Ceremonial object
religion
Main
any object used in a ritual or a religious ceremony.
Throughout the history of religions and cultures, objects used in
cults, rituals, and sacred ceremonies have almost always been of both
utilitarian and symbolic natures. Ceremonial and ritualistic objects
have been utilized as a means for establishing or maintaining
communication between the sacred (the transcendent, or supernatural,
realm) and the profane (the realm of time, space, and cause and effect).
On occasion, such objects have been used to compel the sacred (or
divine) realm to act or react in a way that is favourable to the
participants of the ceremonies or to the persons or activities with
which such rituals are concerned, or to prevent the transcendent realm
from harming or endangering them. These objects thus can be mediatory
devices to contact the divine world, as, for example, the drums of
shamans (religious personages with healing and psychic-transformation
powers). Conversely, they can be mediatory devices used by a god or
other supernatural being to relate to man in the profane realm. They may
also be used to ensure that a chief or sovereign of a tribe or nation
achieves, and is recognized to have, the status of divinity in cultic or
community ceremonies. Of such a nature may be phallic cult statues
bearing the name of a king associated with that of the Hindu god Śiva,
in areas under Indian influence (such as in ancient Vietnam, Cambodia,
and Indonesia, where the lingam was worshipped under a double name:
Indreśvara [Indra, king of the gods, plus Īśvara, Lord, a name of
Śiva]), or the Buddhist “body of glory” statues in Cambodia dating from
the end of the 7th century. The religious dance masks of many societies,
including those used in ancient Tibet and in Buddhist sects of Japan,
may, to some extent, also belong to this class.
Varieties
Because such objects vary as much in nature as they do in form and
material, they are difficult to evaluate. If limited strictly to
religious practices, an inventory of ceremonial and ritualistic objects
remains incomplete, because these objects have played significant roles
on solemn secular occasions, such as consecrations, enthronements, and
coronations, which may be closely linked to the divine order, as in
Hindu-, Buddhist-, and Christian-influenced cultures.
Varieties » Icons and symbols
Constituting a most significant category of cult objects are
representations of a deity. Though such representations are often
depicted in the form of statues and images (icons) of divine or sacred
beings, they may also be either figurative or symbolic, the meanings
often being equivalent. In Tantrism (a Hindu and Buddhist esoteric,
magical, and philosophical belief system centred on devotion to natural
energy), for example, the sacred Sanskrit syllable Om—which is a
transcendent word charged with cosmological (order-of-the-universe)
symbolism—is identified with the feminine counterpart of the god. In its
written form, particularly on Tibetan banners (thang-kas), the word Om
(often corresponding with the feminine counterpart—Tārā—of the patron of
Tibet) is considered to be eminently sacred, even more so, in some
instances, than an anthropomorphic (human-form) divine effigy.
Statues and painted images occur most frequently in religious
iconography, as noted above. These are often viewed as the permanent
embodiments of the deities they represent, whether they are located in
sacred places of religious communities, such as temples, shrines, or
chapels, or on domestic altars, which contain statues or icons of the
divinities of prosperity and fertility, mother goddesses, household
gods, saints, relics, the tablet of the ancestors in ancient China, and
other similar domestic cult objects. Many household cult objects are
made from clay or terra-cotta and are sometimes multicoloured. The
material of which major cult objects are composed is often explicitly
defined and assumes a certain importance. If the statue is fashioned in
wood, the choice of the wood (acacia, sandal, or any other) is
symbolically important because it is considered auspicious. By the same
token, the choice of stone is likewise important, depending on the
region. If metal is chosen, it is one that is deemed precious (e.g.,
golden statues bring prosperity). In the case of bronze statues and
other cult objects, the composition is carefully defined and often
corresponds to alloys to which symbolic values are attached. In addition
to a proper and distinct form and material, the technique of fabricating
and the procedural patterns of composing such objects are controlled by
traditional rules that have become established rituals in many
religions—sophisticated, folk, and primitive. In the production of
statues in human or animal form, the last procedure is often the
“opening the eyes” (i.e., the painting of the eyes of a statue of a
deity or inserting gold in them by an officiating priest during the
installation of the statue [pratiṣṭhā] in the sanctuary, along with the
reciting of appropriate prayers that make the statue “living” and
“real”), particularly in Brahmanic India and Chinese-influenced areas
(see also religious symbolism and iconography).
Varieties » Religious dress and vestments
The practice of wearing special garments for conducting rites,
participating in worship, or even witnessing such ceremonies is very
unevenly distributed, and the conceptions associated with this practice
are highly varied and complex.
Varieties » Instruments for worship and religious ceremonies
The types and varieties of instruments used in worship and religious
ceremonies are almost innumerable. The role they play in ritual
occasions may be as containers and sacred furniture, as objects with
properties necessary for worship, and as “mediatory” objects through
which a magical or mystical connection is believed to be made between
the human and divine worlds. There are also the materials used in bloody
or nonbloody sacrifices.
Varieties » Amulets and talismans
Amulets (charms) have been used for protection in all ages and in all
types of human societies; they persist even today in industrial
societies, in which they are mass-produced by the most modern methods
(e.g., mustard seeds encased in plastic to be worn as necklaces
reminding the wearer of Jesus’ words about the growth of the Kingdom of
Heaven). The purpose of most amulets is not so much religious as it is
for protection against danger, sickness, and bad luck (e.g., the
“mystical eye” of the ancient Egyptians or the “Hand of Fatima” of
Muslims). The same is true of talismans, which offer the additional
advantage of conferring supernatural power on other people, even on the
deity, from a distance. Dancers’ masks and jewels, such as earrings,
bracelets, necklaces, and belts, may be classified with amulets. Such
objects are individually worshipped in order to gain their goodwill
among some Hindus in India and among the Pueblo and Navajo Indians of
North America.
Types of sacred settings for ceremonial and ritualistic objects » Places
of worship and sacrifice
Throughout history there is evidence of worship at natural sites as well
as at sites constructed for ritualistic purposes. In the protohistory
and perhaps the prehistory of most ancient civilizations, people
venerated trees, stones, bodies of water, and other natural objects,
which gradually became the objects of established cults and which often
were included, in some form, as aspects of later official ritual.
Initially, the objects of this frequently occurring process were sacred
trees considered to be the habitats of spirits or gods, such as in
Vedic, Brahmanic, and Buddhist India or pre-Islamic Arabia; sacred
stones, such as fragments of meteorites, menhirs (upright stones), and
rocks—for example, the Black Stone of Mecca in the Kaʿbah; flowing
waters, natural lakes, and sacred and purifying rivers, such as the
Ganges; crossroads and junctions, such as the tīrtha (river fords and,
by extension, sacred spots) in India; and other such objects or places
of nature. According to Hesiod, an 8th-century-bc Greek writer, such
objects of nature were venerated in the popular piety of the rustic
people of Greece in his times.
