252 BULLETIN 139^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Thomas Eubank describes the Brazilian Catholic rites of consecrat- 

 ing water and the use of holy water in the consecration of fire at 

 Easter, "The cirio, or 'Great Paschal Candle,' a very large and 

 elaborately ornamented one, is the principal object in this ceremony. 

 * * * The custom is to have three triune candles, each consisting 

 of three tapers longitudinally united, to represent the unity of the 

 Godhead in a trinity of persons. One is placed near the entrance, 

 another halfway to, and the third at the altar. They are lit, and 

 all others carefully extinguished. The priest takes the cirio and with 

 the usual ceremonies baptizes it at the font. He drops clirism and 

 baptismal oil from vials on the water; breathes three times over it, 

 not crosswise now, but as if forming with liis breath the letter Y. 

 He dips the lower end of the cirio a little in, raises it, and plunges it 

 farther down, a third time, and it reaches the bottom of the font. 

 Each movement is accompanied with similar expressions to those 

 used in sanctifying the water. It is now lit at one of the triune 

 tapers and placed by the side of the high altar, when the other lights 

 are kindled at its flame." ^^ 



The Hopi Indians include light as a component of their naqua/pi, 

 or ceremonial medicine, wliich is a liquid. This is done by reflecting 

 the light of the sun from the facet of a quartz crystal into the bowl 

 containing the liquid. 



LAMPS USED IN CULT 



Dr. I. M. Casanowicz describes a lamp in the National Museum 

 used by the German Jews in their houses. It was lit on the eve of 

 the Sabbath. The specimen was made in the eighteenth century at 

 Fellheim, Germany. The lighting of a lamp is the sign of the com- 

 mencement of the Sabbath. Lights are neither lit nor put out on 

 that day. In describing the function of a silver spice box manufac- 

 tured in Lampheim, German}^, about 1740, he says: 



"Tliis box, filled with spices, is used in the Jewish service known 

 as Habdalah (or separation), the service of the conclusion of the Sab- 

 bath. There is a tradition that at the beginning of the Sabbath a 

 special angel accompanies the worshipper from the synagogue; this 

 angel remains with him until the conclusion of the Sabbath. The 

 departure of the angel leaves the man faint, and the spices are in- 

 tended to restore him. The objects used in this service are a cup 

 of wine, the spice box, and a candle. First a blessing is said over the 

 wine, next over the spices, and last over the light. The candle is 

 then extinguished by having wine poured upon it." 



Of especial interest is the cult lamp called hanuka used at the 

 Jewish feast of Hanuka or dedication. Doctor Casanowicz says 

 that: "The feast of dedication is held in remembrance of the rededi- 

 cation of the temple of Jerusalem after its defilement by Antiochus 



•' Harper's New Monthly Magazine, vol. 7, November, 1853, p. 737. 



