Book Description:
This book presents current research in the study of the types, efficacy and myths of ritualistic behaviors. Topics gathered by the authors from across the globe include the modern case studies of parallels to ancient Greek cave rituals; rituals marking transitions between different life stages in the elderly; ritual complexes of North-West Siberia in the 17th-18th centuries; healing rituals of Brazil; the myth of the ayahuasca ritual in Europe and the cult of the horse in the Sakha religious and ritual practice of the 19th century. (Imprint: Nova)

Table of Contents:
Preface

Rituals in Greek Caves: From Modern Case Studies to Ancient Sources;pp. 1-51
(Evy Johanne Håland, Senior Researcher: Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow, Department of Archaeology and History of Art, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece/Norway)

Transition into an Age of Supported Independence: A Rite of Passage?;pp. 53-76
(Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett, Dept of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand, and others)

Ritual Complexes of North-West Siberia in XVII-XVIII Centuries: (According to Archaeological Data);pp. 77-108
(Oleg Kardash, RPA Northern Archaeology Ltd., Belfast, Ireland)

Ritual Healing: A History of its Development and Proliferation in Brazil;pp. 109-126
(Sidney M. Greenfield, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA)

The Myth of Ayahuasca;pp. 127-144
(Janine Tatjana Schmid, Institute of Medical Psychology, University of Heidelberg, Germany)

The Cult of the Horse in the Sakha Religious and Ritual Practice of the 19th Century;pp. 145-155
(Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutsk, Russia)

Index