Ablution is the act of washing oneself. It may refer to:
In Christianity, ablution is a prescribed washing of part or all of the body or possessions, such as clothing or ceremonial objects, with the intent of purification or dedication. In Christianity, both baptism and footwashing are forms of ablution. Prior to praying the canonical hours at seven fixed prayer times, Oriental Orthodox Christians wash their hands and face. In liturgical churches, ablution can refer to purifying fingers or vessels related to the Eucharist. In the New Testament, washing also occurs in reference to rites of Judaism part of the action of a healing by Jesus, the preparation of a body for burial, the washing of nets by fishermen, a person's personal washing of the face to appear in public, the cleansing of an injured person's wounds, Pontius Pilate's washing of his hands as a symbolic claim of innocence and foot washing, which is a rite within the Christian Churches. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Pontius Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Jesus by washing his hands. This act of Pilate may not, however, have been borrowed from the custom of the Jews. The same practice was common among the Greeks and Romans.
Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of uncleanliness, especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean.
Cleanliness is both the state of being clean and free from germs, dirt, trash, or waste, and the habit of achieving and maintaining that state. Cleanliness is often achieved through cleaning. Culturally, cleanliness is usually a good quality, as indicated by the aphorism: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", and may be regarded as contributing to other ideals such as health and beauty.
Wuḍūʾ is the Islamic procedure for cleansing parts of the body, a type of ritual purification, or ablution. The 6 Fardh (Mandatory) acts of Wudu are: washing the face, then the arms, then wiping the head, then washing or wiping the feet, and doing these in order, without any big breaks between them.
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. Tevilah (טְבִילָה) is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and netilat yadayim is the washing of the hands with a cup.
Laver may refer to:
Ghusl is an Arabic term to the full-body ritual purification mandatory before the performance of various rituals and prayers, for any adult Muslim after sexual intercourse before Jumu'ah and Eid prayers, before entering the ihram in preparation for Hajj, after having lost consciousness and after formally converting. Sunni Muslims also perform the ablution before Namaz-e-tawbah.
Tayammum is the Islamic act of dry ritual purification using purified (clean) sand or stone or mud, which may be performed in place of ritual washing if no clean water is readily available or if one is suffering from moisture-induced skin inflammation or scaling.
Harae or harai is the general term for ritual purification in Shinto. Harae is one of four essential elements involved in a Shinto ceremony. The purpose is the purification of pollution or sins and uncleanness. These concepts include bad luck and disease as well as guilt in the English sense.
Purity is an essential aspect of Islam. It is the opposite of najāsa, the state of being ritually impure. It is achieved by first removing physical impurities from the body, and then removing ritual impurity by means of wudu (usually) or ghusl.
In Japan, a tsukubai (蹲踞) is a washbasin provided at the entrance to a holy place for visitors to purify themselves by the ritual washing of hands and rinsing of the mouth. This type of ritual cleansing is the custom for guests attending a tea ceremony or visiting the grounds of a Buddhist temple. The name originates from the verb tsukubau, meaning "to crouch" or "to bow down", an act of humility. Guests attending a tea ceremony crouch and wash their hands in a tsukubai set in the tea garden (roji) before entering the tearoom.
Chōzu-ya or temizu-ya (手水舎) is a Shinto water ablution pavilion for a ceremonial purification rite known as temizu or chōzu. The pavilion contains a large water-filled basin called a chōzubachi.
In ancient Greek religion, Kanathos in the Argolid was the spring at Nauplia, where Hera annually renewed her virginity. There, Pausanias noted, was "a spring called Kanathos where, so say the Argives, Hera bathes every year and, by so doing, becomes a maiden; it is this story which is of the secrets connected with the rites which they perform to Hera." The unspoken nature of the ritual forbade its being embodied openly or directly in Greek mythology. S. Casson suggested that it was the obscure subject of the so-called "Ludovisi Throne", generally considered to represent the parallel, and far better-known, renewal of Aphrodite, bathing in the sea at Paphos.
Water is considered a purifier in most religions.
Takpirtu or Takpertu, inscribed tak-pir-tú and as a gloss to the term šu-gur-gur-meš, and literally meaning “wiping,” from kupurru, “to wipe, rub,” or more generally ““to perform a wiping rite,” were Mesopotamian purification rituals whose oldest attestations go back to the Old Babylonian period. It was an integral part of the Bīt rimki(House of Ablution) and Bīt salā’ mê(house of water sprinkling) rituals and may have been a cleansing rite in its own right as it is listed separately in the Exorcists Manual, perhaps in the form of tak-pir-tú nussētiq, burnt offerings.
A cantharus, also known as a phiala, is a fountain used by Christians for ablution before entering a church. These ablutions involve the washing of the hands, face, and feet. The cantharus is traditionally located in the exonarthex of the church. The water emitted by a cantharus is to be running water. The practice of ablutions before prayer and worship in Christianity symbolizes "separation from sins of the spirit and surrender to the Lord." Eusebius recorded this practice of canthari located in the courtyards of churches, for the faithful to wash themselves before entering a Christian house of worship. The practice has its origins Jewish practice of performing ablutions before entering into the presence of God. Though canthari are not as prevalent anymore in Western Christianity, they are found in Eastern Christian and Oriental Christian churches.
Maṣbuta is the ritual of immersion in water in the Mandaean religion.
In Mandaeism, tamasha or ṭamaša is an ablution ritual that does not require the assistance of a priest. Tamasha is performed by triple immersion in river (yardna) water. It is performed by women after menstruation or childbirth, men and women after sexual activity or nocturnal emission, touching a dead corpse, or any other type of defilement (ṭnupa). It is also performed after subsiding from unclean thoughts or anger at another person.
In Mandaeism, rishama (rišama) is a daily ablution ritual. Unlike the masbuta, it does not require the assistance of a priest. Rishama (signing) is performed before prayers and involves washing the face and limbs while reciting specific prayers such as the rushma. It is performed daily, before sunrise, with hair covered and after evacuation of bowels, or before religious ceremonies.
In Sethian Gnostic texts, the Five Seals are typically described as a baptismal rite involving a series of five full immersions in holy running or "living water," symbolizing spiritual ascension to the divine realm. The Five Seals are frequently mentioned in various Sethian Gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi library.