Heortology
Heortology (from the Greek ἑορτή, feast / feast day ) is the doctrine of feasts or " festivity ". It explains how festivals come about and explains their content, subject matter and customs. If the heortology is in the service of an established religious community, it usually creates a heortology , a religious festival calendar, which z. B. in the Christian context represents the church year and the holy days in context and in some cases also explained.
Subject
The heortology is fed by four scientific departments, sociology , philosophy , religious studies and theology .
The sociology (with Émile Durkheim as a pioneer) asks about the meaning of religion and particularly of celebrations for the company. In France in particular, secular festivals were put in place of religious festivals and, in special, elevated times, were intended to promote self-determination in society.
The philosophy asks for the connection of parties with personal human life issues. To what extent does committing special times express human fears and hopes? To what extent are generally perceived truths expressed and confirmed in cults , rituals and customs ? The cultural scientist Johan Huizinga is considered a pioneer with his book Homo ludens . The summary of biographical festivals as "rites of passage" became important for both sociology and philosophy .
The Religious Studies discovered in the festivities visible most clearly expressions of life of most religions. In which manifestations does the sacred encounter the believers? Mircea Eliade has proven to be particularly influential, as she judged religion to have a stronger influence on society.
Christian theology asks about the importance of the church year for a society, also with regard to the dwindling influence of the churches. She examines the lingering weight of traditional celebrations like Christmas and analyzes the emergence of new festivals that either have a certain religious reference like Halloween or are seemingly completely secular like soccer games and championships.
literature
- Celebrations and holidays. In: TRE, Volume XI, Berlin / New York 1983, pp. 93-143, ISBN 3110085771 There is a detailed bibliography.
- Christoph Peter Baumann: The etiquette of the world religions. Celebrations, customs and correct behavior at a glance. Stuttgart 2005, ISBN 3783125294
- Susanne Galley : The Jewish year. Celebrations, memorials and holidays. Munich 2003, ISBN 3-406-49442-0 .
- Hermann Kirchhoff : Christian Customs. Festivals and customs in the annual cycle. Munich 1995, ISBN 3466364167
- Annemarie Schimmel : The Islamic Year. Times and festivals. Munich 2001, ISBN 3406475671
- Anton Joseph Binterim : From the ecclesiastical heortology and chronology, or from the Heil. Festivals and times. In: The most excellent memorabilia of the Christian-Catholic Church from the first, middle and last times, with special consideration for the discipline of the Catholic Church in Germany. Volume I – VII, Mainz 1825–1832, Volume V, 1st part.