Post by bluefedish on Jul 2, 2007 13:18:30 GMT -5
A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to perform and administer religious rites; and in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of the deity or deities. Their office or position is the priest/priestess hood, a term which may also apply to such persons collectively.
Priests and priestesses have been known since the earliest of times and in the simplest societies. They exist in some branches of Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism, and many other religions, as well, and are generally regarded as having good contact with the deities of the religion to which he or she ascribes, often interpreting the meaning of events, performing the rituals of the religion, and to whom other believers often will turn for advice on spiritual matters.
In many (but not all) religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time assignment, ruling out any other career. In other cases it is an auxiliary role. For example in early Icelandic history the chieftains were entitled goði, a word which meant "priest", but as in the saga of Hrafnkell Freysgoði, this consisted merely of offering periodic sacrifices to the Norse gods and goddesses, and it was not a full time occupation, nor did it involve any special training or ordination.
In some religions, priesthood is a position inherited in familial lines. The term "priestess" is often used for women officiating in ancient and modern Paganism, Neopagan religions such as Wicca, and various Polytheistic Reconstructionism faiths; however, in Christian churches that ordain women, such as those of the Anglican Communion or the Christian Community, ordained women are simply called, priests. Those officiating in Judaism, both men and women, are called rabbi.
Dress:
The dress of religious workers in ancient times may be demonstrated in frescoes and artifacts from the cultures. The earliest religions documented to date are based upon the worship of the great goddesses who created the universe and related Earth Mother deities, who give birth to the plants, animals, and people. Those shown officiating at the religious rites are typically priestesses. The dress is presumed to be related to the customary clothing of the culture, with some symbol of the deity worn on the head or held by the person. Sometimes special colors, materials, or patterns, distinguishes celebrants, as the white wool veil draped on the head of the Vestal Virgins.
Occasionally the celebrants at religious ceremonies shed all clothes in a symbolic gesture of purity, as the early priestesses at some Greek temples. Long after the tradition of goddesses changed to include gods, and later even being suppressed and supplanted by gods, priestesses often remained as the officiating participants, as recorded about ceremonies at ancient oracles in Classical Greece and even into Roman times at temples such those maintained by the Vestal Virgins. In some cultures, such as Mesopotamia and Babylonia, the priestesses began to wear false beards during the cultural transition to gods alone or metamorphose into figurative images such as trees, plants, flowers, or animals. Sometimes only their symbols remain as the labrys held by a celebrant or figure in an artifact. The retention of long skirts among many ranks of contemporary priests when they officiate may be interpreted to express the ancient traditions of the cultures from which their religious practices arose.
In most Christian traditions, priests wear clerical clothing, a distinctive form of street dress. Even within individual traditions it varies considerably in form, depending on the specific occasion. In Western Christianity, the stiff white clerical collar has become the nearly universal feature of priestly clerical clothing, worn either with a cassock or a clergy shirt. The collar may be either a full collar or a vestigial tab displayed through a square cutout in the shirt collar. Eastern Christian priests mostly retain the traditional dress of two layers of differently cut cassock: the rasson (Greek) or podriasnik (Russian) beneath the outer exorasson (Greek) or riasa (Russian). If a pectoral cross has been awarded it is usually worn with street clothes in the Russian tradition, but not so often in the Greek tradition.
Distinctive clerical clothing is less often worn in modern times than formerly, and in many cases it is rare for a priest to wear it when not acting in a pastoral capacity, especially in countries that view themselves as largely secular in nature. There are frequent exceptions to this however, and many priests rarely if ever go out in public without it, especially in countries where their religion makes up a clear majority of the population. Pope John Paul II has often instructed Catholic priests and religious to always wear their distinctive (clerical) clothing, unless wearing it would result in persecution or grave verbal attacks.
Christian traditions that retain the title of priest also retain the tradition of special liturgical vestments worn only during services. Vestments vary widely among the different Christian traditions.
Selected Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest
Priests and priestesses have been known since the earliest of times and in the simplest societies. They exist in some branches of Christianity, Shintoism, Hinduism, and many other religions, as well, and are generally regarded as having good contact with the deities of the religion to which he or she ascribes, often interpreting the meaning of events, performing the rituals of the religion, and to whom other believers often will turn for advice on spiritual matters.
In many (but not all) religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time assignment, ruling out any other career. In other cases it is an auxiliary role. For example in early Icelandic history the chieftains were entitled goði, a word which meant "priest", but as in the saga of Hrafnkell Freysgoði, this consisted merely of offering periodic sacrifices to the Norse gods and goddesses, and it was not a full time occupation, nor did it involve any special training or ordination.
In some religions, priesthood is a position inherited in familial lines. The term "priestess" is often used for women officiating in ancient and modern Paganism, Neopagan religions such as Wicca, and various Polytheistic Reconstructionism faiths; however, in Christian churches that ordain women, such as those of the Anglican Communion or the Christian Community, ordained women are simply called, priests. Those officiating in Judaism, both men and women, are called rabbi.
Dress:
The dress of religious workers in ancient times may be demonstrated in frescoes and artifacts from the cultures. The earliest religions documented to date are based upon the worship of the great goddesses who created the universe and related Earth Mother deities, who give birth to the plants, animals, and people. Those shown officiating at the religious rites are typically priestesses. The dress is presumed to be related to the customary clothing of the culture, with some symbol of the deity worn on the head or held by the person. Sometimes special colors, materials, or patterns, distinguishes celebrants, as the white wool veil draped on the head of the Vestal Virgins.
Occasionally the celebrants at religious ceremonies shed all clothes in a symbolic gesture of purity, as the early priestesses at some Greek temples. Long after the tradition of goddesses changed to include gods, and later even being suppressed and supplanted by gods, priestesses often remained as the officiating participants, as recorded about ceremonies at ancient oracles in Classical Greece and even into Roman times at temples such those maintained by the Vestal Virgins. In some cultures, such as Mesopotamia and Babylonia, the priestesses began to wear false beards during the cultural transition to gods alone or metamorphose into figurative images such as trees, plants, flowers, or animals. Sometimes only their symbols remain as the labrys held by a celebrant or figure in an artifact. The retention of long skirts among many ranks of contemporary priests when they officiate may be interpreted to express the ancient traditions of the cultures from which their religious practices arose.
In most Christian traditions, priests wear clerical clothing, a distinctive form of street dress. Even within individual traditions it varies considerably in form, depending on the specific occasion. In Western Christianity, the stiff white clerical collar has become the nearly universal feature of priestly clerical clothing, worn either with a cassock or a clergy shirt. The collar may be either a full collar or a vestigial tab displayed through a square cutout in the shirt collar. Eastern Christian priests mostly retain the traditional dress of two layers of differently cut cassock: the rasson (Greek) or podriasnik (Russian) beneath the outer exorasson (Greek) or riasa (Russian). If a pectoral cross has been awarded it is usually worn with street clothes in the Russian tradition, but not so often in the Greek tradition.
Distinctive clerical clothing is less often worn in modern times than formerly, and in many cases it is rare for a priest to wear it when not acting in a pastoral capacity, especially in countries that view themselves as largely secular in nature. There are frequent exceptions to this however, and many priests rarely if ever go out in public without it, especially in countries where their religion makes up a clear majority of the population. Pope John Paul II has often instructed Catholic priests and religious to always wear their distinctive (clerical) clothing, unless wearing it would result in persecution or grave verbal attacks.
Christian traditions that retain the title of priest also retain the tradition of special liturgical vestments worn only during services. Vestments vary widely among the different Christian traditions.
Selected Source:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priest
