Nacirema's gods and goddesses

The Nacirema culture has recently been studied because anthropologists have observed a new ritual in the society. The people of the culture have begun to worship different idols. Some of these idols represent the gods and goddesses of music, while others represent gods and goddesses of physical strength or beauty. The Nacirema worship these gods and goddesses because they believe their idols’ lives are better than their own. The ritual starts with the Nacirema people choosing which god or goddess they want to worship. They choose their idol based on their fascination in the goddess or god’s talent, physical appeal, or status.

After having chosen their god or goddess, they proceed to go through studies. In these studies, the Nacirema people will learn everything they can about their idol. They learn their idol’s origin, the date of the idol’s birth, and much more. They find these facts in their retupmo, which most households have. The retupmo is a magical book filled with the knowledge of all the gods and goddesses. Many of the Nacirema believe it to be sacred because it contains so much information and it constantly has new information about the gods and goddesses. After their extensive studies, the people become emotionally attached to their god or goddess and the worshiping ritual begins. They use the retupmo in their rituals for communication between themselves and their god or goddess. The Nacirema use the retupmo to write messages to their idols. These messages are received by the idols, but the gods and goddesses have the power to choose whether or not to respond. The rituals can be done anywhere and anytime as long as there is access to a retupmo. The Nacirema will usually worship their god or goddess their entire life. With their access to the retupmo, the Nacirema people can read about where their idols are and what they’re doing. They can keep up with who the gods and goddess are spending time with and the retupmo even shows pictures of the idols. The Nacirema can read stories of the extraordinary lives of their gods and goddesses.

Some of the gods and goddesses will even meet with the Nacirema people at certain locations. The gods and goddesses of music will parade around on a platform while using their voices to create songs for the Nacirema people. This comes at a great price for the people in the society though. They must bring many gifts to be able to watch the gods. The same goes for the gods and goddesses of strength. Large gift offerings must be given in order for the Nacirema people to be able to watch the gods and goddesses throw, pass and hit different shaped objects. While watching the gods and goddesses, the Nacirema cheer on their favorite idol.

This type of worshiping that the Nacirema practice can cause them to become obsessed with their god or goddess. As anthropologist have studied the society, they have found that many of the adolescent girls have drawings of different gods of music in their rooms. They’ve seen arguments break out between people over which god or goddess is more beautiful or more talented. The people in this culture start to feel like they personally know their god or goddess because of the rituals, but in reality most of them have never met their idols. The Nacirema’s obsession with their rituals has started to take over their lives.