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ABLUTION (Lat. ablutio, from abluere,...

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 66 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ABLUTION (Lat. ablutio, from abluere, " to wash off ")

ABLUTION (See also:
LAT
Lat. ablutio, from abluere, " to See also:
WASH, THE
wash off ") , a washing, in its religious use, destined to secure that ceremonial or ritualistic purity which must not be confused with the See also:

PHYSICAL

physical or hygienic cleanliness of persons and things obtained by the use of See also:

SOAP

soap and See also:

WATER

water.l Indeed the two states may contradict each other, as in the See also:

case of the 4th-See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century See also:

Christian See also:

PILGRIM

pilgrim to See also:

Jerusalem who boasted that she had not washed her See also:

FACE (from Lat. fades, derived either from facere, to make, or from a root fa-, meaning " appear "; cf. Gr. cbatvstv)

face for eighteen years for fear of removing therefrom the See also:

HOLY

holy See also:

CHRISM (through Lat. chrisma, from Gr. xpavua, an anointing substance, Xpiew , to anoint; through a Romanic form cresma comes the Fr. creme, and Eng. " cream ")

chrism of See also:

BAPTISM

baptism. The purport, then, of ablutions is to remove, not dust and dirt, but the—to us imaginary—stains contracted by contact with the dead, with childbirth, with menstruous,See also:

WOMEN

women, with See also:

MURDER

murder whether wilful or involuntary, with almost any See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form of bloodshed, with persons of inferior See also:

CASTE (through the Fr. from Span. and Port. casta, lineage, Lat. cast us, pure)

caste, with dead See also:

animal refuse, e.g. See also:

leather or excrement, with leprosy, madness and any form of disease. Among all races in a certain grade of development such associations are vaguely See also:

FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt to be dangerous and to impair vitality. In a later See also:

STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage the taint is regarded as alive, as a demon or evil spirit alighting on and passing into the things and persons exposed to contamination. In See also:

general, water, cows' urine and See also:

BLOOD

blood of See also:

SWINE

swine are the materials used in ablutions. Of these water is the commonest, and its efficacy is enhanced if it be See also:

RUNNING

running, and still more if a magical or sacramental virtue has been imparted to it by See also:

RITUAL (from Lat. ritus, a custom, especially a religious rite or custom)

ritual blessing or See also:

CONSECRATION (Lat. consecrallo, from con and sacrare, " to make sacred ")

consecration. Some See also:

concrete examples will best illustrate the nature of such ablutions. In the Atharva-Veda, vii. 116, we have this allopathic remedy for See also:

FEVER (Lat. febris, connected with fervere, to burn)

fever. The patient's skin See also:

burns, that of a See also:

FROG

frog is See also:

COLD (in O. Eng. cald and ceald, a word coming ultimately from a root cognate with the Lat. gelu, gelidus, and common in the Teutonic languages, which usually have two distinct forms for the substantive and the adjective, cf. Ger. Kolte, kalt, Dutch koude

cold to the See also:

TOUCH (derived through Fr. toucher from a common Teutonic and Indo-Germanic root, cf. " tug," " tuck," O. H. Ger. zucchen, to twitch or draw)

touch; therefore tie to the See also:

FOOT

foot of the See also:

bed a frog, See also:

BOUND, or BOUNDARY (from O. Fr. bonde, Med. Lat. bodena or butina, a frontier line)

bound with red and See also:

black See also:

THREAD (0. Eng. praed, literally, that which is twisted, prawan, to twist, to throw, cf. " throwster," a silk-winder, Ger. drehen, to twist, turn, Du. draad, Ger. Draht, thread, wire)

thread, and wash down the sick See also:

man so that the water of ablution falls In its technical ecclesiastical sense the ablution is the ritual washing of the See also:

CHALICE (through a central O. Fr. form of the Lat. calix, calicis, cup)

chalice and of the See also:

PRIEST (Ger. Priester, Fr. pretre)

priest's fingers after the celebration of Holy Communion in the See also:

CATHOLIC (Gr. KcaBoXuK6s, general, universal)

Catholic See also:

Church. The See also:

WINE (Lat. vinum, Gr. oivos)

wine and water used for this purpose are themselves sometimes called "the ablution." II 0 See also:

ABNAKI=--See also:

ABO (Finnish Turku)

ABO on the frog. Let the See also:

MEDICINE

medicine man or magician pray that the fever may pass into the frog, and the frog be forthwith re-leased, and the cure will be effected.

