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Taboos And Small Ritual: There was a host of private and domestic religious acts.In the peasant society depicted in the writings of Hesiod, the farmer observed many taboos and small ritual acts to keep a right relationship with the gods. In later times there were small shrines everywhere in country areas, and even in the city the family would have its own shrine or altar for the simplest offering to the household deity—perhaps merely a garland or a few drops of wine. There was no ordained priesthood, although there were special cases such as the Delphic Pythia or the hereditary priesthood of the Eumolpidae at Eleusis. Civic worship was conducted in the open air; the god had his statue within the temple, and often outside it as well.
All traditions have had prophets who speak out against some rituals and attempt to establish new patterns. These prophets have effected changes in ritual, but the changes are usually slow and take place over a relatively long period of time. Ritual is essentially an expression of conservatism.
RITUAL LAW, the portion of the law of Moses that prescribes the ceremonies of public religious worship, the manner of making trespass offerings, the procedure for the discovery of leprosy, for the purification of women after childbirth, the discrimination of things clean and unclean, etc. The ritual laws of the Hebrews are contained mostly in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
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