The first ritual is banal (5)
I believe the answer is:
trite
'is banal' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the first ritual' is the wordplay.
'the first' becomes 't' (1st letter of 'the').
'ritual' becomes 'rite' (synonyms).
't'+'rite'='TRITE'
(Other definitions for trite that I've seen before include "all vigour is gone" , "Lyre string" , "repeated too often" , "used till novelty's worn off" , "Overfamiliar through overuse" .)