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Encyclopedia of Religion entry forBaptism of BloodA baptism of blood seems to have figured in the worship of Attis (q.v.). The worshipper stood in a pit while the blood of a bull which had been stabbed to death poured through a grating above his head. In this baptism he was born again to eternal life; and for a time he was dieted as a new-born child. The ancient Greeks purged a manslayer by smearing him with pig‘s blood, the idea perhaps being that the blood is accepted by the offended spirit " as a substitute for the blood of the guilty person " (J. G. Frazer, Adonis Attis Osiris, 1906). Sometimes a child receives a baptism of blood (e.g., among the Gipsies of northern Hungary), the object being " to unite the child in the closest bond with the person whose blood is shed." See further E. S. Hart-land, Perseus, 1894-1896. citations: Encyc. of Rel., Canney
article created 2006-04-12 , last updated 2006-04-12 |
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