseless-acts-make-life-worth-living-dimitris-xygalatas

Drives Pulse state

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isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
9781788161022

Descriptive

production_date
2022
object_type
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object_status
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brief_description
Ritual is the oldest, and certainly the most enigmatic, thread in the history of human culture. And it presents a profound paradox: people ascribe the utmost importance to their rituals, but few can explain why they are so important. Apparently pointless ceremonies pervade every documented society, from handshakes to hexes, hazings to parades. Before we ever learned to farm, we were gathering in giant stone temples to perform elaborate rites and ceremonies. And yet, though rituals exist in every culture and can persist nearly unchanged for centuries, their logic has remained a mystery - until now. In Ritual, pioneering scientist Dimitris Xygalatas leads us on an enlightening tour through this shadowy realm of human behaviour. Armed with cutting-edge technology and drawing on discoveries from a huge range of disciplines, he presents a powerful new perspective on our place in the world. In coronations, in silent prayer, in fire-walks and terrifying rites of passage, in all the bewildering variety of human life, Ritual reveals the deep and subtle mechanisms that bind us together.

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Dimitris Xygalatas
tags→ tags
Religion, Ritual, Worship, Sacrifice
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Cover image

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