A ceremony is an activity, infused with ritual significance, performed on a certain occasion. For example, the Japanese tea ceremony was frequently held as a ritual of hospitality at the arrival of a guest.
Traditionally, a ceremony may mark a rite of passage in a personal human career, marking the significance of (for example):
Other, society-wide ceremonies may mark annual or seasonal or recurrent events like:- vernal equinox
- winter solstice
- weekly Sabbath day
- inauguration of an elected office-holder
- occasions in a liturgical year or "feasts" in a calendar of saints
- coronation of a monarch
- victory in battle
- I now pronounce you man and wife.
- Happy New Year!
- I swear to serve and defend the nation ...