While in Prague, I took a couple of walks across the Charles Bridge (Karlov Most):
The bridge dates to the 14th century, and during the day is occupied with tourists who cross it as a link between Prague Castle and the Old Town, with great views of the city and the Vltava River. Vendors selling paintings and jewelry, statues, and oddities permeated all parts of the bridge, making it not so much a pleasant stroll but one filled with lots to see. One of the more interesting monuments on the Charles Bridge is this one, which many tourists were reaching out to touch:
The base is clearly rubbed often, given its shininess, and I wondered why. Consulting my guidebook, I found that rubbing the base will bring you back to Prague. Another search, through google, found this statue and others that would variously either guarantee a return to Prague or bring good luck or some other fortune.
In any case, this got me thinking a lot about the nature of ritual. How do people know to touch this statue, in this spot? How do they know what will happen when the do it? Is it because of a guide book, or because they see others doing it?
How much of what we know is based on our observations, our traditions, our "ways of doing things" that are influenced and shaped by what others have done before us? How much are our actions not so much about the result as the process of the ritual itself?
And how is any of this that different from rituals that took place in antiquity?
The bridge dates to the 14th century, and during the day is occupied with tourists who cross it as a link between Prague Castle and the Old Town, with great views of the city and the Vltava River. Vendors selling paintings and jewelry, statues, and oddities permeated all parts of the bridge, making it not so much a pleasant stroll but one filled with lots to see. One of the more interesting monuments on the Charles Bridge is this one, which many tourists were reaching out to touch:
The base is clearly rubbed often, given its shininess, and I wondered why. Consulting my guidebook, I found that rubbing the base will bring you back to Prague. Another search, through google, found this statue and others that would variously either guarantee a return to Prague or bring good luck or some other fortune.
In any case, this got me thinking a lot about the nature of ritual. How do people know to touch this statue, in this spot? How do they know what will happen when the do it? Is it because of a guide book, or because they see others doing it?
How much of what we know is based on our observations, our traditions, our "ways of doing things" that are influenced and shaped by what others have done before us? How much are our actions not so much about the result as the process of the ritual itself?
And how is any of this that different from rituals that took place in antiquity?
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