The association on the same site of four natural elements (mountain,
tree, stone, and water) is supposed to constitute a sacred whole (a
quarternity of perfection), a sacred landscape or “geography” similar to
the world of the gods. Such sites, in many civilizations, were the
initial points of departure for pilgrimages or for the establishment of
places of worship. In some instances the natural sacred places were
gradually adapted for religious use (e.g., the oracle at Delphi, in
Greece), but in others the earlier natural sites were artificially
recreated by using man-made symbolic equivalents. An artificial or
natural hill, such as a barrow, mound, or acropolis (elevated citadel),
often served as a base for the temple, but in many instances the temple
itself has been an architectural representation of the mountain, as were
the bamot (“high places,” usually constructed with stones) of the
ancient Hebrews, the ziggurats (tower temples) of the ancient
Babylonians, and the pyramidal temples of Cambodia, Java, and
pre-Columbian Mexico. A branchless tree has often been transformed into
a cultic object: a sacrificial post, such as the Vedic yūpa; the central
pole of a nomadic tent in Siberia and Central Asia, the yurt, or
initiation hut; or a parasol shaft (chattrāvalī) in the Buddhist stūpas
(reliquary buildings) and the Japanese and Chinese pagodas. If
represented in stone, the tree evolved into a column gnomon (a
perpendicular shaft), such as the Buddhist lāṭ, the sacred pillar
(matzeva) of the ancient Hebrews, or the obelisk of pre-Hellenistic
Egypt (before the 4th century bc, especially from the 3rd millennium to
the early 1st millennium bc). Stone, transformed into an altar, has been
used either to support or seat the image or symbol of the deity, or to
receive sacrifices, burnt offerings, plant offerings, or aromatic
perfumes. Water, because to it is generally ascribed a power that is
purifying or even curative or miraculous, almost always plays an
important role in or near sacred places. The whole assemblage of actual
or symbolic mountains, trees, stone, and water is usually arranged
architecturally within an enclosed space. An example of this arrangement
is the typical Christian church, with its raised chancel (the mountain),
the cross or crucifix (the tree), the altar (usually stone, but
sometimes wood), and the baptismal font or tank (water).
This widespread scheme is almost everywhere bound up with a cosmology
(theory of the universe) that establishes a symbolic identity between
the divine world and the temple. This identity holds true in all stages
of culture; e.g., the sacred sites of the Algonquin, Sioux, and
Blackfoot North American Indian tribes; the templum (temple) of the
Etruscans in ancient Italy; the temple of Bel at Palmyra (in Syria); the
Mithraic crypts centring on devotion to the Iranian god Mithra
throughout the Roman Empire; the kiva (a circular, partly underground
ceremonial room) of the Pueblo villages; the Temple of Heaven at Peking
and that at Hue (Vietnam); the Buddhist stūpa; and Brahmanic, Buddhist,
and Mexican mountain temples. The cosmic character of the Israelite king
Solomon’s Temple, of the 10th century bc, constructed on Mount Moriah in
Jerusalem, was not given such an interpretation, however, until
Hellenistic times (3rd century bc–3rd century ad), as in the writings of
Philo of Alexandria and Josephus. That of the Muslim mosques is very
subdued, although the Kaʿbah of Mecca, which contains the black stone,
is believed by Muslims to be the centre of the cosmos. The cosmological
scheme has been applied to Christian basilicas and churches—with square
floor plans, an overarching dome, and symbolic ornamentation—from as far
back as the 6th and 7th centuries.
Types of sacred settings for ceremonial and ritualistic objects » Sacred
furniture and related objects
Whatever its size and form, a sacred area is usually delimited by an
enclosure, such as a simple fence around sacred trees or Buddhist stūpas
or high walls with immense gates around temples. The sacred space may
comprise multiple enclosures, such as that of huge sacred
structures—such as the temple of Śrīraṅgam in southeastern India, which
has seven concentric enclosures. The dominant idea in delimiting the
holy place is to protect the sacred element and its mystery. Access to
the sanctuary is often hidden by grills or screens: the veil of the
Jewish Temple in ancient Jerusalem, which separated the holy area (or
hekhal) from the Holy of Holies (or devir); or the Eastern Orthodox
ikonostasis (image screen), which hides the chancel from the view of the
faithful except on certain ritual occasions when it is opened to them.
Hindu sanctuaries also are concealed by hangings. In Roman Catholic,
Lutheran, and Anglican churches, the chancel has usually been separated
from the nave by a railing, before which the faithful kneel to receive
the eucharistic (communion) meal.
In Indo-European civilizations the essential element of the sacred
furniture is the altar, the site of which varies according to the cult
and period under consideration. Tables for sacrifice, burnt offerings,
and offerings of plants or perfume have sometimes been placed outside
the temple, as at the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem and in temples of
ancient Egypt. In early Christian cults, a single altar was placed in
the chancel. Later, about the 6th century, the number of altars was
increased, with one in each chapel of the larger church building.
The most sacred furnishings of temples are those most closely related
to altars, such as the Jewish ark of the Law, or aron ha-qodesh, in the
synagogues, which is made in the image of Moses’ ark of the Covenant,
and the tabernacle (the receptacle containing the consecrated bread and
wine) of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The ark, which is
portable, is a kind of chest (aron) with a cover (kapporet), and the
tabernacle, made of wood, metal, or stone, is a locked chest. On the
fire altars of Zoroastrianism (a religion founded by the Iranian prophet
Zoroaster in the 7th century bc) is a sacred metal urn (ātash-dān),
containing the eternal fire, ashes, and aromatic substances.
When temples or other major sanctuaries are also places for assembly
and common prayer, as, for example, Muslim mosques and Catholic and
Protestant churches, pulpits are provided. They may be integral parts of
the masonry, of the anterior screen of the chancel—as are ambos (raised
platforms), or wooden furnishings fixed to the walls, like the formerly
mobile minbar (domed boxes in mosques). In Manichaeism (a dualistic
religion founded by the Persian prophet Mani in the 3rd century ad), the
Bēma Feast was centred on the exaltation of a reconstructed pulpit
(Bēma), which symbolically represented the rostrum from which Mani
spread his teachings. Another important element of sacred furniture is
the lectern, on which is placed one or more sacred books (from which one
of the officiants reads aloud) or a collection of hymns and religious
chants intoned by a cantor in monasteries or other religious structures.
Permanent lighting is also required in certain cults. This has
encouraged the creation of supports or vessels for inflammable
materials, the most characteristic of which are the seven-branched
candelabrum of the Jerusalem Temple, the Easter candle holder of Roman
Catholicism, the sanctuary lights of Roman Catholicism that signal the
presence of the Eucharist in the tabernacle, lights suspended before
icons in Orthodox rituals, glass or perforated-metal lamps in mosques,
and spherical lanterns adorned with an eye, which represents the
universal monad (one), of Vietnamese Cao Daism (a syncretistic religion
combining Confucianism, Taoism, Roman Catholicism, and Buddhism).
