The term ceremony is used to designate all those solemn events that involve some type of celebration, festivity, tribute or celebration and that are carried out following some traditional rules or rituals.
Formal events in which something or someone is celebrated, honored or commemorated by following rituals or rules
The ceremony is the moment in which the central part of a celebration takes place, that is, for example, the moment in which the couple say yes in a wedding, or the moment in which a child is baptized.
It is made up of a series of rituals, uses and customs and formalities that are already stipulated by a norm or by the uses and customs of the context or region in which it takes place.
They are usually carried out in the public sphere with the motivation of expressing feelings of admiration, tribute, respect and joy regarding a past or present event, or about a character.
And of course there are also private ceremonies, such as those already mentioned of baptism, communion, marriage, fifteen-year birthdays, among the most common.
Worship and honor your mission
The ceremonies are as old as the human being himself and were born to worship deities or other figures of mythology or reality to which sacrifices, tributes were offered, among other issues.
Over time these ceremonies moved to celebrate and honor significant people or events in history.
We must also say in favor of the ceremonies that each culture has stipulated its ceremonies, which are surrounded and loaded with elements inherent to their customs, history and regulations, and for example this has added to them when defining their identity as a people.
The concept of ceremony is very interesting if we take into account that all societies on the planet carry out and have carried out this type of action throughout their history, with different objectives, interests or projects.
In general, the ceremonies are events or happy moments although there are also ceremonies full of sadness or nostalgia, for example when we talk about funeral ceremonies.
All human societies have and have had throughout their history the concept of ceremony present in their daily lives.
Classes, characteristics and preparation
From ritual, magical and amazing ceremonies to rational, individual or collective ceremonies, we can find an infinite variety according to the society or civilization that we study.
This shows us that the ceremony is a common way for human beings to celebrate some important event (births, marriages, achievements) but also to celebrate the different stages of life such as death or life in the afterlife. .
Nowadays, in Western society, the idea of ceremony is almost exclusively related to that of a party and it always involves special preparation, in some cases that can involve a great cost and investment.
Wedding ceremonies are the most common and are large celebrations attended by many people and include different times like the ceremony in question plus the entire after party.
In fact, there are groups and companies that organize these ceremonies privately, which shows us how complex this concept is in our society today.
On the contrary, many other non-Western societies maintain simpler forms and much more related to the nature of ceremony that put their members in contact with natural, religious and mystical forces.
Although ceremonies aimed at remembering and honoring some historical event, or some relevant character of the country, are also very common, for example, in schools, students perform ceremonies to revalue them.
Formal and courteous treatment
And on the other hand, the concept is used to designate the formal and ceremonial way with which someone treats a person, either because he or she has a title or position that the protocol requires, or failing that, because of respect and admiration you profess.
"Maria treats her boss with great ceremony every time she sees him."
A person who acts in this way, that is, is careful and respectful to the extreme of forms and courtesy rules, is said to be ceremonial.
