2 years, 2 months ago
about Irish Blessing
what is the history of irish blessings how did they begin
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$1 Answer
There is a good page with a set of blessings at http://islandireland.com/Pages/folk/sets/bless.html. Some blessings seem to derive from the gaelic language which gives them a distinct quality. They may originate with early christianity.
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
Now if you want to find more out about the history of the BLESSING word, here are some facts...
Lets say the Germanic druid, that is, the chaman or priest of acient times in Europe, wanted to protect warriors in battle. He purified the warriors with the BLOOD of animals sacrificed before battle; sheeps, goats, ckickens, what ever...
The blood of the animal "gave power" and protected the warriors, the druid proceeded to paint them, sprinkling the blood in the same manner as today bishops BLESS people... that is, the druid BLEED them, spray them, with the blood of the animal all over their torsos...
thus, the Germanic form of BLOOD, or BLODAN, together with the action, changed thru times into the idiomatic form (and action) of modern BLESS or BLESSING.
---Quote---
The verb bless comes from Old English blœdsian, blēdsian, blētsian, "to bless, wish happiness, consecrate." Although the Old English verb has no cognates in any other Germanic language, it can be shown to derive from the Germanic noun *blōdan, "blood." Blœdsian therefore literally means "to consecrate with blood, sprinkle with blood." The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, the early Germanic migrants to Britain, used blœdsian for their pagan sacrifices. After they converted to Christianity, blœdsian acquired new meanings as a result of its use in translations of the Latin Bible, but it kept its pagan Germanic senses as well.
---/Quote---
http://www.answers.com/topic/bless