Ritual forms are arbitrary so long as some ritual exists

Evidence

First, no particular symbol is intrinsically relevant within otherwise similar groups. It is difficult to establish the extent to which the evocative force of the ritual depends on the universal appeal of certain symbols as opposed to the symbolic conventions of local traditions, but on the whole it seems safer to assume that the latter play the greater part. For all these groups the important thing is to have some ritual; it matters less what form it takes. Rituals fulfill their task without necessarily having recourse to a restricted range of omnipresent symbols. Thus, it could be regarded as coincidental that the ritual of the Sicilian group and those of the others differ so markedly, since each simply draws on the symbolic paraphernalia which happens to be close at hand. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 399

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The insight that what matters is the existence of an entry barrier, not its specific form, is a genuinely generalizable point about certification and signaling institutions.
• XREF: connects to: Ritual power depends on meaninglessness, not personal significance — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 270; Rituals console only after deep time makes them customs — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 270; Conventions are arbitrary practices that coordinate choices where several options are equally viable — W. David Marx, Status and Culture: How Our Desire for…, 119