I really like this thread. I think rituals are essential to a healthy marriage - as long as they are healthy rituals.
I saw first hand how important rituals are when my H (who was at the time in alien mode) turned to me and sobbed his heart out as he explained how much he missed how he felt whenever we did some particular thing together - which turned out to be a "ritual".
Now that H and I are back on track, we have created new rituals that include making our own pizza from scratch once a week, watching a particular program together with a warm, creamy cup of coffee made by him first thing in the morning, and a nightly cup of tea that I make with fresh herbs from the garden.
We have many more such rituals now and I can attest to the postive influence they have in our marriage. It gives us a sense of continuity and stability amidst the chaos and unpredictabilty of the world outside.
