fertility cult

Also found in: Wikipedia.
(redirected from Fertility rite)

fertility cult

n
(Anthropology & Ethnology) the practice in some settled agricultural communities of performing religious or magical rites to ensure good weather and crops and the perpetuity of the tribe
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
Mentioned in
References in periodicals archive
Seven-seat MPVs are what they are, a fertility rite or a punishment for failing to grasp the most basic of Darwin's principles.
BIRMINGHAM Mail reader Tony Levy referred to a Pagan fertility rite adapted by our current Spirit of Christmas that is inevitably lost in an end-of-year trade bonanza.
Menhirs are believed to be part of a Neolithic fertility rite, and scholars see them as proof the ancient inhabitants had knowledge of architecture, astronomy, mathematics, and geology.
The rhythmic elements of the music are played out in scenes of a pagan fertility rite, as age is sacrificed and Mother Earth is worshipped.
But many of the significant pagan aspects of the day were ignored by our strait-laced ancestors and instead of a fertility rite, dancing around the maypole became a children's game.
Osundare, here beautifully re-enacts a traditional fertility rite of rainmaking, and in this, he symbolically functions as a shamanic rainmaker, a sort of human thunderstorm whose main concern is the good of the populace.
Belly dancing was originally an ancient fertility rite. And while Egyptians like to trace it back to the Pharaonic times, the dance actually originated in ancient Babylon in southern Iraq and was brought over to Egypt by gypsies.
Abramovic's ribald, Slavic fertility rite is notable for being the only segment in which women are presented as more than helpmates.
I'm sure some historian will pop up and point out that morris dancing is actually an ancient fertility rite.
In it she explores the "inversion of death" implied in the flowery fertility rite of Ophelia's death, in Desdemona's repeated crossing of the border between life and death at the end of her life, and in Juliet's life-in-death in the tomb.
"The giving of favours is also a fertility rite in many countries."
Many social historians believe it has much earlier origins, as a fertility rite to ensure a plentiful herd of young reindeer in the local forest.
Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.