Sorority Rituals - Reflections On Rites of ... - Mari Ann Callais

internal value system or they know they will be held to a certain behavior by the situation in
which they place themselves. They seek a group that will reinforce the beliefs that they hold to be
important.
Several of the participants indicated similarities between sorority ritual and religious
types of ceremonies that have been important to them. Some of the participants used words such
as “sacred” and “spiritual” to exemplify the parallels that they perceived between the sorority
ritual and religious ceremonies. Several of the participants related the ritual ceremony to that of a
church service with some of them using the analogy of some type of Catholic service or ritual
specifically. These participants see ritual as solemn, contemplative, and formal. The ritual
atmosphere, including candles, singing, and recitation of some type of vows or promises, invokes
thoughts of weddings or other religious ceremonies. The participants’ association between
religious beliefs and the ritual ceremony was not unexpected as some of the sororities were
founded on religious principles and many incorporate religious symbols into their rituals. For
many of the participants, the very nature of the ritual in a ceremonial context invoked association
with religious ceremonies, even if they did not see themselves as “religious” or “spiritual”
women.
Sorority Women’s Perception of Ritual
The second theme conveyed by the participants’ descriptions was the sorority women’s
perception of ritual as a bonding experience, as a tradition, or as a required activity. The sorority
women stated that participation in ritual serves to remind them of the purpose of their
organization. They indicated that ritual made them focus on what was important and some went
as far as to state that people actually treated other members with more respect after participating
in ritual. Victor Turner (1969) noted this “restoration of behavior” as part of his investigation of
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