Types of sacred settings for ceremonial and ritualistic objects »
Protective devices and markers of sacredness
Other objects, such as fans, flyswatters, parasols, and
standards—analogous to the symbols of royalty—often complete the
permanent furnishings of sacred places. In addition to their utilitarian
role, they are endowed with a sacred character; fans used in Brahmanic
and Buddhist cults may be compared to the flabella (“fans”) in the Roman
Catholic and Orthodox churches. They are waved before the iconostasis
during the Eucharist in the divine liturgy of the Eastern Orthodox
Church, and they also are placed on either side of the papal chair in
solemn processions. The parasol, or umbrella, is generally a symbol of
the vault of heaven, as in India and China; the domes of stūpas are
often surmounted by parasols (chattras). In its symbolic and protective
role the umbrella can be compared to the baldachin (canopy) in many of
its forms. Whether it covers the altar, the statue or symbol of a deity,
or even the imperial throne—as in Zoroastrian Iran during the Sāsānian
period (3rd–7th centuries) and Orthodox Byzantium (during the 4th–15th
centuries)—the baldachin’s celestial symbolic ornamentation is generally
explicit, and its cosmic character is apparent. The standard (dhvaja),
in the Brahmanic cults, takes on the appearance of a high column
(dhvaja-stambha) erected in front of temples; it is surmounted by a
divine effigy, most often that of the sacred steed, or vāhana, of the
god. Simultaneously a signal (because of its height) and a protective
device, it first receives the homage of pilgrims. The poles adorned with
flags erected before the pylons of the temples of ancient Egypt may also
have had such a double character.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Summoning, mediating, and expelling devices
In the form of magic or sacred words, singing, and music, sound plays or
has played an important role in the worship of most religions. The same
is true of light and of aromatic substances, such as oils, perfumes, and
incense. The importance of these elements has brought about the creation
or adoption of specific objects with functions that often serve
converging purposes in worship. In most cases they are used to draw the
attention of the deity, to establish a connection with it, and to
exorcise forces that are evil or harmful to the god and to men. Because
of the need to attract the deity’s attention, the sound-producing
instruments are usually percussive or shrill, rather than melodic, and
drums, gongs, cymbals, bells, conchs, and sistrums (timbrels, or
rattles) are the most common forms.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Summoning, mediating, and expelling devices » Sound devices
Summoning devices are played either alone, as objects to accompany
prayers or litanies, as in Tantric Buddhism, or as instruments in a
temple orchestra. Their size and form and the materials used to make
them vary according to locale. Generally viewed as sacred, they are
often worshipped, as in West Africa, Malaysia, and Burma, and partake of
divine attributes, as in Brahmanism, Mahāyāna (Greater Vehicle, or
northern) Buddhism, and Tantrism. Drums vary greatly in both size and
form. The two-skinned ḍamaru (drum) of Śaivism (devotion to the Hindu
god Śiva) and Tantrism, believed to be effective in communicating with
the divine world, is shaped like an hourglass and fitted with two
pellets that hang from cords and that strike the skins when the drum is
twirled. Gongs usually are suspended metallic disks, with or without a
central protuberance. The gongs of ancient and contemporary China,
however, are of varied form, with cutout designs, and may be made of
resonant stone or of jade. Cymbals are very widespread and were used in
the Hellenistic mystery (salvatory) religions, such as those of Dionysus
(a god of wine) and the Eleusinian mysteries (centred on devotion to
Demeter, a seasonal-renewal goddess). They were the only instruments
played in the Temple of Jerusalem, where they were known as metziltayim
or tzeltzelim. The sistrum, used in pre-Hellenistic Egypt in the worship
of the goddesses Isis and Hathor and in Rome and Phoenicia, as well as
among the Hebrews, is composed of a handle and frame with transverse
metal rods and mobile disks. Producing a sharp ringing sound, it was
regarded as particularly sacred and was carried to the temple by women
of high rank. There are countless types of bells; the Indian ghaṇṭā, or
Tibetan dril-bu, a metal handbell with a handle shaken during prayers in
order to attract beneficent spirits and to frighten away evil ones, is
used particularly during Brahmanic and Mahāyāna Buddhist ceremonies.
In this category of objects, the shaman’s drum of the Buryat, Sakha
(Yakut), Altaic Turks, and Eskimo is composed of a skin stretched over a
circular or oval frame provided with a handle; it is struck with a
curved beater. It plays the same magical role as the ghaṇṭā, but it also
serves as a mode of ascending to the realm of the sacred for the shaman.
The bull-roarer—a flat, elongated piece of wood, ivory, reindeer antler,
or other material—used in primitive religions of Australia, equatorial
Africa, western North America, Colombia, Brazil, and Sumatra, and the
similar rhombos of the Hellenistic mystery religions, was propelled and
whirled by a thin strap. Its humming sound and trajectory gave it the
dual character of a summons to the divine world and a link with the
celestial regions.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Summoning, mediating, and expelling devices » Lighting devices
In comparison with sound, which in worship usually presents a coercive
character, lighting and fire, whether permanent or occasional, generally
signify a sacred or spiritual presence, an offering, prayer,
intercession, or purification. They are often viewed as sacred or even
of divine origin, if not directly identified with the deity, as in the
Zoroastrian fire altars. Their supports and containers can be made of
either durable or perishable materials, depending on the ritual or
ceremonial requirements. Torches have been used throughout history: in
ancient Assyria and Babylonia they were used to carry a newly
consecrated fire from torch to torch throughout the city three times a
month; in ancient Rome they were sometimes placed in a hollow clay or
metal shaft; and in the ancient Hebraic religion a lamp (ner) filled
with sacred oil was used in the worship of the god Yahweh. In the Roman
Catholic Church, from about the 10th century on, wax candles have been
used, with bronze or copper candle holders—the forms of which changed
according to style. Two of them were placed on the altar for the mass,
and two others were carried by acolytes (light bearers). The Easter
(Paschal) candle, made of beeswax around a wood core, had a candle
holder appropriate to its size. At Westminster, in England, during the
14th century, a candela rotunda (“round candle”) was the centre of a
“festival of lights” during the feast of the purification of the Virgin
Mary (February 2), also called Candlemas Day.
Festivals of lights have been and still are common throughout the
world, especially among the Jews, who celebrate Hanukkah, the Feast of
Dedication of the Temple. In India and in Indian-influenced countries
(particularly Thailand), the festival of lights (Dīpāvālī or Dīvālī) is
celebrated by the Vaiṣṇava Hindus (devotees of the god Vishnu [Viṣṇu])
in October–November, at the end of the monsoon season. It is practiced
on other religious occasions by the Jaina (followers of the Indian
reformer Mahāvīra, of the 6th century bc), Thais, and Tibetans, who
celebrate it in December. The lamps, which are lit everywhere (e.g., in
temples, in houses, and at crossroads), are also set afloat on streams,
rivers, and lakes. Some lamps are made of glass—like the votive lights
of Roman Catholicism—with a wick dipped in a vegetable oil, usually
coconut; some are made of clay; and others are made of rice paste with a
central hollow filled with ritual clarified butter, or ghee (ghī), or
are cut out of a plant stalk in the shape of a bark or raft. The Jaina
use earthen saucers containing either wicks immersed in coconut oil or
pieces of lighted camphor. Another form of this festival was known in
Thailand, where three earthen pots, containing rice, seeds, beans, and
an oil-soaked wick, were placed at the top of three poles opposite the
temple entrance, and the fire was kept burning for three days.
The “cordons of light” placed around the sacred places of Buddhism
during great festivals, such as at Bodh Gayā, in India, for the
Buddhajayantī (the commemoration of the Buddha’s 2,500th birthday) in
1958, are composed of thousands of small brass lamps in the form of
footed cups filled with ghee, in which a cotton wick is soaked.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Summoning, mediating, and expelling devices » Incense and other smoke
devices
The use of incense or the fumes of aromatic substances is especially
widespread in the great religions of the world and has many symbolic
meanings. It may signify purification, symbolize prayer (as among the
Hebrews), or be an offering that rises to the celestial or sacred realm.
