A Time to Gather
How Ritual Created the World--and How It Can Save Us
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- Vorbestellbar
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- Erwartet am 19. Mai 2026
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- 11,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
One of our great decoders of human connection chronicles the astonishing rise of new rituals around the world—and offers a road map for restoring togetherness with gatherings you’ll love
Since time immemorial, humans have turned to ritual to connect us in periods of change. Until today. Birth rituals and coming-of-age rituals have plummeted; fewer than half of Americans are married; only one in three is buried. “It took us ten thousand years to establish cultural norms around how we mark collective life transitions,” writes Bruce Feiler. “It took us fifty years to dismantle them.” Can this threat to society be reversed?
To find out, Feiler went on a round-the-world ritual road trip, attending—and participating in—life rituals in sixteen countries on six continents. These spectacles, some rarely seen, include a mass baptism in the Vatican, a tribal bride price negotiation in South Africa, an adolescent tooth filing in Bali, six weddings in Las Vegas, and ten funerals in Ireland.
Beyond the decline in traditional rituals, Feiler discovered that we are in the midst of a ritual renaissance that is pushing back against apathy, loneliness, and digital saturation. Fed up with top-down scripts, everyday people, from boomers to Gen Z, are reimagining collective rituals at a remarkable pace, inventing fresh ways to gather around life, love, health, and family—and forging thriving communities in the process.
As he did with Life Is in the Transitions, Feiler also collected stories of a hundred ritual designers and built a first-of-its kind database of ideas to make gatherings more effective—from creating sacred space to mediating conflict to generating “wows” that guests will talk about forever.
From a master storyteller uncovering a thrilling phenomenon hiding in plain sight, A Time to Gather is both a stirring adventure and practical manual. It’s a landmark guide to modern ritual; a tool kit for turning everyday moments into unforgettable celebrations; and an invitation to reconnect and rejoice—together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A Brooklyn "grieving and weaving" circle, a forest bathing session in Chile, and a group baptism at the Vatican are just some of the gatherings attended by bestseller Feiler (The Search) in this spirited meditation on rituals. Seeking to discover "what still holds us together" in a world of increasing alienation, the author travels the globe, observing a diverse range of practices and interviewing experts. What he finds is not a "celebration recession" but rather a "ritual revival," with many people around the world rethinking what rituals can look like. Those spotlighted range from the "millennium-old" Balinese coming-of-age custom matatah, "the ceremonial act of shaving down... an individual's twelve front teeth," to Taylor Swift–themed divorce parties. Most movingly, the author profiles individuals who have created new rituals to match their experiences, including Missy Holliday, who pioneered "honor walks" for organ donors after her sister's sudden death and donation. Though Feiler sometimes waxes florid ("Rituals curate symbols into meaningful experiences that form the alphabet of intimacy and the grammar of coexistence"), he offers strong proof that rituals foster community and connection. Even the typical familial arguments over weddings and funerals, the author astutely shows, work to "force families to address... underlying conflicts." It's a powerful case for the continued importance of ritual at a time of disconnection and division.
