Libation facts for kids
A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid (ex: milk or other fluids such as corn flour mixed with water), or grains such as rice, as an offering to a god or spirit, or in memory of those who have "passed on". It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in various cultures today.
Various substances have been used for libations, most commonly wine, olive oil, or urine and in India, ghee. The vessels used in the ritual, including the patera, often had a significant form which differentiated them from secular vessels. The libation could be poured onto something of religious significance, such as an altar, or into the earth.
In East Asia, pouring an offering of rice into a running stream, symbolizes the unattachment from karma and bad energy.
Images for kids
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Roman bronze statuette of a priest, his head ritually covered, extending a patera in a gesture of libation, 2nd-3rd century CE.
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Buryat shaman performing a libation.
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The emperor Trajan pouring a libation in a military setting (relief from Trajan's Column)
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Pouring of a libation at a ceremony in Bouaké, Ivory Coast
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Burmese Buddhist water libation ceremony in 1900
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The Tarpan (offering holy water) is being done at the Jagannath Ghat, Kolkata, at the end of the Pitru Paksha.
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Pouring one out
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See also
In Spanish: Libación para niños
