Preparation for prayer often includes some form of ablution. Shinto worshippers wash their hands and rinse their mouths before ringing a bell or clapping to attract the gods' attention. Participants in North American traditions are brushed with burnt sweet-grass in a purification ceremony called "smudging".

The characteristic bodily attitudes of prayer — bowing, kneeling, prostration — are gestures of humble submission. On entering a church or approaching the altar, Roman Catholics genuflect, touching one knee to the ground to acknowledge the presence of the Body and Blood of Christ. They also make the sign of the Cross as a gesture of reverence. When visiting a temple, Hindu worshippers prostrate themselves in prayer outside the inner sanctuary, which only priests can enter.

Most organized prayers take one of five standard forms: supplication, adoration, praise, contrition or thanksgiving. While supplicating and contrite prayers are usually offered kneeling or bowing, gods may be praised or thanked standing with arms outstretched. The latter position invites the divine to enter into the heart. Hand positions are also important. In many cultures, people simply pray with their hands together or clasped. During Hindu and Buddhist rituals and dances, participants use mudras, or hand gestures, to convey hundreds of different concepts or principles.

Offerings or sacrifices also play an important part in the prayer ritual, and are methods of honouring or appeasing the divine. In countries where food shortages are common, edible offerings can often be seen in temples and shrines. In cultures where money competes with the divine for worship, religions may suggest that a person should willingly give a percentage of his or her income to the church, mosque, synagogue or temple.

Although private prayer is recognized by every religion, public prayer as part of a congregation is thought by many traditions to be more uplifting. Both Jewish and Christian religious services combine song, readings and set prayers to create a specific, sometimes fervent atmosphere. Prayer is one of the Five Pillars of the Islamic faith, and on Friday afternoons congregational prayers at the mosque are obligatory. During the rest of the week, Muslims may perform the salat — the ritual of movements and words given in the Qur'an to be carried out five times per day — on their own. The first part of the prayer involves deliberately shutting out the distractions of the world. The splendour of Allah is acknowledged by standing at attention, raising the hands to shoulder level and proclaiming Allah as the most high. Then, as the hands are crossed over the heart, the prayer seeking shelter from Satan is chanted. Several prayers follow, alternating with bows, after which, aligning themselves toward the holy city of Mecca, the worshippers prostrate themselves at full length, touching the ground with hands, forehead, nose, knees and toes. Worship ends with a prayer for forgiveness, and the last action is the salaam, in which the head is turned from left to right to greet other worshippers and the watching angels.

The Koran openly states that such a rigid programme of prayer is meant, in part, to encourage believers to obey Allah unconditionally. Indeed, the word islam means the active recognition of, and submission to, the will of Allah. The physical actions of the salat help to channel worshippers' thoughts toward humility and thanksgiving, and to unite fellow believers.




From The Secret Language of the Soul by Jane Hope (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1997).
Copyright © 1997 by Jane Hope

Used by arrangement with Chronicle Books.