This book presents current research in the study of the types, efficacy and myths of ritualistic behaviors. Topics gathered by the authors from across the globe include the modern case studies of parallels to ancient Greek cave rituals; rituals marking transitions between different life stages in the elderly; ritual complexes of North-West Siberia in the 17th-18th centuries; healing rituals of Brazil; the myth of the ayahuasca ritual in Europe and the cult of the horse in the Sakha religious and ritual practice of the 19th century. Content: Rituals in Greek caves : from modern case studies to ancient sources / Evy Johanne Haland -- Transition into an age of supported independence : a rite of passage? / Beatrice Hale, Patrick Barrett ... [et al.] -- Ritual complexes of north-west Siberia in XVII-XVIII centuries : (according to archaeological data) / Oleg Kardash -- Ritual healing : a history of its development and proliferation in Brazil / Sidney M. Greenfield -- The myth of Ayahuasca / Janine Tatjana Schmid -- The cult of the horse in the Sakha religious and ritual practice of the 19th century / Svetlana Ivanovna Petrova, M.K. Ammosov