Metaphor for racism?

Interesting

Shorbe, somewhere down the thread list there is one titled "Camel Bonding Ritual" where I posted a much less articulate blurb that expressed the same mystification about the ritual. Basically--what the heck kind of trial and error went into coming up with that one??

And the way the participants seemed relatively unsurprised at the outcome. "Whelp, seemed to work, let's go have dinner."

shorbe, I don't know if this will help answer your question(s) but a large number of Mongolians practice Buddhism. Buddhism is filled with beautiful imagery, as well as thousands of years of rituals and ceremonies that most Westerners would scratch their heads at and wonder about.

I do not know if the violin had religious connotations or not, but it would not be outside of the field of possibilities, given what I have learned of Tibetan Buddhism. Sound is an important part of Buddhism; in fact, a 'proper' alter is supposed to incorporate a bell, gong or other musical item. Also 'mantras' (chanting of sacred sounds) are repeated daily.

Colors also have significance in Buddhism, which are reflected in Thangkas, mandalas and prayer flags (pieces of colored fabric tied to strings and sticks and set outside to allow the wind carry a prayer away). The color of the violin is the same color as the turquoise stone, which is especially prized by Buddhists and people of Tibet, Mongolia and Nepal. Also, the color blue has connections with the goddess Tara as well as the Buddha Akshobhya. Additionally, the color blue is said to transform anger into mirror-like wisdom, and purifies and empowers one of the five sense organs: the ears.

Finally, Buddhists believe we have all had countless rebirths into any/all of the six realms of existence, one of which is the animal realm. Keeping that in mind, Buddhists believe in the equanimity of all life, as the chance that we may have lived as an animal in a previous life brings us to have compassion for and show loving kindness to all beings.

So what I'm saying, basically, is that I have no idea if any of what I wrote is of any significance to your post--just thought I'd pipe in. Clear as mud, eh?
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"Life is as dear to a mute creature as it is to man. Just as one wants happiness and fears pain, just as one wants to live and not die, so do other creatures." ~~ His Holiness The Dalai Lama

Yep, anthropology is a very fascinating subject. As is phenomenology of religions. There is not much Buddhism in this film, or if there is, it goes back to even older roots. Remember the ancient Greek myth about Orpheus enchanting the animals by playing the lyra to them? Here's a Roman mosaic depicting the scene http://www2.tu-berlin.de/fb1/AGiW/Auditorium/RhMusAnt/ASO/Orpheus.gif. Any modern day person who owns a dog will know that animals react to music, but in shamanistic times, and that's where the camel ritual and also the Orpheus myth come from, people still knew a lot more about it than today - music was a rarity then and never failed to provoke intense reactions, so how would people who live in close proximity with animals fail to notice it affected them, too?. Spells (or prayers) were not recited, but sung, hence the word "enchant" which still contains cantare = to sing, from the experience that music makes everything more powerful and can put a 'spell' on or release a spell from someone.

Prior to watching this wonderful film I didn't know that these very old rituals are still in practice somewhere - the events we see in the film could well have taken place 3000 years ago. But I'm afraid they won't survive for another 20 years.

Regards, Rosabel