Altars, sacred vessels, temples, and sometimes even weapons and items of clothing are anointed to dedicate them to the service of the divine and to assure and symbolize the presence and pleasure of the divine in the holy place.
Its shrieking gales on Wednesday turned over delivery vans, blew a train into a rice paddy, knocked trees into cars, ripped roofs off ancient temples and grounded three oceangoing vessels, including a training ship with 167 people on board.
As Belshazzar, ancient King of Babylon, serves wine from vessels looted from the temple in Jerusalem, a heavenly hand appears and writes his doom on the wall.
Display cases contain ritual objects like god statuettes, incense burners and temple fragments, in addition to practical vessels for frothing and drinking chocolate.
The girl's father, Terry Benbow, said he knew little more about his daughter's death than a doctor's explanation that she had died of a brain hemorrhage caused by blood vessels bursting near her temple.
In the ancient temple system, the priestesses' bodies would become vessels for the energy of the goddess.
The body is a temple of clay, but also a "fragile" vessel of clay and although it is a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit, it is not the ultimate for the Christian.
In the 18th century, a Qing dynasty emperor visiting the Qufu temple was surprised to find its metal altar vessels to be of indifferent quality.
The extraordinary strength and lightness of bamboo stems make them an excellent building material in the construction of houses and temples, woven mats, and bowls, trays, and other vessels.
The Old Testament's Book of Ezra and ancient Greek sources recount how Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem with their ransacked ceremonial vessels and encouraged them to rebuild the temple that the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed.
