Paper short abstract:

Ethnographic evidence from weddings taking place during the Covid pandemic demonstrates that critical times play a significant part in disturbing the status quo, accelerating change, which may already have begun, and causing rituals to change permanently.

Paper long abstract:

The Covid pandemic had a huge impact on Scottish weddings. At worst, government restrictions caused many weddings to be cancelled or postponed, or at best reshaped. At its most severe only five people were allowed to take part in a wedding.

Using ethnographic evidence gathered at the height of the pandemic, this paper describes the impact, both positive and negative of Lockdown restrictions on nine Scottish couples getting or attempting to get married during the pandemic. These couples, as well as thousands more, were forced to create new ways of organising their wedding, conducting the marriage ceremony, and celebrating the reception that followed. Most of the usual components of the wedding ritual, such as dining together, followed by music and dancing - all involving close physical contact – were prohibited. Therefore, weddings became smaller, generally less expensive, and more intimate. These new ways might be termed “crisis rituals”.

As life in Scotland begins to return to “normal” I explore the extent to which these and “crisis rituals” from other life cycle rituals may or may not be incorporated into the new order. In so doing, I show that critical times, such as the pandemic, play a significant part in disturbing the status quo and accelerating change which may already have begun, causing rituals to change permanently.

Paper short abstract:

COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted funeral ritual practices in Europe and Slovenia, with strict regulations on visits and limits on attendees causing difficulties for families and altering traditional farewell rituals.

Paper long abstract:

In Europe and Slovenia, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted funeral rituals and mourning practices. Hospitals have imposed strict regulations on visits, making it difficult for families to be present with their loved ones during the end of their lives and say goodbye in person, adding to emotional distress and uncertainty. Governments have also imposed strict limits on the number of people who can attend funerals, resulting in many families turning to virtual funerals, prioritizing cremation over burial, and simplifying funeral services while limiting or canceling traditional rituals such as visitations and wakes.

The pandemic has also made it difficult for people to meet their basic need of touch, as many governments have implemented social distancing measures. This made it challenging for people to maintain physical contact with loved ones, especially those who are vulnerable or in quarantine or isolation. This lack of touch had a negative impact on mental and emotional well-being, forcing people to find new ways to connect and get the touch they need.

Overall, our field and media research shows, that the pandemic has greatly impacted traditional funeral and mourning ritual practices, causing emotional distress and limiting people's ability to bid farewell to their loved ones and to mourn in the traditional way, forcing many families to adapt and make changes to traditional funeral practices.

Paper short abstract:

The 2020-2021 pandemic led to a massive disruption of ritual practices designed to ensure a 'good death' for loved ones and their families and friends. I will link this general issue to how religious and non-religious professionals reacted to the disruption of traditional rituals in London.

Paper long abstract:

The 2020-2021 pandemic led to a massive disruption of ritual practices designed to ensure a 'good death' for loved ones and their families and friends. I will link this general issue to how religious and non-religious professionals reacted to the disruption of traditional rituals by focussing on the UK's capital city, London, drawing on research undertaken in the city's 'East End' as part of an international project funded by the Volkswagen Stiftung. In the talk I will explore ways in which religious and non-religous professionals sought to ensure 'good deaths' through the performance of traditional and new rituals by comparing the practices performed at the Brick Lane Great Mosque in the heartland of the Bangladeshi community in Tower Hamlets with those devised by the Bangladeshi Muslim female manager of a funeral business in a neighbouring borough.

Paper short abstract:

During Covid19 lockdowns, a community of Dutch Shi'as navigated Muharram majalis both online and offline. The use of digital technologies and media grew, but this was not highly consumed by the average Shi'a practitioner. How do Shias perceive/practice majalis online and offline?

