Let me respond.
A baptism or a marriage is a ceremony. It is intended to have a definite transfinite impact. While some would not use "magic" to refer to spiritual bindings and results, the word applies directly to the Gloranthan analog.
I'm at a loss for a ritual that is empty of import, or a religious ceremony that is. In fact, the reason for oaths and prayers in our national ceremonies (such as swearing in a president or a justice on the supreme court or a lawyer before they are allowed to practice) is that the ceremony is intended to invoke the transmundane.
The thought that ceremonies exist as pageantry only is quite new, and not a part of our common heritage.
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