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Ritualistic is what archaeologists call everything when they can't tell what it's there for, but it was clearly there for a reason. It sounds like it means rel
by astrange 2y ago
Ritualistic is what archaeologists call everything when they can't tell what it's there for, but it was clearly there for a reason.
It sounds like it means religious, but it's more general than that.
- AlotOfReading 2y agoThe word ritual is orthogonal to how much is known about the usage. "Ritual" is just a way to describe objects that have some higher purpose, beyond any mundane and utilitarian purposes their basic form might serve. The textbook example is a thurible, the censer on a chain used in churches. They're not used because anyone specifically wants a lot of smoke in the air (a fog machine would do just fine) or because swinging them is fun, but rather because there's a higher ritual purpose being served by those particular objects being used in those particular ways. It's like calling an object rugged or utilitarian. It's not a statement on what you know about the object's specific purpose, but rather an adjective describing something else entirely.
- scotty79 2y agoI get all that. But then what "supernatural" context is?
- astrange 2y agoHmm, isn't rugged strongly associated with the purpose of something? It's like "military-grade", it means it's designed to stand up to heavy usage in bad conditions. Maybe that's "ruggedized".
- AlotOfReading 2y agoIt's not indicative of the specific purpose of something. You can have a rugged backpack, a rugged water bottle, and a rugged vehicle without any of them sharing the same purpose to you.