Purity of the Body
Purification rituals in the religions
Purity and impurity are important categories in many religions. Water and smoke in particular are used for religious purification rites that focus on the body. Two major types of purity regulations can be distinguished: prophylactic and cathartic purity regulations. The first regulations are preventive and are intended to keep people away from impurities, while the second regulations show how impurities can be reversed.
Purity is so important because many religions believe that people who come into contact with deities or other supernatural beings should approach them naturally and purely. In order to achieve purity, people therefore practise asceticism (fasting, abstaining from certain foods, etc.) or live in temporary or permanent sexual abstinence. Physical changes such as shaving the hair or circumcision are also popular ways of achieving physical purity. They often also serve to establish social boundaries: shaving the hair of monks and nuns, for example, is a clear sign.
The ritual washing before prayer in Islam, the sprinkling of holy water in church and the washing of hands before eating in Judaism all serve to cleanse the body, but also the spirit, and are intended to banish impurities from the body. In China, urinals and spittoons are used as grave goods to ensure hygiene even after death.
