Part of the ceremony of the Changing of the Guard in Whitehall, London.

A ceremony is an activity, infused with ritual significance, performed on a special occasion. A ritual is a set of actions often thought to have Symbolic value the performance of which is usually prescribed by a Religion or by the Traditions

Celebration of life

A ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a human career, marking the significance of (for example):

• birth
• initiation
• puberty
• social adulthood
• graduation
• marriage
• death
• burial

Government ceremonies

Sometimes, a ceremony may only be performed by a person with certain authority. A rite of passage is a Ritual that marks a change in a person's social or sexual status Career is a term defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as an individual's "course or progress through life (or a distinct portion of life" Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a Human Pregnancy or Initiation is a Rite of passage Ceremony marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society For the 2008 British film by Noel Clarke see Adulthood (film. Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an Academic degree or the associated ceremony NOTICE TO WOULD-BE ROMEOS ************** Death is the termination of the biological functions that define living Organisms It refers both to a specific Burial, also called interment and inhumation, is the act of placing a person or object into the ground For example, the opening of the United Kingdom Parliament is presided over by the Sovereign (currently Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II). In the United Kingdom, the State Opening of Parliament is an annual event held usually in October or November that marks the commencement of a session of the Parliament For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II The naming and launching of a warship will be under the supervision of its captain or a higher-ranked naval officer. A wedding will be performed by a priest or a Civil Celebrant, as in Australia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The President of the United States is customarily sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States, and the British sovereign is always crowned by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The President of the United States is the Head of state and Head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in United States by The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the judicial branch of the government of the United States, and presides over the U TalkCommonewalth realm.--> The monarchy The Archbishop of Canterbury is the chief bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the

Celebration of events

Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events like:

• vernal equinox
• winter solstice
• weekly Sabbath day
• inauguration of an elected office-holder
• occasions in a liturgical year or "feasts" in a calendar of saints

Other ceremonies underscore the importance of irregular special occasions, such as:

• coronation of a monarch
• victory in battle

In some Asian cultures, ceremonies also play an important role, for example the tea ceremony. An equinox is the event of the Sun passing over the Earth's equator in its annual cycle The winter solstice occurs at the instant when the Sun 's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the In Christianity, the Sabbath is generally a weekly religious Day of rest as ordained by one of the Ten Commandments (the third by Roman Catholic An inauguration is a ceremony of formal Investiture whereby an individual assumes an office or position of authority or power The liturgical year, also known as the Christian year, consists of the cycle of liturgical seasons in Christian churches which determines when The Calendar of saints is a traditional Christian method of organizing a Liturgical year on the level of days by associating each day with one or more Saints A coronation is a ceremony marking the investiture of a Monarch with regal power specifically involving the placement of a crown upon his or her head and the A tea ceremony is an Asian ritualised form of making Tea. The term generally refers to the Japanese tea ceremony.

Process

Ceremonies may have a physical display or theatrical component: dance, a procession, the laying on of hands. Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) is the branch of the Performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one Dance (from French danser, perhaps from Frankish) is an Art form that generally refers to movement of the body usually rhythmic A procession (via Middle English processioun, French procession, derived from Latin processio, itself from procedere, to go forth advance A declaratory verbal pronouncement may explain or cap the occasion, for instance:

• I now pronounce you man and wife.
• I swear to serve and defend the nation . . .
• I declare open the games of . . .
• I/We dedicate this . . . . . . to . . .

Both physical and verbal components of a ceremony may become part of a liturgy. A liturgy is the customary public worship done by a specific religious group according to their particular traditions

See also

• rite of passage
• gift
• human condition
• initiation rite
• Tjurunga
• Event planning