Tag Archives: ritual

Ritual – Easter egg hunt

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

My informant spends every Easter with their extended family, having dinner together and going Easter egg hunting as a kid

“Every Easter the parents spend the night before Easter hiding plastic eggs filled with candy and money all around my uncle’s property (they have it there every year) for the kids go hunting for. The winner each year gets a large chocolate bunny as a prize.”

Easter egg hunting is a good example of a family-based ritual that revolves around a season. Rituals like this strengthen family bonds, create shared memories, and transmit customs and cultural values from one generation to the next. The parents hiding the eggs creates this element of mystery and preparation adding to the sense of excitement and wonder the children have for Easter. The eggs themselves serve as a reward for effort and exploration, while also having folklore ties to fertility, renewal, and abundance associated with springtime festivals. The ritualized competition for the large chocolate bunny adds another layer of folklore. It creates a structure (hunt and prize) that builds excitement and anticipation for this event, making it stand out for the children. In many folk traditions repetition and structure are key to keeping a ritualized tradition like the Easter egg hunt alive.

Ritual – Christmas Morning

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Language: English

Christmas Morning in my informant’s Catholic family

“Every Christmas Morning my family takes a family photo. The guys wear one color of pajamas and the girls wear a different color. Then we get to open one present before having breakfast. After breakfast, we open all the gifts in our stocking before moving on to the rest of our presents”

My informant’s Christmas morning tradition is a good example of a ritual that combines family and religious values into a meaningful, structured sequence of events. Rituals tied to annual events help reaffirm groups cultural identity and shared cultural meaning. This ritual starts with the pajamas, all wearing the same color depending on gender, and represents the symbolic visual unity of my informant’s family. The color difference distinguishes gender roles within the family while also reinforcing that sense of unity and tradition. The family photo is a performative ritual that makes the passage of time and captures the moment. Folklorists would call this a “ritual documentation” that summaries a point in time and can be references across generations. The order of the events is very structured and creates a rhythm and sense of anticipation for Christmas morning. Though there is no religious content in this ritual, it still reflects the Catholic family values of unity, joy, and the celebration of special events. By repeating this structure every year, the family creates their own kind of folklore, passing down an informal tradition that can be shared across generations. In summary, this Christmas morning ritual seeks to strengthen family identity and mark the celebration of a special holiday.

Ritual – Going to Church every Easter

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA

My informant comes from a deeply religious family so Easter is an important holiday. They grew up celebrating it as a family and conducting the same rituals each year

“Each Easter my family and I go to our local church, receives the eucharist, and pray. We focuses on remembering Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, a belief that is central to what Easter means for us”

Rituals are a way for communities to reaffirm their shared beliefs, identity, and values through repeated actions. My informant’s Easter – going to church, receiving the eucharist, and praying – fits perfectly into this framework. These aren’t merely personal religious acts, but also serve as communal rituals which are an important part of Christian tradition. Celebrating with your community in this way has been passed down through generations. Receiving the eucharist is a rite of communion, both with God and with your faith-based community. It’s a performative ritual symbolic of the Last Supper, reenforcing Christian’s core belief in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection. Prayer during this time further deeps the ritual connection, serving as a collective and personal reaffirmation of faith.

Ritual – Christmas Eve

Nationality: American
Occupation: USC Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA

My informant is Catholic and his family makes a point to go to church every Christmas Eve and then have a family dinner

Pulled from a conversation I had with my informant:

“Every Christmas Eve we drive up to Pasadena to visit my grandma (grandpa is unfortunately not around anymore) and we all go to her church at 5pm. Then we have a family dinner at her house. We say grace and then everyone shares their favorite memory they had with someone in the room from the past year. Then we drive back home that night”

This Christmas Eve tradition is a great example of a family-based religious ritual that blends secular and sacred elements into a meaningful experience. This ritual is considered a “calendar custom” because of it’s tie to the holiday of Christmas. This ritual tradition reinforces shared values, communal identity, and connection across generations. Going to Mass on Christmas Eve is a formal religious ritual within Catholic tradition, serving as a reminder for the family of the sacred narrative of Christ’s birth. Folklorists would call this a “ritual performance” which is a symbolic act that makes this occasion distinct from the ordinary. After Mass, the family engages in a more domestic, intimate ritual centered around having dinner at Grandma’s house. Having a shared meal itself reflects the classic folklore structure of reinforcing social bonds and fostering kinship between family members. Saying grace is a continuation of the previous religious observance but now in the home space, adding a private ritual to the previous public one. A very meaningful part of this ritual then follows, with the sharing of favorite memories. This act is a personalized, reflective practice that serves to deepens the emotional bond between the people present at the dinner. Folklorists would call this a “narrative exchange”, an oral tradition that strengthens collective memory and honors individual experiences. The drive home is a shifting period, back into ordinary time, after a structured and meaningful experience. Overall, this tradition reinforces family bonds, religious identity, and storytelling across the generations.

Norwegian Lefsa Ritual

Age: 20

Date of Performance: 4/24/2025

Language: English

Nationality: American

Occupation: Student

Primary Language: English

Residence: United States

  1. Text

The informant is a college student. She referenced her family’s ritual of making Norwegian potato lefsa every year for Christmas. Lefsa is a flatbread made from potatoes, cream, flour and sugar. She mentioned how they make it every year and then get drunk afterwards.

2. Context

“Yes, we make lefsa every year to pay homage to our Norwegian heritage. It’s a Christmas tradition. And then not really sure why but, we get drunk after.”

“It started in Norway with my grandma’s grandparents and I’ve been doing it as long as I can remember. I like it, it’s yum.”

3. Analysis

This is a ritual that is again part of a holiday celebration, honoring Christmas festivities. For the informant, it is part of paying homage to her heritage, and conversely continuing tradition through it. It is a family bonding folklore experience, in that they all create the ritualistic dish together and follow the tradition of drinking together afterwards. They’ve long been practicing it and as the informant mentions, the taste of the dish is important as well in the enjoyment of the ritual.