Systems of Purity - 5 / 5 / 2002
impurity incurred during times of crisis
sickness - personal / familial / plague
conflict - familial / local / intertribal
disaster - fire / flood / storm / earthquake / famine
accident & death
menstruation & birth
hunting
initiation - ordeals / tests
pollution / contamination
the state of being contaminated
impurity
vitiate - to reduce the value or impair the quality of [AHD3]
by action / by blood / by speech / by thought
profanity - marked by contempt or irreverence for what is sacred [AHD3]
the power of words [especially in an oral culture]
sin - a transgression of a religious or moral law, especially when deliberate [AHD3]
tabu - a restraint or restriction put upon an action [AHD3]
violations of the community / cultural values
shirking obligation
assumption of responsibility as sign of adulthood
oathbreaking
geas / complusion
catharsis
- a release of emotional tension,
as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit [AHD3]
a purifying or figurative cleansing of the emotions
especially thru art
instruments of purification
oils
associated with abundance / wealth
olive oil
smoke / incense
carries prayers to the upper world
water
cleansing
necessary for life
words
spell / exorcism
prayer / supplication
confession
owning the transgession
atonement
the act of finding oneness with Diety
restitution - return to or restoration of a previous state or position [AHD3]
reparation - something done or paid to compensate or make amends [AHD3]
reconciliation - a reestablishment of friendship or harmony [AHD3]
sacrifice - the act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage [AHD3]
must have value / cost
animal
blood
life-force
scapegoat [see Feast of Fools in Mythology]
loaded with a community's transgressions & driven into the "wilderness"
sin-eater
done for another
usually at death
Religious Worlds: The Comparative Study of Religion - William E. Paden
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