We met a monk, Shebtho, who'd been living alone in a shrine for 14 years; sweeping its floors, arranging the butter lamps, offering consecrated water to passing visitors.
In order to consecrate such offerings, a priest of ancient Egypt touched them with a sceptre (kherep).
In the sacrifice the consecrated life of an offering is liberated as a sacred potency that establishes a bond between the sacrificer and the sacred power.
Mr. Rand consults rabbinic commentaries aplenty, but his images are never literal illustrations of the text, as indicated by the floating astronaut or the egg featured in #454 ("Observe the laws of menstrual impurity") or two knights sword fighting in #596 ("Destroy the seven Canaanite nations") or the moose in #442 ("Not to change consecrated animals from one type of offering to another").
In this liturgy no consecration of the eucharistic offering occurs because the eucharistic offerings used have been consecrated on the previous Sunday—and it is celebrated on weekday mornings during Lent as well as from Monday to Wednesday during Holy Week.
In ancient Greece an entire group of offerings (enagismata) was consecrated to the dead; these were libations of milk, honey, water, wine, and oil poured onto the grave.
Give offerings or sacrifices.
Finally, the Abusir Papyri demonstrate the strong connection between the cult of the sun and the mortuary cult of the pharaohs of this dynasty: offerings for a deceased ruler were first consecrated in a sun temple before being dispatched to his mortuary temple.
Now, a score of communal plank tables are set perpendicular to a wall in the large shoebox-shaped space, a Baroque style bed is tucked in a corner, ratty chairs and stools of every description are scattered around, a huge shrine consecrated to Brazil's Candomble religion, replete with statuary, food offerings, lighted candles and pine boughs, is set at the entryway.
It is believed that the deity partakes of and then returns the offering, thereby consecrating it.