Bronze incense burners were cast very early, as exemplified by those
from the Chou period (c. 1111–255 bc). Their forms were often inspired
by cosmological themes. In early Taoist ritual the fumes and odours of
incense burners produced a mystic exaltation and contributed to
well-being. Under the T’ang dynasty (ad 618–907), perforated golden
vessels with handles were carried in the hand to accompany a votive
offering. In Japan the censer (kōdan)—a vessel with a perforated cover
and carried by chains—was used in Buddhist and Shintō rituals. In
pre-Hellenistic Egypt and among ancient Jews, incense was burned in
golden bowls, which sometimes had handles, and in cauldrons placed on or
beside the altar or outside the temple. In pre-Columbian Mexico and
Peru, incense burners were made of terra-cotta and sometimes of gold.
Censers of precious metal provided with chains for hanging have been
used since the 4th century in Christian churches, and the rite of
swinging the censer is practiced in many rituals, both Christian and
others.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Summoning, mediating, and expelling devices » Expelling and other
protective devices
Several of the objects already described serve as protection against
evil or demonic spirits. Of such a nature are the ghaṇṭā and dril-bu,
the shaman’s drum, the lamps of the Indian Dīpāvālī, and the burning of
incense, which has also been practiced in ancient Greece, pre-Columbian
America, Morocco, and many other regions. The possession of a large
number of the same form of a protective object often is believed to be
effective; this is the reason for the large number of bells (ghaṇṭāmālā)
suspended on lattices on the handrail of the balustrade (vedikā) around
the stūpas of ancient India; even today, small bells are hung from the
roofs of Buddhist pagodas in Sino-Japanese regions. Like the small bells
seen on the roofs of Romanian country dwellings until the beginning of
the 20th century, these bells have a clapper provided with a feather or
plaquette that enables the wind to ring them continually. Perhaps the
most effective protective object, however, is the “diamond thunderbolt”
(Sanskrit vajra; Tibetan rdo-rje) of Mahāyāna Buddhism, Tantrism, and
Lamaism (a Tibetan form of Buddhism and folk religion). Well-known in
early Buddhism as an instrument held in the hand, the vajra is handled
in the middle and has, at one or both ends, four curved points that meet
at the tips. Of varying size, they are usually made of gilded or
ungilded bronze. The Tantric vajra is also associated with the ghaṇṭā
(vajra-ghaṇṭā), for which it forms a handle. A symbol of the
indestructible force of religion, it is believed to be able to drive
away all manifestations of evil. Although they are perishable, gunshots
and firecrackers are viewed as protective and expelling devices, as in
China and Cambodia (where soldiers, in the early 1970s, fired ammunition
at a lunar eclipse to drive away the dragon they believed was devouring
the moon).
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Representational objects
In many religions, the god or divine order is represented among men by
objects, which may be regarded simply as the god’s material form on
earth or may be totally identified with the god and endowed with his
powers. In pre-Hellenistic Egypt the god was believed to be present in
his statue, and elsewhere the statue frequently was believed to contain
the god.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Representational objects » Figures
Statues of human or animal figures are the most explicit of the objects
representing the divine order. In most iconic (image-using) religions
the gods are generally anthropomorphic, half man, half animal (as in
Egypt and India) or often entirely animal. In most cases the statues
conform to an ideal physical type that is symbolic and conventional. The
formulation of the ideal is governed by precise aesthetic and
iconometric (ritual image proportion) rules, as well as by iconographic
(image-representation) requirements, as in Egypt, Greece, and India. All
such standards and requirements guarantee conformity to the divine model
and, therefore, the effective presence of the god in his statue. Typical
in this regard are the sculptured animals of the Hindu pantheon, such as
elephants, lions, horses, bulls, and birds, which—erected at sacred
places in India and other Hindu-influenced countries—serve as ever-ready
sacred mounts (vāhana) for the journeys of the corresponding gods.
The masks representing beneficent and maleficent sacred or holy
forces in religious dances—particularly in Buddhist monasteries of
Nepal, Tibet, and Japan and in the majority of primitive
societies—constitute another category of sacred representational
objects. They are usually worshipped just as statues are worshipped.
Certain customs incorporating representational figures have been
widespread since prehistoric times and appear to be more related to
magic than to religion. One example of this type of practice is a custom
observed in primitive or prehistoric societies—the incorporation of a
skull in an anthropomorphic statue in order to emphasize its divine,
sacred, or magical character. To some extent, a similar use of a skull,
human bones, a mummified corpse, or a skeleton appears in Christian
churches in the veneration of relics.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Representational objects » Plants and plant representations
In all civilizations, plants and trees have been viewed as sacred.
Generally, the tree is either a god’s habitat or the god himself and is
worshipped. Such was the case, for example, in early Indian Buddhism.
Trees may also be associated with the divine order because of some
incident and subsequently venerated, as was the bodhi tree, under which
the Buddha received his Enlightenment. Fences or even open-air temples,
the form adopted for the early Bodh Gayā Buddhist temples, are built
around such trees. Innumerable cases of sacred or divine trees and their
painted or sculptured representations are found throughout written
religious tradition and in the ethnological data. The branches of trees
such as the palm, olive, and laurel are often associated with the gods;
such branches may crown the god or be included among his attributes.
Many are used in worship, as are the branches of the bilva (wood-apple
tree) among the adepts of Śiva, and the tulasī (basil), symbol of Lakṣmī
(Hindu goddess of prosperity and Vishnu’s wife) and sacred plant of the
Vaiṣṇavites.
As symbols of life and immortality, plants such as the vine of the
Greco-Roman and the Christian world and the haoma (a trance-inducing or
intoxicating plant) of pre-Islamic Iran are planted near tombs or
represented on funerary steles, tombstones, and sarcophagi. Two similar
and related rites involving plants, the haoma, noted in the Avesta
(ancient Zoroastrian scriptures), and the soma, noted in the Vedas
(ancient Hindu scriptures), pertain to the ritual production of exalted
beverages presumed to confer immortality. The ritualistic objects for
this ceremony included a stone-slab altar, a basin for water, a small
pot and a larger one for pouring the water, a mortar and pestle for
grinding the plants, a cup into which the juice drips and a filter or
strainer for decanting it, and cups for consuming the beverage obtained.
In many sacrifices, branches or leaves of sacred plants, such as the
kuśa plant (a sacred grass used as fodder) of the Vedic sacrifice and
the Brahmanic pūjā (ritual), are used in rituals such as the Zoroastrian
sprinkling (bareshnum), or Great Purification, rite, in which the notion
of fertility and prosperity is combined with their sacred characters
(see purification rite).
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Representational objects » Other representational objects
The staves of martial banners or standards are often surmounted by the
figure of a god, which is frequently in its animal form. Such effigies,
used by the Indo-Iranians, the Romans, the Germanic tribes, the Celts,
and other ancient peoples, were probably meant to ensure the presence of
the god among the armies. From the 4th century on, Byzantine armies
placed the labarum (a cross bearing the Greek letters XP, signifying
Christ) on their standards. Shields, such as the Greek gorgonōtos
(“gorgon-headed”), were also often decorated with sacred figures,
emblems, and symbolic themes, particularly in post-Gupta (4th-century)
India, as seen in the 6th-century findings from the frescoes of Ajantā.