In the old Athenian See also:

ANTHESTERIA

Anthesteria the blood of victims was poured over the unclean. A See also:

bath of bulls' blood was much in See also:

VOGUE, EUGENE MELCHIOR, COMTE DE (1848- )

vogue as a baptism in the mysteries of See also:

ATTIS

Attis. The water must in ritual washings run off in See also:

order to carry away the miasma or unseen demon of disease; and accordingly in baptism the See also:

early Christians used living or running water. Nor was it enough that the See also:

PERSON, OFFENCES AGAINST THE

person baptized should himself enter the water; the baptizer must pour it over his See also:

head, so that it run down his person. Similarly the See also:

BRAHMAN

Brahman takes care, after ablution of a person, to wipe the cathartic water off from head to feet downwards, that the malign See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

influence may pass out through the feet. The same care is shown in ritual ablutions in the See also:

BUKOVINA

Bukovina and elsewhere. Water and See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire, spices and See also:

SULPHUR

sulphur, are used in ritual cleansings, says See also:

Iamblichus in his See also:

BOOK

book on mysteries (v. 23), as being specially full of the divine nature. Nevertheless in all religions, and especially in the Brahmanic and Christian, the cathartic virtue of water is enhanced by the introduction into it by means of suitable prayers and incantations of a divine or magical See also:

POWER [WILLIAM GRATTAN] TYRONE (1797-1841)

power. Ablutions both of persons and things are usually cathartic, that is, intended to purge away evil influences (KaOaipecv, to make KaOapbs, pure). But, as See also:

Robertson See also:

Smith observes, "holiness is contagious, just as uncleanness is "; and See also:

COMMON

common things and persons may..become See also:

TABOO (also written tapu and tabu)

taboo, that is, so holy as to be dangerous and useless for daily See also:

LIFE

life through the See also:

mere infection of holiness. Thus in See also:

SYRIA

Syria one who touched a See also:

dove became taboo for one whole See also:

day, and if a drop of blood of the See also:

HEBREW

Hebrew See also:

sin-offering See also:

fell on a garment it had to be ritually washed off.

It was as necessary in the Hebrew See also:

religion for the priest to wash his hands after handling the sacred See also:

VOLUME

volume as before. Christians might not enter a church to say their prayers without first washing their hands. So See also:

CHRYSOSTOM

Chrysostom says: "Although our hands may be already pure, yet unless we have washed them thoroughly, we do not spread them upwards in See also:

prayer." See also:

TERTULLIAN (c. 155-c. 222)

Tertullian (c. 200) had See also:

long before condemned this as a See also:

HEATHEN

heathen See also:

CUSTOM (from O. Fr. costume, costume or coustume; Low Lat. costuma, a shortened form of consuetudo)

custom; none the less, it was insisted on in later ages, and is a survival of the See also:

pagan lustrations or frepeppavrijpca. See also:

SOZOMEN

Sozomen (vi. 6) tells how a priest sprinkled See also:

JULIAN (FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS) (331-363)

Julian and Valentinian with water according to the heathen custom as they entered his See also:

temple. The same custom prevails among Mahommedans. See also:

PORPHYRY (IlopcPisptos) (A.D. 233-c. 304)

Porphyry (de Abst. ii. 44) relates that one who touched a See also:

SACRIFICE (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy, and facere, to make)

sacrifice meant to avert divine anger must bathe and wash his clothes in running water before returning to his See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city and See also:

home, and similar scruples in regard to holy See also:

OBJECTS

objects and persons have been observed among the natives of See also:

Polynesia, New See also:

ZEALAND (also SEALAND Or SEELAND; Danish Sjaelland)

Zealand and See also:

ancient See also:

EGYPT

Egypt. The See also:

RITES

rites, met within all lands, of pouring out water or bathing in order to produce See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain from See also:

HEAVEN (0. Eng. hefen, heofon, heofone; this word appears in O.S. hevan; the High. Ger. word appears in Ger. Himmel, Dutch hemel; there does not seem to be any connexion between the two words, and the ultimate derivation of the word is unknown; the sugges

heaven, differ in their significance from ablutions with water and belong to the See also:

REALM

realm of sympathetic magic. There are certain forms of See also:

PURIFICATION

purification which one does not know whether to describe as ablutions or anointings. Thus See also:

DEMOSTHENES

Demosthenes in his speech " On the See also:

CROWN

crown" accused See also:

Aeschines of having " purified the initiated and wiped them clean with (not from) mud and See also:

pitch." Smearing with See also:

GYPSUM

gypsum (rtravoc, titanos) had a similar purifying effect, and it has been suggestedI that the See also:

TITANS (Gr. Ttraaves)

Titans were no more than old-See also:

WORLD

world votaries who had so disguised themselves.

Perhaps the use of ashes in See also:

MOURNING (from the verb " to mourn," to be sorrowful, 0. Eng. murnan; cf. O.H.G. mornen, Goth. maurnan, to be anxious, O.N. morna, to pine away; by some referred to root seen in Gr. jdptpva, sorrow, by others to root mer-, to die)

mourning had the same origin. In the rite of See also:

DEATH

death-bed See also:

PENANCE (Old Fr. penance, fr. Lat. poenitentia, penitence)

penance given in the old Mozarabic Christian ritual of See also:

Spain, ashes were poured over. the sick man.

End of Article: ABLUTION (Lat. ablutio, from abluere, " to wash off ")

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