Are micropractices really “micro”?

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    In Religion in the Kitchen, Elizabeth Pérez discusses the practices and rituals of the Lucumí people, particularly their use of speaking and cooking in devotion to their gods (called orishas). In this Afro-Caribbean religion, each orisha has their own particular tastes and preferences when it comes to food offerings made by devotees. Use of the senses in these rituals is crucial; smell, touch, and sound specifically are significant in the process of preparing food. Pérez argues that the acts of feeding and speaking to the orishas makes them real. She draws upon her many years of “observant participation” in a Lucumí community to illustrate her points. Pérez discusses these rituals as “micropractices,” that is, “routine and intimate sequences of operations that can be broken down into more minute units of activity” (9). Essentially, these micropractices are small activities that aren’t always seen as religious or important because of their seemingly small scale.

Front cover of the book Religion in the Kitchen by Elizabeth Pérez. Features artwork of a community of Afro-Caribbean people.
Image credit:
https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/podcast/kitchens-and-constructions-of-religious-subjectivity-in-black-atlantic-traditions/
    Pérez’s concept of micropractices was really interesting to me and I feel like they could apply to almost any religion. There always seem to be certain religious/spiritual activities that aren’t seen as important or “Religious” because they are not big ceremonies or core beliefs. Pérez also notes that many micropractices, like the cooking done by the Lucumí, is often done by women, which is one reason why it is not valued as much as other traditions. To me, micropractices seem just as important as bigger, more valued practices. Micropractices can address areas of life that other rituals or traditions don’t. And, seemingly small practices, over time and through the combined efforts of people and communities, can make a huge, yet often unnoticed, impact. Something I think of as a micropractice is the use of affirmations. Saying an affirmation to yourself once might not do much, but sustained effort at incorporating them into your everyday life might start to change your inner-dialogue and how you feel about yourself.

Comments

  1. Jonathan Brumberg-KrausApril 19, 2022 at 7:37 AM

    Of course I agree. The problem is that the very real importance of micro-practices is too often dismissed or overlooked by the more establishment religious institutions and leaders, who have a vested interested in valorizing the "big ceremonies" which require them and enhance their status. I like the direction you go with viewing daily affirmations as micro-practices. It's "little" things, "micro" things, that habituate us to certain desired and valued emotions and practices.

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  2. Amanda WellsMay 6, 2022 at 6:43 PM

    Like Professor Brumberg-Kraus, I also agree. I also feel like one of the reason micro-practices are dismissed or overlooked is because, a lot of time, the labor involved is seen as "lesser". I don't know a ton of religious people anymore since moving from the South, but there were many times where people would talk about going to church every Sunday as being their only form of religious practice. I think some of it may be the perceived time spent; a choice between praying every day or going to church once a week feels like the church is the lesser obligation. However, I definitely think the micro-practices are the main showers of actual faith and devotion in that they're the ways you work the ritual and the divine into your daily life.

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  3. Charlotte BermanMay 10, 2022 at 10:42 AM

    100% agree! I also think that so many micropractices, while being physically small actions, usually are a part of something larger. Cooking one meal may be micro, but cooking a meal for an orisha every day/week/month of your life is a large commitment

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