Five - The Cosmos in Manifestations of Identity, Memory, and Remembrance

Summary

In this chapter we discuss festivals conventionally categorised as polis cults and initiation rituals, with the intention to investigate how time, memory, the re-enactment of myths and performances, and the integration of a seemingly participating cosmos become active ingredients within religious space. Since ritual performance translates to ritual and performative memory, a study combining temporal conditions, ritual narratives, and space has the potential to enhance understanding of how the human body responds to stimulants responsible for structuring experience and constructing context-specific memories, be they architectural, performative, or temporal.