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In the urban centers of Türkiye, where cultural changes are more widespread and effective, wedding processional is replaced by the solemnization of the marriage at indoor weddings, and the Kūdegū (old Turkic language; refers to bridegroom, son-in-law) awaiting the bride's arrival at the boy's house is replaced by differences in the way of the bride and groom's entry together; moreover, while wedding rituals such as the bridal bath and groom's hammam are being forgotten, bachelor/bachelorette parties are on the rise. The beliefs and practices related to the bride being taken out of the girl's house with a special ceremony have deep meanings, such as blessing the bride who has just joined the family, acclimatizing the bride who feels like an outsider and avoiding her from these feelings, and protecting the bride and groom from the körmös (spirits in Turkic mythology, devilish entities living in the underworld), bad spirits, and the evil eye. In this paper, the structure, function, practices, and beliefs of the rituals surrounding the bride and groom on the last day of Anatolian Turkish weddings are analyzed using a qualitative research method. In addition, this study identified the betrothal, performance, beliefs, and practices surrounding the ritual of "bridal pick up" among Anatolian Turks and evaluated the symbols and signs in the ritual procedures in the functional context of the origins and reflections of traditional Turkish beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every Purim, synagogues read the biblical Book of Esther aloud in liturgy, a tradition that exemplifies how synagogue performance practices elaborate on, revise, and refine minor characters in the text. This paper studies four such minor characters in performance from the second century to the present: Haman's sons, Zeresh, Harbona, and Vashti. These characters evince ways in which performance practices of biblical texts construct moral and psychological assessments of characters in the story, through the interaction of audience, performer, text, and liturgical framing. Further, biblical characters are performed differently in ways which parallel textual interpretation of biblical texts as well as changing social trends and values. In performance, the narrative-critical work of characterization comes alive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the settlement under the mountains, the Chinese Oroqen has started comprehensive interaction with other ethnic groups, and gradually adapted to the wider society. During this process, the shaman culture, which has accompanied the Oroqen's daily life and social development for a long time, has changed accordingly. Through looking at the changes of shaman culture, the self-adjustment process of Oroqen people in the transition from traditional to modern society can be better understood. It is also an important entry point to understand the social and cultural transformation and community consciousness of Oroqen people, which helps to understand their cultural self-confidence and identity consciousness. Grounded in ethnographic observations, especially "the last shaman" Guan Kouni's life story, this paper traces the shaman culture and its social significance in the traditional society for Oroqen people. With the help of the research paradigm of "embedding–disembedding–re-embedding", the article compares the reshaping of the identity of Oroqen shamans under the combined effect of various socio-historical events since the settlement, smoothing out the changing process in the Oroqen shaman culture, and discussing the transformation of the social function of Oroqen shaman. This article offers a more comprehensive picture of the cultural changes of Oroqen shaman since the settlement under the mountains, in order to clarify the role and functions played by Oroqen shamans at contemporary society and provide a reference case for understanding the significant transformation of the original functions and status of the traditional elites of ethnic minorities in the theoretical sense. The study explores motivations for the deepening of cultural consciousness among ethnic groups in the context of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study deals with some changes identifiable on the level of folk religion, i.e., of the religious expression of ordinary people. Its premises are that folk religion is a subsegment of religion, fulfilling specific functions which official or elite religion fail to satisfy. The paper lies on a theoretical grounding stemming mainly from the Scandinavian school of comparative religion and folkloristics and applies these theories to examples from Romania. In this way, the specific functions of folk religion are analyzed, and the question is asked how these needs come to be met once people detach from the rural values. It is found that individuals which have lost their connection to traditions also head with their needs to cognitively lees costly religious forms, this time to global forms, which had become contents of the now enlarged pool of tradition. These contents are actualized in accordance with the concrete personal needs. In different forms of new spiritualities many characteristics of folk religion can be identified, moreover, they take similar roles. This demonstrates that folk religion has its own dynamism, transforming to reflect social and cultural change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like most tribal societies, the socio-religious system of the Karbis of Assam also largely conforms to the belief in magic, spirits, and the ancestor cult. The Chomangkan is one of the most important rituals of the Karbis and mirrors their philosophy of life and death. The Karbis believe that the Chomangkan guides the soul of the dead in its journey to the afterlife, but it is not an immediate funeral ritual, and the relatives of the deceased usually take years to perform it on account of its expensive and elaborate nature. An essential aspect of the ritual is the singing of the oral epics Kacharhe Alun and Mosera Kihir, which are compositions that recount the migration history of the Karbis as the dead embarks on its journey to the 'village of the ancestors'. The Karbis, who are a clan-based society, have been influenced by Hinduism and Christianity in the last few decades, which has led to a synthesis of the new faiths with the traditional belief system. Therefore, Chomangkan has become a rare ritual, which makes its documentation crucial to preserving Karbi history and culture. Using ethnographic research methods, this paper attempts to critically examine continuity and change in the 'ritual of the dead', or Chomangkan, practiced among the Karbi community in Assam. It will also provide insights into the ways in which Chomangkan as a community festival offers an opportunity for the clans and sub-clans to express solidarity, symbolizing the integration of the Karbi lineages in the face of a changing cultural context through various periods of its history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]