404 Gous: A close shave with God OTE 17/3 (2004), 404-415 A close shave with God

This article theorises about the need for rituals in primitive as well as modern societies. From the ongoing resurgence of interest in rituals, the author concludes that the human race is and always will be homo ritualensis. It seems that shaving as a mourning rite was accepted for a very long time in Israel, but that it was later prohibited. The author then discusses Lawson & McCauley’s cognitive theory of religious rituals and comes to the conclusion that shaving probably was a religious ritual and that it could be very valuable as a mourning rite, even today. A THE MOURNING AFTER... Some months ago, I stood at the grave of a beloved niece, a wonderful sixteen year-old girl who died prematurely. In the words of a popular song of some years ago, I am aware that ‘on a worldwide scale it is just another winter’s tale’; because in the same week a small aircraft crashed, and four families were lef