He crowned her with roses, girded her with verbena, in the costume of an amorous holocaust.

Ritual will always mean throwing away something: destroying our corn or wine upon the altar of our gods.

Blues, spirituals, and folk tales recounted from mouth to mouth . . . all these formed the channels through which the racial wisdom flowed.

Rituals are important. Nowadays it's hip not to be married. I'm not interested in being hip.

In other words, the unique value of the 'authentic' work of art has its basis in ritual, the location of its original use value. This ritualistic basis, however remote, is still recognizable as secularized ritual even in the most profane forms of the cult of beauty.

In an article offering a law enforcement perspective on allegations of ritual abuse, Lanning (1992, A law-enforcement perspective on allegations of ritual abuse) fails to give a precise definition of the term. Although he is quoted as having conducted a seven-year study FBI study that gives evidence that ritual abuse does not exist, when Noblitt and Perskin (2000, Cult and ritual abuse) requested a copy of his study from the FBI, “the bureau responded in writing that no such study existed.” (p. 179).