To what extent is ritual involved in the formation of collective and personal identities? What are the mechanisms that are responsible for the mostly pre-reflexive constitution of identity in ritual; and--equally important--what are the strategies employed by social actors to actively influence and enhance these constitutive processes? In order to find answers to these essential questions, the authors refer to case studies from their respective areas of field research in Japan, Morocco, Taiwan, Korea, India, and the Azores. Klaus-Peter Kpping is a member of the cross-disciplinary research project "Ritual Dynamics" situated at Heidelberg University (Germany) and funded by the German Research Foundation. Bernhard Leistle is a member of the cross-disciplinary research project "Ritual Dynamics" situated at Heidelberg University and funded by the German Research Foundation. Michael Rudolph is a member of the cross-disciplinary research project "Ritual Dynamics" situated at Heidelberg University and funded by the German Research Foundation.