In the Mycenaean civilization (15th–12th centuries bc) of ancient
Greece, shields were worshipped in front of the temple, and at Knossos
(in Crete) votive offerings were made of clay and ivory in the form of
shields. The famous ancilia (“figure of eight” shields) of Rome were
kept by the Fratres Arvales (a college of priests) and used by the Salii
(Leapers), or warrior-priests, for their semiannual dances (in March and
October) honouring the god Mars.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Representational objects » Relics
Relics of saints, founders of religions, and other religious personages,
which are often objects of worship or veneration, generally consist of
all or part of the skeleton (such as the skull, hand, finger, foot, or
tooth), a piece or lock of hair, a fingernail, or garments or fragments
of clothing. Such veneration is nearly universal, as is the production
of reliquaries, or shrines that contain relics. The size, form, and
materials of reliquaries vary greatly and often depend on the nature of
the relic being exhibited. They may be fixed but are generally portable
so that they can be carried in processions or on pilgrimages. Wood,
bone, ivory, quartz, glass, semiprecious stones, and metals such as
gold, silver, bronze, and copper are frequently used materials, and
chasing (embossing), enamelwork, and precious stones often ornament
reliquaries. They vary considerably in form; like the Tibetan
reliquaries, or ga’u, they may be constructed on a small scale to look
like churches, chapels, towers, stūpas, or sarcophagi, but sometimes
they assume the form of the relic, such as in the form of
anthropomorphic statues, busts, hands, feet, and other forms.
Occasionally, as in Tantrism and Tibetan Lamaism, the bones of holy
persons are used to make ritual musical instruments—flutes, horns
(rkang-gling), and drums (ḍamaru)—or objects such as the ritual scoop
made of a skull cup (thodkhrag) and a long iron handle encrusted with
silver.
In many Asian regions, however, human relics are replaced by copies
of sacred texts introduced into statues of bronze, as in Tibet and
Yunnan (China), or of stucco, as in Afghanistan (Haḍḍa, an archeological
site near Jālālābād excavated since 1928) in about the 4th–6th
centuries.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Other ritual objects » Objects used in prayer and meditation
In many religions the practice of prayer requires the use of certain
objects, among which rosaries (strings of beads) and chaplets (circular
strings of beads) occupy an important place in the popular piety of
various religions. They are widespread in Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam,
Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Judaism, although they are not
found in Shintō. Brahmanic and Buddhist rosaries have 108 beads, made of
tulasī, or basil (in Vaiṣṇavism), of lotus seeds or small bones (in
Śaivism), or of small disks of human bone (in Lamaism). In China,
rosaries are composed of coloured beads. Elsewhere, their number varies;
the rosary of Japanese Buddhism has 112 wooden beads, that of Islam has
99 amber beads, and that of the Christian world—and of the well-to-do
Jaina—has 150 beads made of various materials, such as wood, pearl,
mother-of-pearl, precious or semiprecious stones, gold, and silver. The
beads of Brahmanic and Buddhist rosaries are usually strung
continuously, except in Japan, where cords—which may or may not have
beads on them—are tied to the principal cord in several combinations.
The Christian rosary is divided into “decades” (tens) with
intercalations, and in many cases the rosary has a “head” composed of a
larger bead, several other beads, and a Christian cross.
There are several other objects pertaining to prayer—in addition to
the rosary, which is principally a mnemotechnic (memory-technique)
device. One example is the Lamaist prayer wheel (’khor-lo), which varies
widely in size. It is a cylinder, generally of chased metal, rotating on
an axis and containing prayers inscribed on strips of paper, fabric, or
parchment. Weighted by two balls suspended externally on small cords,
the prayer wheels are set in motion when a hand rotates a handle
extending from the axis or when the prayer wheels are aligned along a
common axis. Some are driven by hydraulic power and others even by
electrical power. There is some evidence of the use of prayer wheels
among other peoples, such as the Japanese, the ancient Celts and
Bretons, the ancient Greeks, and the ancient Egyptians. The idea of
permanent prayer through the agency of objects is found in the candles
lit in churches, in the perpetually burning lamps (chōmyōtō) of Buddhist
Japan, and in Tibetan prayer flags, with sacred formulas painted on
them, which wave in the wind around temples, houses, and villages. The
phylacteries (tefillin) worn by traditional Jews during weekday morning
prayers consist of two leather cases bound by leather straps to the
forehead and left forearm; they contain parchment citations from the
Pentateuch enjoining this as a reminder of God’s commandments. An
amuletic function has been attributed to them, but this is disputed.
Among protective objects associated with prayer are Muslim prayer rugs,
the rectangular shape of which symbolizes the sacred area of the mosque,
and the fringe-trimmed prayer shawl (ṭallit) worn by devout Jews during
synagogue services.
Related to prayer and meditation are sacred and magical diagrams.
Typical examples are the yantras (two- or three-dimensional meditation
apparatus, often geometric or anthropomorphic in form) and maṇḍalas
(symbols of the cosmos in the form of circles, squares, or rectangles)
of Brahmanism, Tantric Buddhism, and Lamaism and found in India, Nepal,
Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan. Derived from sacred syllables (mantras)
or from geometric designs endowed with mystical and cosmological
symbolism, they are executed on sand, on the ground with coloured
powders, and on durable materials. They may be made on stones, engraved
on plates of copper, silver, or some other metal, or drawn and painted
on skins, linen, silk, or hempen cloth. Like statues, they are
consecrated by the rite of “initiation of breath,” prāṇapratiṣṭhā (see
also prayer).
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Other ritual objects » Objects used in purification rites
Large numbers of purification rites are performed universally on widely
varying occasions, both in private life, from conception to death, and
in religious ceremonies. Such rites employ materials that include water,
dust, or dry sand (in Islam); water and henna, a reddish-brown dye (in
Islam); oil, incense, balm, and natron, a salt (in ancient Egyptian
religion); ale (öl) or wine (in post-15th-century Germanic religion);
salt (in Shintō); bread, sugar, spices, and animal blood (in ancient
Greek and Scandinavian religions); paper, used in the Shintō gohei, a
white paper “whip” that is shaken; ashes, among the Brahmans; and other
materials. Water, fire, and light play especially important roles in
purification rites. Objects used in such rites include water vessels of
various shapes and sizes used for ablutions; jugs and vats containing
ale or wine; terra-cotta or glass containers used for balms and
perfumes; incense burners, cauldrons, and censers for fumigation;
containers used in Confucian rituals, which include a basin (chin-lei)
for pure water, another small basin (huan-po), and seven goblets (chio)
for the sacrificial wine; and ewers and basins of gold, silver, or
copper used in purifying the hands and feet, as in pre-Hellenistic
Egypt, or for ritual sprinklings.
The wearing of new clothes that have not yet been washed is also a
purification rite, practiced, for example, in the spring of the year
(October–November) in Brahmanic India, where it is associated with the
festival of lights, the Dīpāvālī.
