Libation
On the other hand, one or more libations began most meals and occasions when wine was drunk in Greco-Roman and other ancient societies, mostly using normal cups or jugs.
[2] This bleak domain was known as Kur,[3] where the souls were believed to eat nothing but dry dust[4] and family members of the deceased would ritually pour libations into the grave through a clay pipe, thereby allowing the dead to drink.
[6][7] According to Ayi Kwei Armah, "[t]his legend explains the rise of a propitiatory custom found everywhere on the African continent: libation, the pouring of alcohol or other drinks as offerings to ancestors and divinities.
The most common ritual was to pour the liquid from an oinochoē (wine jug) into a phiale, a shallow bowl designed for the purpose.
[18] [19] In conducting animal sacrifice, wine is poured onto the offering as part of its ritual slaughter and preparation, and then afterwards onto the ash and flames.
[21] The Greek verb spéndō (σπένδω), "pour a libation", also "conclude a pact", derives from the Indo-European root *spend-, "make an offering, perform a rite, engage oneself by a ritual act".
For the form of libation called choē (Ancient Greek: χεῦμα, cheuma, "that which is poured"; from IE *gheu-),[1] a larger vessel is tipped over and emptied onto the ground for the chthonic gods, who may also receive spondai.
[24] The Libation Bearers is the English title of the center tragedy from the Orestes Trilogy of Aeschylus, in reference to the offerings Electra brings to the tomb of her dead father Agamemnon.
[21] Sophocles gives one of the most detailed descriptions of libation in Greek literature in Oedipus at Colonus, performed as atonement in the grove of the Eumenides:
First, water is fetched from a freshly flowing spring; cauldrons which stand in the sanctuary are garlanded with wool and filled with water and honey; turning towards the east, the sacrificer tips the vessels towards the west; the olive branches which he has been holding in his hand he now strews on the ground at the place where the earth has drunk in the libation; and with a silent prayer he departs, not looking back.
[citation needed] In ancient Roman religion, the libation was a religious act in the form of a liquid offering, most often unmixed wine and perfumed oil.
[36] It was offered also to Mercurius Sobrius (the "sober" Mercury), whose cult is well attested in Roman Africa and may have been imported to the city of Rome by an African community.
[6][7] According to Ayi Kwei Armah, "[t]his legend explains the rise of a propitiatory custom found everywhere on the African continent: libation, the pouring of alcohol or other drinks as offerings to ancestors and divinities.
[10] Similarly, it has been Coptic tradition for women to visit graves and make water libations, both in intervals during the first 40 days after a death, and during a few annual occasions, such as Nayrouz.
[43] In the Quechua and Aymara cultures of the South American Andes, it is common to pour a small amount of one's beverage on the ground before drinking as an offering to the Pachamama, or Mother Earth.
[54] The most traditional Chinese ritual bronze vessel for libations, the jue, has a large pouring lip, and may be regarded as a type of jug rather than a cup.
In modern Chinese customs, rice wine or tea is poured in front of an altar or tombstone horizontally from right to left with both hands as an offering to gods and in honour of the deceased.
In more elaborate ceremonies honouring deities, the libation may be done over the burning paper offerings; whereas for the deceased, the wine is only poured onto the ground.
Among the Ainu, libations are offered by means of the ikupasuy, a carved wooden implement with a "tongue," the pointed end[55] from which millet beer or sake is dripped upon the venerated object.
The ritual itself is a libation: beer is poured onto the skin and wood of the drum, and these materials "come to life" and speak with the voice of the shaman in the name of the tree and the deer.
These customs are similar to the practice among Visayans of Mindanao, the Philippines, where rum is spilled upon opening of the bottle, accompanied by "para sa yawa" ('for the Devil').
[59] In Russia and some parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States, there is a tradition of pouring vodka onto a grave, an act possibly connected with dziady custom.
In the contemporary United States, libations are occasionally offered in the name of a deceased person on various occasions, usually when drinking socially among friends in a private setting.
This practice has been recorded in film, such as Boyz n the Hood, and referenced in various songs, such as the 1993 "Gangsta Lean (This Is For My Homies)" by DRS ("I tip my 40 to your memory") and the 1994 "Pour Out a Little Liquor" by 2Pac.
[63] Explanations vary, but the common one is regret that the freeing of the Jewish people came at the cost of many Egyptians suffering and dying, and out of respect to "not rejoice the downfall of an enemy".
However, this is a more modern interpretation originally created by Rabbi Yirmiyahu Löw's grandfather, sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century, though with precedent from Sanhendrin 39b:5.
