Ritual and Symbol: Funeral and Naming Rituals in an African Indigenous Community

Religious ritual is a particular instrument of communication that goes beyond the explicit content into the realms of implicit symbolic meaning. Frits Staal has debunked this concept and argues that ‘ritual is pure activity without meaning or goal’ and ‘transmits no socio-cultural values other than the ritual itself’. ¹ While it must be understood that there can be ambivalence and ambiguity around ritual and meanings, the rituals examined in this chapter contradict Staal's view. By examing the case of the Amasiri people, a clan within the Igbo people of southeast Nigeria, I argue that beyond ritual itself, through their funeral and naming rituals, the Amasiri appropriate symbols to convey meanings to the ritual officiants, participants and the community. Furthermore, by reconsidering the resilience of religious practices among the Amasiri in the face of Christianity, Western-influenced education and other change agents, Staal's claim is shown to be inaccurate and false.