Ritual purification
Ritual purification is a feature of many
religions. The aim of these
rituals is to remove uncleanliness, which may be real or
symbolic. Most of these rituals were created long before the
germ theory of disease.
Many religions have a ritual cleansing of the dead before burial.
Some religions have special treatment of particular
body fluids such as
semen and
menses which are viewed as particularly unclean.
See Ablution in Judaism.
The
Hebrew Bible has many rituals of purification relating to
menstruation,
childbirth, ,
disease, and
animal sacrifices. These laws were observed by the ancient
Israelites.
Judaism is based on the Hebrew Bible as viewed through the
oral law, including the
Mishnah and
Talmud. Judaism still observes laws concerning ritual purity in regard to sexual relations between married couples. Other ritual purity rules still followed include hand washing for various activities: Upon waking in in the morning, before eating a meal, after coming into contact with dead people, and upon leaving the bathroom. The other laws of ritual p
Baptism is a
Christian form of ritual purification.
The
Church of England's
Book of Common Prayer had liturgy for the
churching of women adapted from Catholic traditions, which was a thanksgiving and purification event after birth of a child. Its use is now rare.
Islam has rituals of purification including those relating to the preparation for prayer.
*
Wudhu the 'minor ablution'
*
Ghusl the 'major ablution' which included Wudhu
*
Tayammum the 'dry ablution' which is used when clean water is unavailable
Hinduism holds that bathing in the
Ganges is a particularly effective form of spiritual cleansing.
Misogi is a
Shinto practice involving purification in a waterfall or other natural running water.
*
sweat lodge*
smudging*
Eleusinian Mysteries*
Churching of women*
Uthhana Vidhi*
Leviticus*
Candlemas*
On the Essence of Ritual Impurity in Judaism