Purification may also be attained through mortification and penance,
practices that were especially common in medieval Christianity and in
Judaism. Methods included the wearing of hair shirts or sackcloth,
wearing haircloth undergarments and belts bristling with spikes next to
the skin, and flagellating oneself with a scourge made of leather straps
or lashing oneself with a whip, such as the sraoshō-karana of Persia.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Other ritual objects » Objects used in rites of passage
Most of the objects noted above have played or still play a role in
rites of passage. Such objects play a secondary role in all such rites,
which include rites of initiation, marriage, and death.
Circumcision in pre-Hellenistic Egypt and among the Hebrews, Muslims,
Ethiopians, and certain primitive peoples was and is performed with a
flint-blade knife, with some other kind of sharp knife, perhaps of
metal, with a razor, or (as in Africa) with a pair of scissors. Among
the Zulus and other African tribes, bull-roarers were launched on such
an occasion of initiation. In the Brahmanism, Zoroastrianism, and
Parsiism of the Indo-Iranian world, a sacred cord (Pahlavi kuṣṭī;
Sanskrit yajñopavīta) is the mark of initiation; in Iran and among the
Parsis (Zoroastrians in India), the kuṣṭī is wound around the torso, and
in India the yajñopavīta is passed diagonally from shoulder to waist.
Among the Parsis, including the women, the cord is made of strands of
lamb’s wool or of goat’s or camel’s hair, and in India the material
varies according to caste and may be cotton, hemp, or wool. In addition,
the Zoroastrians and Parsis wear a sacred shirt (sudra) made of two
pieces of white cambric stitched together. For ordination, a shawl, a
cotton veil (padān) to cover the nose and mouth, and a mace are added;
the Brahmanic (Vedic) initiate also receives a tall staff and a black
antelope skin. In Sikhism (an Indian religion combining Hindu and Muslim
elements, founded by Gurū Nānak in the 16th century), initiations of
novices formerly included drinking water into which sugar had been mixed
with the blade of a dagger (khaṇḍā).
In the initiation of Buddhist monks, the tonsure (cutting the hair of
the head) is performed with a razor with a handle, and each initiate
receives three red or yellow garments, a belt, a bowl for alms (pātra),
a filter or ewer (kuṇḍikā), an alms-collector’s staff (khakkara), a
needle, a toothpick, and a fan. Japanese Tantric monks are initiated
when they are past 50 years of age, at which time they are baptized
(abhiṣeka) by having water from five kuṇḍikā poured on their heads and
receive, in addition to the objects listed above, a vajra
(“thunderbolt”), a wheel (cakra), and a conch (saṅkha). The principal
objects involved in the initiation of Christian priests and monks are
the tonsure and sacerdotal vestments. The Buryat shaman receives, in
addition to his magical cloak and drum, a four-legged chest (shiré)
decorated with lunar and solar symbols.
The religious character of marriage is not universal. Objects
involved in the ceremonies of betrothal and marriage include jars
(loutrophoroi) for the water of the prenuptial bath of ancient Greece;
metal rings placed on the ring finger of the betrothed or married couple
among Hebrews, Zoroastrians and Parsis, and persons in classical Rome
and in both Eastern and Western Christianity; the bridal veil, orange
(flammeum) in Rome and white in the Christian and Slavic worlds; the
bride’s crown, made first of marjoram and verbena and later of myrtle
and orange blossoms in Rome and of various materials in the Christian
and Slavic worlds; and the crown held above the heads of the bridal
couple in Eastern Orthodox marriage ceremonies. In Roman and Slavic
marriage rites a tunic or shirt was used, and in Hindu rites a yellow
wool bracelet (kautukasūtra) is tied around the wrist of the betrothed
girl by her mother.
The marriage ceremony sometimes takes place under a marriage pavilion
or canopy, as among the ancient Etruscans of Italy. The Hebrews first
used a closed tent (ḥuppa) and later a silk or tapestry canopy to
symbolize the nuptial chamber. Hindus and Parsis use a tent or pavilion
(pandāl), in which the bridal couple are initially separated by a
curtain. Among the Sikhs, a paper parasol (agast) is rotated continually
over the head of the bridegroom.
In some areas, particularly in contemporary Hindu India, a swing
(dolā) is set up under the pandāl, on which the couple seat themselves
after the official ceremony. The seesaw here symbolizes prosperity,
love, and the union between earth and sky. The aiōra (“swing”) used in
the ancient Athenian Dionysiac festival, the swings of the spring
festivals at Puri (Orissa) and in Thailand, also have similar symbolic
connotations. During the winter solstice, a Vedic sacrifice (hotṛ) is
performed on the swing (preṅkha).
Except for Brahmanic and Buddhist ritual suicides by drowning, which
require neither ceremony nor funeral apparatus, there are three methods
of disposing of dead human bodies: cremation, stripping of the flesh,
and inhumation, performed with or without embalming. These methods have
coexisted and still coexist throughout the world. The preparation of the
corpse often depends on the method adopted, which, in turn, governs the
objects and instruments used. In Japanese sects, particularly in the
Shingon and other Buddhist sects, a razor (made of gold in the Jōdo
sects) is used for an actual or simulated tonsure of the head of the
deceased. A mirror, used in magic to detect evil spirits, figured in the
judgment of souls in ancient China. A copper mirror was placed under the
head of the dead of pre-Hellenistic Egypt; one of bronze was placed near
the head in Buddhist Japan. In Vedic and Brahmanic India, thin pieces of
gold were used to close the facial and bodily orifices, and pieces of
jade served the same purpose in ancient China. Mortuary masks made of
gold, bronze, hard stone, many-coloured terra-cotta, and other materials
were used at Mycenae, in pre-Hellenistic and later in Coptic (early
Christian) Egypt, in Peru, and other places to cover the face and
sometimes the chest. Elsewhere, a cloth covering the face or a shroud,
which often was red, was considered sufficient. Pieces of money to pay
for the passage from this world to the next were placed in the mouth of
corpses in ancient Mycenae, Greece, and Rome and in a pouch in Japan.
Corpses have been borne to funeral sites by various means. Among
primitive peoples and in Tibet, they are carried on the back or in the
arms, and among the Jews, Muslims, Parsis, Slavs, and Hindus they are
carried on biers, which are sometimes richly decorated and are either
put in a tomb or destroyed. In modern Western countries, the funeral
chariots of Rome and elsewhere have been transformed into motor hearses,
while the contemporary Chinese and Vietnamese use carts that have been
specially fitted out. Funeral boats were used in pre-Hellenistic Egypt,
in ancient Scandinavia, and in the Pacific islands; Venetians of Italy
still use gondolas for funeral rites. The sledge was used in the Kurgans
of southern Russia.
