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Perirrhanterion is a good old pre-Christian Greek word. It was a whisk like utensil for sprinkling water at sacrifices, especially lustral water. It occurs in Herodotus, 5th century BCE. It's parts are two: peri-'around' and rhanterios 'sprinkled'; it's a neuter noun as are many instruments.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Quote:
> using small branches of shrubs and trees
how Pagan!
(hi Elizabeth!)
It is not so odd that the Church would use herbacious branches to sprinkle holy water. Psalm 51:7 says, roughly, "Wash me with hyssop and I shall be pure, cleanse me and shall be whiter than snow." The hyssop used there is more likely the modern oregano than the modern hyssop plant. This was enjoined by the Book of Numbers (Chaoter 19) as a way of cleansing a place or person or object which had been defiled by contact with the dead. From these sorts of ancient Jewish ritual sprinklings, the Church developed its own liturgy of asperges -- sprinkling with holy water -- and even uses the verse from Psalm 51 as part of that liturgy, firming up the connection. The use of a fancy metal aspergillum is certainly one way to do this ritual. The use of an oregano branch is equally meaninful, without being a departure from the Judeo-Christian tradition.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
Perirrhanterion is a good old pre-Christian Greek word. It was a whisk like utensil for sprinkling water at sacrifices, especially lustral water. It occurs in Herodotus, 5th century BCE. It's parts are two: peri-'around' and rhanterios 'sprinkled'; it's a neuter noun as are many instruments.
so I guess this thing that I found labeled as a perirrhanterium just ain't one.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Quote:
so I guess this thing that I found labeled as a perirrhanterium just ain't one.
You're a fount of knowledge, certainly, but your knowledge of founts is suspect.
TEd
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I shoulda oughta included this caption from the source page: Archaic Perirrhanterion from the sanctuary of Poseidon at Isthmia. 7th. century BCE. Isthmia museum
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so I guess this thing that I found labeled as a perirrhanterium just ain't one.
Looks more like what you dipped yer perirrhanterion into, but I could be misinformed. There was also an aporrhanterion. Of course, it might be a two part doohicky, like the Latin aspergillum which consisted of sprinkler / whisk and container for holy water. Maybe not.
Last edited by zmjezhd; 12/01/05 02:35 AM.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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veteran
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Wow, tsuwm, thanks for the link.
The four female figures with long Minoan robes and bare breasts standing in a floral landscape, dated c. 1500 BC, was a delightful jolt to my jaded sensibilities.
Thank you.
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this brings to my jaded mind the olde joke about the psychiatrist showing a drawing of a large empty square to a patient, and subsequently dividing the square into smaller and smaller squares... the punchline goes something like this:
"I'm not the one drawing all those filthy pictures, doctor."
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addict
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Quote:
> using small branches of shrubs and trees
how Pagan!
(hi Elizabeth!)
Hi, etaoin!
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Pooh-Bah
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Quote:
It is not so odd that the Church would use herbacious branches to sprinkle holy water. Psalm 51:7 says, roughly, "Wash me with hyssop and I shall be pure, cleanse me and shall be whiter than snow." The hyssop used there is more likely the modern oregano than the modern hyssop plant. This was enjoined by the Book of Numbers (Chaoter 19) as a way of cleansing a place or person or object which had been defiled by contact with the dead. From these sorts of ancient Jewish ritual sprinklings, the Church developed its own liturgy of asperges -- sprinkling with holy water -- and even uses the verse from Psalm 51 as part of that liturgy, firming up the connection. The use of a fancy metal aspergillum is certainly one way to do this ritual. The use of an oregano branch is equally meaninful, without being a departure from the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Is that what sprinkling with holy water is about, then, FS, purification before entering the place of worship?
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