Final answer:
Participating in rituals, according to anthropologists and spiritualists, has the benefit of enhancing mood through increased neurotransmitters, fostering social cohesion, offering psychological comfort in crises, and enabling spiritual connections.
Step-by-step explanation:
Anthropologists and spiritualists suggest that participating in rituals offers numerous benefits to individuals and communities. These practices can lead to increased levels of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin in the brain, which are chemicals associated with feelings of happiness and social bonding. Moreover, rituals serve as a medium for psychological comfort, establishing social order, and providing symbolic representation during life's transitions and crises.
Rituals like dancing, singing, and achieving trance-like states play integral roles in unifying people, elevating mood, and reinforcing community solidarity, especially evident in ancestral societies. They help maintain the balance of opposing forces and bring forth emotional support during times of stress, such as settler incursion or outbreaks of disease. Through rituals, participants can potentially gain therapeutic benefits, inducing healing, and experiencing mystical or transformative states, sometimes facilitating out-of-body experiences.
Across cultures, rituals enact rites of passage, rites of intensification, and revitalization, serving not just practical goals but also enabling participants to connect with supernatural beings. Such rituals also reinforce cognitive functions like anthropomorphizing, making spiritual entities more relatable and understandable, thus deepening participants' spiritual connections.