When cremated, the corpse is often burned with its bier. In the
Buddhist world, as, for example, in Cambodia and Thailand, it is burned
in a wood and paper coffin made in the form of a sacred animal, with a
cloth canopy surmounting the pyre. If the ashes are dispersed after
cremation, as in India, they are collected in a cinerary urn. The form
and composition of such urns have varied considerably, being made of
terra-cotta, stone, porphyry, alabaster, bronze, silver, gold, ceramic
ware, and other materials. The urn is placed in the grave, as in ancient
Assyria and elsewhere, on a bronze or terra-cotta support (usually an
armchair) and lowered into a large jug, as among the Etruscans, or in
the niches of the cineraria (places containing ashes of cremated
bodies), columbaria (vaults containing urns of cremated bodies), or
catacombs, as in Etruria (in Italy), Greece, and Rome. Among the Zapotec
of Mexico, the ceramic urn was placed in the niches of cells, the
mogotes, made beneath hills set aside for the purpose, a practice also
observed by the Mosquito Indians of Nicaragua. In Buddhist countries the
urn is often displayed on the domestic altar, and in Tibet the
imperfectly calcined bones are ground up and mixed with clay and the
mixture is molded into the form of a votive offering (tsha-tsha), which
is placed in the niches of the funeral stūpa (mchod-rten). In ancient
southwestern India the terra-cotta “feminine” urns had a pair of
“breasts” formed by two bowls stuck onto the bulge of the urn.
Stripping the flesh of the corpse generally does not require the use
of specific objects, since it is the work of vultures or sometimes of
pigs, dogs, or other animals. The Parsis, however, build “towers of
silence” (dakhma) for the purpose, to which they accompany the deceased
with a pot containing fire.
Bodies have been and still are sometimes buried without coffins, as
in Rome, where they were put into pit tombs. Among primitive and
prehistoric peoples, ancient Egyptians, and the people of the Harappā
civilization (c. 2500–1700 bc) of the Indus, the corpse was wrapped in a
mat made of plant fibres. Coffins are sometimes carved or painted, and
the crudest ones—such as those used by ancient Romans and primitive
peoples—are made from hollowed-out tree trunks. Some coffins are modeled
according to the human form, such as the colourful wooden coffins of
pre-Hellenistic Egypt or the Chinese coffins covered with jade mosaic of
the 2nd-century-bc Han dynasty. The majority, however, are oblong and
made of wood; in ancient Greece, coffins were made of cypress. Tibetan
coffins (ro-sgam) and Japanese Buddhist and Shintō coffins, however, are
cubical, with the corpse placed in a sitting or crouching position.
Among certain coastal peoples—e.g., the Vikings—the deceased is either
buried in his boat or put out to sea and cremated with it.
Sarcophagi—used in many civilizations—were made of various materials;
terra-cotta in Etruria, Greece, southern India prior to the 2nd century
bc, and Japan; wood and stone in Japan; and marble in late Rome and in
the Christian world. They are often richly decorated with symbolic or
allegorical carvings and are frequently very colourful. In ancient Egypt
the viscera were placed separately in canopic (burial) jars. The
Etrurians also used such jars, the covers of which were decorated with
the portrait of the deceased.
From prehistoric times, the deceased was accompanied by ordinary
objects placed either in the coffin or in the grave itself, the most
common of which were drinking cups, pitchers, cups or vessels for solid
food, weapons, tools and ornaments, and jewelry. Ancient Chinese
collections of funerary objects of high quality have been exhumed, but
the most complete outfitting of the dead was that of the Egyptian tombs,
which is completed by scenes painted or carved on the interior walls of
the rooms of the tomb. Funeral models of houses, wells, farms, herds,
and armies were used in the Han (206 bc–ad 220), T’ang (618–907), and
Ming (1368–1644) periods of China as well as in ancient Egypt. Figurines
representing the deceased were included among Egyptian funerary objects,
along with figurines representing his retinue; in China the retinue
figurines included dancers, musicians, and soldiers (ming-ch’i). The
models were probably substitutes for the servants who formerly had been
sacrificed in the royal tomb. For a long time the Chinese figurines were
made of ceramic decorated in many colours, but in more recent periods
(i.e., after the revolution of 1911 and during the 19th century) they
were straw effigies.
Some of the individual objects used in funeral rites include situlae,
Roman and Egyptian bronze libation jars with a handle on the tops;
Indian Brahmanic terra-cotta jars with perforated bases, which are
broken after their use in the aqueous purification of the pyre; and
cages containing birds (Buddhist Japan), sometimes eagles (ancient
Rome), released near the tomb after burial. There are also the objects
used in postmortem rites, such as the tablet of the ancestors (Japanese
ihai) in China, Japan, and Vietnam and the miniature straw boat,
flat-bottomed and with a curved prow, which is set afloat with a bit of
candle and food during the Japanese Shintō festival of lights (Bon
Matsuri), returning the spirit of the ancestor to the land of souls
after three days’ visit.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Other ritual objects » Objects used in sacrifices and in sacred meals
The most elementary type of site in which a sacrifice is performed is
simply a massive rock or a hilltop, with no accoutrements. Menhirs
(e.g., the Hebrew matzeva, a conical stele rubbed with oil at the top),
megaliths, and sacrificial posts (e.g., the Vedic yūpa)—which are
widespread throughout the primitive world—are also quite rudimentary.
Altars, properly speaking, are set up either on sacrificial sites or in
temples and may be either hollowed out in the earth or raised or
constructed. Both of these categories are unknown in Africa and South
America, where sacrifices are made on the ground or on a bed of sand.
The first category includes the vedi (“altar”) of Vedic rites, trenches,
pits, and ditches dug in the earth. Some of the hollowed-out sites are
used for a sacrificial fire and some for collecting victims’ blood, as
in Greece, pre-Sāsānid Iran, and pre-Islamic Arabia. The altar is most
often a table with one, three, four, or more legs. The top may be
smooth, or it may be provided with drains for blood and liquid libations
or with dishes to hold solid offerings, such as the firstfruits—e.g.,
the kernoi (small sacrificial pots) of the pre-Hellenic Aegean
civilization.
The altar may be round or oblong or may imitate other forms, such as
the Indian Vedic altar, which was made in the form of a bird with spread
wings. Altars are usually fixed in place and are made of various
materials: clay (pre-Columbian religions of Central America);
terra-cotta (kernos) and stucco-covered sun-baked bricks (religions of
ancient Greece); fired bricks (Vedism in ancient India); wood (Buddhism
and Shintō of Japan, primitive religions of Polynesia, and Christianity
in Western and Nestorian—an Eastern independent church—churches until
the 10th or 11th century); wood plated with metals, such as bronze and
gold (the religions of the Hebrews and Byzantine Christians); and
metals, such as iron (Germanic religion), bronze (ancient Near Eastern
religions), and gold (5th- and 6th-century Byzantine Christianity). Most
commonly, however, altars are made of stone slabs resting horizontally
on legs, columns, or lateral supports, although the pre-Sāsānid Iranian
slab altar (ādōshi) rested on a pedestal. The Christian altar is square
or oblong; that used in Greek hero worship was rectangular, as was the
altar of pre-Hellenistic Egypt, whic was made of alabaster. Some altars,
such as the marble Altar of the Earth at Peking, are cubical, and
others, such as the Altar of Heaven at Peking and ancient Phoenician
altars, are cylindrical. Occasionally, as in Greece, they are hollow and
contain the ashes of burnt offerings. The Roman Catholic altar is
required to contain a stone, no matter what the predominant material may
be.
A throne may be a special form of altar and may be either a true
piece of furniture fashioned in wood or metal or a seat carved out in
rock. It also may surmount a stele, as in northern Vietnam and Bali.
