priest
Roman Catholic answerIt is not so much a ritual as one of the seven sacraments established by Jesus Christ in order to help us to become perfect, as He commanded.In the Roman Catholic sacrament of confession, you confess your sins to a priest.
Each religious tradition has its own prayer rituals surrounding death. For example, last rights is a Catholic ritual, while the Vidui (confession) is a Jewish ritual. There are also memorial prayers in each religious tradition.
The sacrament of matrimony is a ritual.
The Catholic Church.
There are a number of Catholic cleansing rituals, starting with Baptism, which involves a ritual cleansing with water which actually removes sin from the person. In a very similar fashion, Confession removes sin, but does not involve the ritual cleansing with water. Every Catholic Church and chapel usually has holy water fonts at each entrance so that people may put their fingers in to bless themselves, ritually remembering their baptism, as they cross themselves. There is the rite known as ''Asperges'' which is a blessing with water where the priest sprinkles holy water on the entire congregation at the beginning of Mass.
The Catholic ritual of confession is not recorded to have been practiced in the Bible. The word "confession" appears six times in the King James version of the Bible (eight, if you include the Apocrypha).
No, this is a Catholic ritual.
throwing stones at pillars
I don't know to which ritual you refer, but the rituals of the Catholic Church are not considered sinful by Catholics.
If one is looking for information on Aarti the ancient ritual, check out a site such as goindia, which would have details on this ritual and what it involves.
Nearly every protestant heretic including Luther, Calvin, Knox, etc. rejected Catholic ritual. The only heretic who did not reject it was Henry VIII. He kept the ritual but got rid of the priesthood that is the only way to maintain the ritual. Many of the Calvinist reformers in the Church of England later tried to exorcise even that.
Yes, there is an Asian ritual that involves a sealed goat and a lock message on it.