Paper long abstract:

During the 2020 wave of Covid19-related lockdowns, a community of Dutch Shi'as navigated Muharram rituals both online and offline. Muharram rituals involve gathering for a majlis, a congregational sermon and ritual practice that commemorates the historical Battle of Karbala. This is a long-standing, 1400-year old practice that has been foundational in Shi'a identity, practice, and cultural memory. Usually, a majlis is a deeply embodied and inter-corporeal experience. It is highly mediated through all sorts of technologies, with online digital technologies gaining momentum in the past few decades. My expectations during fieldwork were that due to the pandemic, I'd see great changes in how a majlis was conducted. However, the tension between pandemic restrictions and communal rituals was managed in a way that produced unexpected outcomes. Notably, that the use of digital technologies and media grew, but this was not highly consumed by the average Shi'a practitioner, nor even seen as a viable substitute for the "real thing".

This paper argues that the way crisis- understood as rupture, disconnect, and disengagement- is managed by communities depends deeply on who they perceive themselves to be; on relationality; inter-corporeality; collective memory; and what outcome the community envisions. I will substantiate this argument with ethnographic research conducted with a Shi'a group in the Netherlands.

Paper short abstract:

The project addresses the structure and new meanings of online religious practices in the time of war in Ukraine. Rosary online unites thousands of Christian believers daily on zhyve.tv. When started first as a “corona ritual” in 2021, it turned into a “war ritual” after Russia’s aggression in 2022.

Paper long abstract:

The project addresses the religious practice of rosary online (“Vervytsia yednaie”, zhyve.tv) that started first as a “corona ritual” in 2021 and turned into a “war ritual” after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine in 2022. Having reshaped the rosary practice to digital spaces, the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church performs its official mission of building a community. However, digitalization processes encourage the church to go further and build even a global online community of Ukrainians. With this study, I argue that online spaces may give believers more freedom to personalize their religious experiences. Still, the rituals also become a tool to expand the influence of religious organizations, assert religious authority and build a loyal community of believers. The research case focuses on the practice of rosary online within the frameworks of hypermediation theory (Evolvi, 2019) and the concept of “media settlers” (Kołodziejska et al., 2022): 1) to demonstrate the fluidity of religious performance between offline and online contexts; 2) to define the roles of religious actors, in particular, religious authorities in the “war ritual”; 3) to study the incorporation of online religious practices into societal and personal life of women believers.

Keywords: online religion, war ritual, Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, rosary

Paper short abstract:

Comparing Marcel Mauss’ theory of the gift (1926) to Hawaiian gift-giving traditions as expressed in legend, proverbs, and chants, this presentation examines contemporary ritual practices that double as coping mechanisms during volcanic eruptions.

Paper long abstract:

Volcanic eruptions are notoriously unpredictable, uncontrollable, and unsafe. Living among volcanoes is to live in landscapes of constant transformation, which can cause stress and uncertainty. How do people cope with that? Storytelling and ritual practices like offering gifts to divine powers are ways to cope with the uncertainties of volcanic eruptions. Additionally, indigenous epistemologies may offer frameworks of perceiving the land as a living entity that is always in flux and, like the ocean, is an embodiment (kinolau) of the divine (Swanson 2008). This presentation will focus on folk belief and offerings to the volcano goddess Pele on Hawaiʻi Island, the southernmost of the Hawaiian Islands, which is home to the world’s most active volcano, Kīlauea. Since 2018 alone, approximately 600 homes have been swallowed by Kīlauea’s lava flows. Although American language and culture appear to dominate present-day Hawaiʻi, folk belief in Pele indicates a deep-seated Hawaiian worldview in which the land belongs to the gods, and humans merely are the stewards of the land. Pele, the land-eater, is also the land-creator (Nimmo 2011). People seek to establish a reciprocal relationship with her by leaving offerings (hoʻokupu), thus evoking Hawaiian cultural traditions about showing respect for one’s elders (Pele as ancestor) and asking for protection from the ruler of the land (Pele as chief). Comparing Marcel Mauss’ theory of the gift (1926) to Hawaiian gift-giving traditions as expressed in legend, proverbs, and chants, this presentation examines contemporary ritual ad-hoc practices that double as coping mechanisms during and after volcanic eruptions.