Sacred Religious Music Culatural Rituals

What sorts of rituals are performed in the music culture that could be called "religious"? In what ways do these rituals bring their participants into the realm of the "sacred".
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In music culture, various rituals are used. These rituals include sporting rituals, religious rituals, and schooling rituals. Some of the expression used in communication includes music, drama, and visual arts. These rituals have various effects on the participants and they can either have positive or negative effect on the participant.
Music being a centre of a culture of a society, it brings unity and enhance peace and love between members of a society. By people uniting, and being at peace with each other the evil thoughts are eliminated and care for the neighbors` enhanced. This brings them closer to living a sacred life. In Ghana, the Hatsiatsia is a ritual ceremony performed on the first Sunday of each month. The people from large circle with a bucket of holy water in the centre of the circle. While dancing slowly around the bucket, they all get a chance to dip their hands into the bucket to wipe their faces with water. The water is used as a symbol of forgiving and forgetting (washing away) and discord between friends and family during the past month. This music is played on metal gongs.
Evil spirits otherwise known as pepo in Swahili language by East Africans along the coast are the most feared among all things in most Traditional African societies. Music is believed to have a healing effect on the believers who are affected by this spirits. The Taita of South Eastern Kenya attribute the legend of creation to musical powers, and similar to many native African tribal groups, approach healing through music and dance. Because music is such an integral part of Taita culture, Benzon (2001) explains that it is capable of transforming the mental state and infusing a supernatural healing in a patient within a cultural context. According to the Taita, illness is a result of sprit entities known as "Pepo" that present themselves in certain individuals, and the cure lies in the drumming, song, and dance of the Ngoma ritual. For the Taita, those who wish to benefit from the supernatural powers of song and dance in the Ngoma ritual must participate in the healing ceremonies for other individuals.
During this healing process, the people who were to be cleansed were to follow the dancers and sing and dance together with them. The duty of the healer was to discern who possessed the evil spirit. If this person is not identified, he/she would be affected by this music and start dancing different rhythm than the others making him easily identifiable. Others people may request the healer because they know they possess the spirit though they may not know which type. Then it is the role of the healer to observe their behavior and response to music and know which type of the spirit was affecting them so that the healing could be carried out (Cochran, 2010).
This cooperation creates strength within the community and provides the musical and spiritual energy for the patient to enter the trance state that is necessary to calm the Pepo.
By healing this evil spirits the biggest threat to purity in the society is eliminated thus achieving a step closer to purity thus closer to being sacred.
Music was used during the rites of passage. There are various rites of passage in this traditional Africans societies starting from birth, circumcision, marriage and death.
In many African societies, it was a taboo for a man to marry before he is circumcised. Failure to uphold this believe would make the ancestors angry thus would release evil spirits to the community which would have the effect of bringing drought, diseases outbreak and even deaths to all those responsible. Music and dance were exercised before any circumcision was to take place. The initiates were dancing songs till the following morning when the initiation rite was to take place. This played a role of ensuring that the right directions were followed as per believe thereby avoiding consequences such as God`s wrath therefore a great step toward purity in a society (Cochran, 2010).
Traditional African communities used to hold many prayer ceremonies like thanksgiving prayers, prayers for rain. This is where this people could connect with their gods. During these ceremonies, songs were sung so as to give way for the main event to take place. These were very special times which would determine how this people`s future would be like. By singing these songs, they were able to reconnect with their gods therefore not distancing themselves from their ways thus making them a bit pure.
Sacrifices are also known to have been carried ...