Sacrificial weapons, like the utensils, vary according to the nature
of the sacrifice. The most common weapon is the knife, which is used to
slit the throat of the human or animal victim, a practice observed, for
example, by Semites, Muslims, and ancient Greeks. Sometimes the knife is
cast into the sea after use. An ax involved in the Athenian Bouphonia
(“Ox-Slaughtering Festival”) was carried to the tribunal of the
Prytaneum (the town hall, containing a community altar or hearth),
inspected, and then submerged in the same way. Sometimes a poniard or
dagger was used, such as in the Mithraic sacrifice of a bull; a ritual
knife (khaḍga) shaped like a sickle, with the outer edge forming the
cutting edge, is used in the sacrifice of black goats to Kālī (a Hindu
goddess who is the consort of Śiva) in Calcutta. In the great imperial
sacrifice of the horse (aśvamedha) of Vedic India, a gold-ornamented
knife was used to sacrifice the horse, but knives of copper and iron
were used for other animals. In the sacrificial rites of contemporary
primitive peoples, a sword, which varies in size and form, generally is
used. In ancient Iran the victim was slaughtered with a log or pestle.
In all sacrificial rites, it should be noted that a flow of blood is
always necessary, even when the victim is clubbed.
Sacrificial victims are also very frequently burned or else are
cooked for a communal meal. Vessels for holding and maintaining the
sacrificial fire may be used in such situations. Two such vessels have
been well described in religious literature: the Vedic Indian vessel
(ukhā) made of earth and fired in a pit on the sacrificial grounds and
the urn (ātash-dān) of pre-Sāsānid Iranian fire altars. Sometimes the
ashes were collected in cauldrons (the ancient Hebrews), and
occasionally the viscera were placed separately in a gourd (Africa) or
on a tray (pre-Hellenistic Egypt and contemporary Africa). When
intoxicating beverages—such as the Avestan Iranian haoma and the Vedic
Indian soma—are made at the same time as the sacrifice, the inventory of
ritual objects necessarily includes the stones for pressing the plants,
a wooden vat, a filter, and a libation cup at the fire.
Three types of objects used in ablution and libation rites may be
distinguished. First are the containers for storing liquids, such as
water, fermented liquor, wine, and blood. A second type includes
utensils—e.g., spoons and ladles—used for drawing off liquids, which are
fashioned out of pieces of wood of different, although ritualistically
defined, varieties. The third type comprises the containers used
directly for ablutions, libations, and oblations—e.g., the ewers of
Sumer, Egypt, and Vedic India; gold, silver, copper, or iron pātra of
the Vedic and Brahmanic world; Hebrew goblets; cups of various forms,
such as the Vedic and Tantric skull cup; the phial (bowl) and patera
(shallow libation dish) of the Roman and early Christian worlds, made of
gold, chased and engraved metal, semiprecious stones, or glass; the
Australian bark pitchi; and the ciborium (covered container for the
consecrated bread) and chalice (cup containing the consecrated wine) of
Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran worship. The cup of the chalice
must be made of gold, silver, or vermeil (gilded silver, bronze, or
copper).
The sickle for harvesting plants, a winnowing basket for preparing
grain offerings, a reed broom for cleaning the sacrificial area, the
scoop for collecting ashes used in Vedic India and by the Hebrews (who
made it of gold or bronze), and baskets for presenting offerings of
fruit or cakes are among the many other objects used in sacrificial
rites. In order to consecrate such offerings, a priest of ancient Egypt
touched them with a sceptre (kherep).
Ornaments used in sacrificial rites are of many different types. The
adornment of the victim before sacrifice may take the form of gilding
the horns, as in ancient Greece, or putting a necklace or garland of
flowers on it. The priest may wear a breastplate, as in Egypt, Etruria,
and Jerusalem, or a gold ornament—e.g., the Vedic Indian nikṣa—around
his neck. Divine statues also may be adorned with jewels, diadems,
tiaras, and garments consisting of goldworked covers, a practice still
observed in southern India, or with ceremonial apparel, a Christian
practice observed in the veneration of saints, particularly in
Czechoslovakia (Prague), Poland, and France (Brittany). Altars are
permanently or occasionally decorated with incense burners, candelabra,
and vases of flowers. Artificial flowers have been used on altars in
Japan since the 7th century.
Finally, many sacrifices are accompanied by music, which may be
viewed either as a protective measure or as an offering of sound. The
musical instruments used in worship do not necessarily assume any
special form, but they are often played by the priests themselves, as
among Hindus, Tibetan Tantrists, and Hebrews, or are reserved for the
accompaniment of particular rites. The silver trumpets of the Hebrews
and the conches of Indian-influenced countries are used in this way.
Forms of ceremonial and ritualistic objects according to their functions
» Other ritual objects » Objects used in temple, state, and private
ceremonies
A large number of ordinary objects produced especially for the god have
been used in the daily worship of divine statues. The most complete and
best described rites were those practiced in ancient Assyria and Egypt
and those still observed in the Vaiṣṇavite temples of southeastern
India. Such objects are identical in form to those ordinarily used by
men, although the materials may vary: earthenware jars for “pure” water;
table service, which may include plates, trays, bowls, cups, and
pitchers; clothing; pots and flasks for salves and perfumes; jewels,
ornaments, flower garlands, and metal mirrors; thrones and platforms; a
swing; palanquins (enclosed litters), processional chariots, and boats
for the god’s journeys outside the temple; musical instruments, such as
drums of all sizes, lutes, clarinets, and conches; and parasols, fans,
flyswatters, standards, and oriflammes (banners).
The principal ceremony that pertains to the state is the coronation
of the king or emperor. In addition to the pomp displayed on such
occasions, the most significant objects generally are the containers
used in baptizing or anointing the king, such as the sacred conches or
antelope horns used for the lustral water in Indian-influenced countries
and the Holy Ampulla (flask) for consecration oil, used particularly in
France; the throne, which is the essential object of the ceremony in
almost all civilizations; and the crown, the sceptre, the hand of
justice, and the globe of the Byzantine, Iranian, and Western worlds.
Domestic rites were observed daily in ancient Rome, Brahmanic India,
the Buddhist world, China, Japan, and other areas, as they still are in
many places. The objects involved in such ceremonies are the same as
those used in temple worship. Permanent altars, which are often placed
near the entrance, contain statues, the tablets of the ancestors, and
offerings of flowers, incense, fruits, and lights.
Conclusion
Ceremonial and ritual objects in past times have held and still hold, in
many cases, a very important place in the civilizations of the world.
From prehistoric times, they have played an integral part in the
evolution of the various civilizations on two levels: (1) on the level
of rites and rituals practiced in everyday life and (2) on the level of
the more solemn and rare cultic and communal rites. From a merely
functional standpoint, such objects serve sacred or symbolic purposes;
their construction, forms, dimensions, and styles have been, from
earliest times, codified. Some have been so closely associated with the
divine or the sacred that they have been considered either a symbolic
manifestation of the deity or an actual manifestation of the deity
itself. In general, however, they lose in the course of time this
particularistic characteristic. In this process, they generally survive
only in a formal sense, and thus henceforth are devoid of any sacred
power.
Jeannine Auboyer
