New BBC series Rituals startin Tues 6th Oct 10.30pm

Published on the web by Tonight on October 1, 2009.
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Tonight 2009. All rights reserved.

On the drama front, don't miss RITUALS on BBC Knowledge at 10.30pm on Tuesday.

Every day, around the world, strange - sometimes shocking - rituals take place. Here is an exhaustive guide to the lengths humans will go to get in touch with the spiritual world.

Charismatic vicar Pete Owen Jones takes a year-long journey as he travels the world to explore the shocking, bizarre and often dangerous rituals practised by some of the world's religions and tribes.

Arriving in time for each festival, he meets the practitioners of the faith, attempts to understand their beliefs and immerses himself in their ceremonies.

"Amid the often-baffling and intense events, Pete finds moments of serenity and also terror: from the remote beauty of the Henan Mountains in western China, as he meets Taoists in search of immortality; to the Japanese Fire Festival, where young men soaked in sake hurtle down a mountain with torches."

Continuing his travels, in Indonesia Jones experiences the funeral of a woman who's been lying in state for 20 years, joins in a Wicca dance in Australia, witnesses voodoo priests sacrificing animals in Benin and joins in a spiritualist seance in Florida.

"This is the definitive guide to the world's customs and ceremonies and shows that wherever we are, whatever our faith, we all need rituals."