Comments on Why was blood used, or believed, to consecrate entities?
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Why was blood used, or believed, to consecrate entities? [closed]
Closed as unclear by qohelet on Jan 28, 2022 at 22:14
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Why did worshippers believe that blood "make 'sacred' or 'holy'"?
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Why did religionists believe that consecrating something with blood "render a thing inviolable from profane use of men and evil influence of men or demons"?
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How's any of this related, at all, to the blood of Christ?
In its earliest attestations in the OED, bless and blood continued to coincide with each other. Once an entity was consecrated with blood, it was thought to rid off evil influences of men and demons. When used in this context the entity know [sic. I think this is a typo for "now"] is controlled by God’s prospering care, which can be linked to the present day use of bless before dinner, when praying over food. The OED dates this documented history back to the eleventh century.
This usage of bless, which is “to sanctify or hollow by crossing yourself,” can be linked back to the first entry. The cross is put up in the defense of evil, and the usage started to circulate in circa 1225. Using the cross as protection can visually imitate the power of God to rid of evil, and is similar to the act of consecrating an entity with blood to gain God’s favor over it.
Smith, Ranesha, "The Etymology of bless" (2014). 2014 IPFW Student Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium. Book 14. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/47232289.pdf
Anatoly Liberman wrote about the etymology of "bless" on October 12th 2016. See also Etymonline.
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