A blessing, (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with holiness, divine will, or one's hopes.
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A blessing, (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with holiness, divine will, or one's hopes.
Etymology and Germanic paganism
The modern English language term bless likely derives from the 1225 term blessen, which developed from the Old English blǣdsian (preserved in the Northumbrian dialect around 950 AD).Barnhart (1995:73). The term also appears in other forms, such as blēdsian or bldsian (before 830 and derived from Proto-Germanic *blōðisōjanan), blētsian from around 725 and blesian from around 1000, all meaning to make sacred or holy by a sacrificial custom in the Anglo-Saxon pagan period, originating in Germanic paganism; to mark with blood. Due to this, the term is related to the term blōd, meaning blood. References to this indigenous practice, Blót, exist in related Icelandic sources.
The modern meaning of the term may have been influenced in translations of the Bible into Old English during the process of Christianization to translate the Latin term benedīcere meaning to "speak well of", resulting in meanings such as to "praise" or "extol" or to speak well of or to wish well.
Abrahamic religion
Within Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Anglicanism and similar traditions, formal blessings of the church are performed by bishops, priests, and sometimes deacons, but as in many other religions, anyone may informally bless another.
"To be blessed" means 'to be favoured by God'. Blessings therefore are directly associated with God and come from God. Therefore to express a blessing, is like bestowing a wish on someone that she will experience the favour of God. "May you have a blessed Christmas", therefore can also be translated as: "May you experience the favor of God during this Christmas period."
A curse, at least in its most formal sense, is the opposite of a blessing. Compare charm.
In the Bible, blessings and curses are related; the book of Deuteronomy prescribes that obedience to the Law of Moses brings God's blessing.
One of the first incidences of blessing in the Bible is in Genesis where Abram is ordered by the to leave his country and is told:
The Priestly Blessing is set forth at Numbers :
- May the bless you, and keep you;
- May the make His countenance shine upon you, and be gracious to you;
