“I started my journey with ritual as a sceptic. To me, the human obsession with ceremony seemed puzzling.”
 
Long considered arcane and dismissed as worthy of scientific inquiry, the act of ritual and its benefits for the individual and collective are now being explored with rigour.
 
From observation and fieldwork in Greece, Spain, India and Mauritius, Xygalatas reveals to us the significance of rites that have endured alongside more recent forms of ritual, to unveil their psychosomatic effects.
 
Ceremony is an intrinsic part of our nature to help us connect, find meaning and discover our values. The author sums it up: we are the ritual species.