{"product_id":"ritual-perspectives-and-dimensionsrevised-edition-9780199735105","title":"Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions--Revised Edition","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom handshakes and toasts to chant and genuflection  ritual pervades our social interactions and religious practices. Still  few of us could identify all of our daily and festal ritual behaviors  much less explain them to an outsider. Similarly  because of the variety of activities that qualify as ritual and their many contradictory yet  in many ways  equally legitimate interpretations  ritual seems to elude any systematic historical and comparative scrutiny. In this book  Catherine Bell offers a practical introduction to ritual practice and its study; she surveys the most influential theories of religion and ritual  the major categories of ritual activity  and the key debates that have shaped our understanding of ritualism. Bell refuses to nail down ritual with any one definition or understanding. Instead  her purpose is to reveal how definitions emerge and evolve and to help us become more familiar with the interplay of tradition  exigency  and self- expression that goes into constructing this complex social medium.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651888668725,"sku":"ByrdShop_0199735107","price":35.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780199735105.jpg?v=1781844065","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/ritual-perspectives-and-dimensionsrevised-edition-9780199735105","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}