Ritual Maintenance, Perpetuation, And Ideology

Rituals define the Balena and without them the Balena would essentially lose everything that they have come to be. The Balena’s way of life is structured on their symbiotic relationship with the Blue Whale, their circular view of life, and of taking from nature only the minimal resources needed to sustain life. The Balena use rituals to help maintain their core beliefs and very structure that their society is built upon.

The Balena’s cultural structure is essentially egalitarian, but they are led by an elder. The ritual of Baleocide, when the current village elder sacrifices himself back to the Blue Whale from whom they have just taken, demonstrates the great responsibility that comes with leading the village as an elder. But it also maintains the core structure of the Balena culture. It gives the younger Balena someone to look up and something to believe in as well as a very real sense of what it is expected of the Balena. The birthing ritual is also used to maintain the Balena cultural structure. The entire community takes part in this ritual and it helps to emphasize the very structure of family. The reality is that every member of the Balena culture will be responsible for the upbringing of the newborn infant and each will do their part to ensure that that infant will grow to learn the ways of the Balena. The First Hunt also helps to underscore the Balena cultural structure. It teaches the young Balena going through the ritual what their place will be in society upon completing this rite of passage. They will be depended upon by all and will have to give themselves completely to the fellow Balena to ensure survival. Lastly, the ritual of the Circular Harpoon helps to maintain the very basic structure of the Balena. Through this ritual the elder, the young Balena, and the rest of the society all witness the core structure. Though the elder may be the leader, he shows all that every Balena is equal across the society and that every Balena will go through this circle of life that their structure relies upon.

Continuity of the Balena culture is ensured through perpetuation of these rituals. The Balena culture reaches back 2000 years. This is no easy feat. The reason this culture has been able to stay intact for so long is through perpetuation of key rituals that define the Balena. Though no Balena remembers their birth, they are able to reflect back upon the idea that once they were the center of the birthing ritual. For every birthing ritual that occurs, the Balena can reflect back upon their own birth and expect to do the same for their children when they are born. The First Hunt helps to maintain continuity with the past as well. When the young Balena take part in this rite of passage, which lasts around a year and is concluded with the ritual of the First Hunt, they learn from the senior hunter. The senior hunter is presumably the most skilled in the ways of the hunt. This senior hunter has gone through this rite of passage long ago and has participated in every ritual of the Balena and is essentially an ideal exemplar of what it means to be Balena. By learning from this senior hunter, the young Balena are guaranteed to be exposed to everything this senior hunter has learned in his/her life as well as what he/she was taught by his/her senior hunter when they were going through this same rite.

The ideology of the Balena is prevalent in each ritual. Every Balena ritual could easily be defined as an ideological ritual or even as a rite of intensification. The best example of a ritual clearly demonstrating the Balena ideology is Baleocide. In Baleocide, every major ideological concept is present. The most obvious is the symbiotic relationship that the Balena hold with the Blue Whale. Through this ritual the Balena see both how they are dependent upon the Blue Whale and how the Blue Whale is also dependent upon the Balena. It exemplifies the circular way of life that defines the Balena. They take from the Blue Whale throughout their lives and understand through this ritual that one day they will have to give themselves completely back to whom they have taken from. It also emphasizes only taking the minimal amount from the Blue Whale needed in order to ensure survival of the Balena. The other three rituals also reflect the Balena’s ideology. In the ritual of the First Hunt, these same norms and values are demonstrated. The birthing ritual helps to show that every Balena is responsible for every other Balena and that the idea of family expands well beyond bloodlines. Finally, the ritual of the Circular Harpoon serves to demonstrate that all Balena are essentially equal and that they too will play their part in the circular way of life.

By using these rituals, the Balena are able to maintain their cultural structure, keep their past alive through perpetuation, and help to demonstrate their ideology. As in any culture, ritual helps the Balena to cope with this complex world the only way they know how, by being Balena.