Rituals are ubiquitous. They can be found in everyday life, politics, professional settings, and religious contexts. Rituals have existed throughout all times and cultures. As a staged form of symbolic action, rituals have recently become a central subject of cultural scientific analysis. Various interdisciplinary perspectives and questions emerge here: cultural memory, performance, theatricality, body/corporeality, staging, symbol, myth, power, etc. This volume offers a systematic and comprehensive introduction to all aspects of the phenomenon of 'ritual' and illustrates these with numerous vivid examples. Selling points: a general and comprehensive introduction to the topic, a current and influential interdisciplinary research field, an unmatched foundational volume.