Blood/ja: Difference between revisions

Due to its importance to life, blood is associated with a large number of beliefs. One of the most basic is the use of blood as a symbol for family relationships through birth/parentage; to be "related by blood" is to be related by ancestry or descendence, rather than marriage. This bears closely to [[bloodline]]s, and sayings such as "[[blood is thicker than water]]" and "[[wikt:bad blood|bad blood]]", as well as "[[Blood brother]]".

Blood is given particular emphasis in the [[Islam|Islamic]], [[Judaism|Jewish]], and [[Christianity|Christian]] religions, because [[Leviticus]] 17:11 says "the life of a creature is in the blood." This phrase is part of the Levitical law forbidding the drinking of blood or eating meat with the blood still intact instead of being poured off.

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===Indigenous Australians===

In many [[Indigenous Australians|indigenous Australian Aboriginal peoples']] traditions, [[ochre]] (particularly red) and blood, both high in iron content and considered [[Maban]], are applied to the bodies of dancers for ritual. As Lawlor states:{{blockquote|

In many Aboriginal rituals and ceremonies, red ochre is rubbed all over the naked bodies of the dancers. In secret, sacred male ceremonies, blood extracted from the veins of the participant's arms is exchanged and rubbed on their bodies. Red ochre is used in similar ways in less-secret ceremonies. Blood is also used to fasten the feathers of birds onto people's bodies. Bird feathers contain a protein that is highly magnetically sensitive.}} Lawlor comments that blood employed in this fashion is held by these peoples to attune the dancers to the invisible energetic realm of the Dreamtime. Lawlor then connects these invisible energetic realms and [[magnetic field]]s, because iron is [[magnetism|magnetic]].

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===European paganism===

Among the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]], blood was used during their sacrifices; the ''[[Blót]]s''. The blood was considered to have the power of its originator, and, after the butchering, the blood was sprinkled on the walls, on the statues of the gods, and on the participants themselves. This act of sprinkling blood was called ''blóedsian'' in [[Old English language|Old English]], and the terminology was borrowed by the [[Roman Catholic Church]] becoming ''to bless'' and ''blessing''. The [[Hittite language|Hittite]] word for blood, ''ishar'' was a cognate to words for "oath" and "bond", see [[Ishara]].

The [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] believed that the blood of the gods, ''[[ichor]]'', was a substance that was poisonous to mortals.

As a relic of Germanic Law, the [[cruentation]], an ordeal where the corpse of the victim was supposed to start bleeding in the presence of the murderer, was used until the early 17th century.

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===Christianity===

In [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 9:4, God prohibited [[Noah]] and his sons from eating blood (see [[Noahide Law]]). This command continued to be observed by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].

At the [[Council of Jerusalem]], the [[Apostles in the New Testament|apostles]] prohibited certain Christians from consuming blood&nbsp;– this is documented in Acts 15:20 and 29. This chapter specifies a reason (especially in verses 19–21): It was to avoid offending Jews who had become Christians, because the Mosaic Law Code prohibited the practice.

Christ's blood is the means for the [[Atonement in Christianity|atonement]] of sins. Also, "... the blood of Jesus Christ his [God] Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7), "... Unto him [God] that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." (Revelation 1:5), and "And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb [Jesus the Christ], and by the word of their testimony ..." (Revelation 12:11).

Some Christian churches, including Roman Catholicism, [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]], [[Oriental Orthodoxy]], and the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] teach that, when consecrated, the [[Eucharist]]ic wine [[transubstantiation|actually becomes]] the [[Blood of Christ|blood of Jesus]] for worshippers to drink. Thus in the consecrated wine, Jesus becomes spiritually and physically present. This teaching is rooted in [[the Last Supper]], as written in the four gospels of the Bible, in which Jesus stated to his [[Twelve Apostles|disciples]] that the bread that they ate was his body, and the wine was his blood. ''"This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you." ({{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Luke |chapter=22|verse=20}})''.

Most forms of Protestantism, especially those of a [[Methodist]] or [[Presbyterian]] lineage, teach that the wine is no more than a symbol of the blood of Christ, who is spiritually but not physically present. [[Lutheran]] theology teaches that the body and blood is [[consubstantiation|present together "in, with, and under"]] the bread and wine of the Eucharistic feast.

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===Judaism===

In [[Judaism]], animal blood may not be consumed even in the smallest quantity (Leviticus 3:17 and elsewhere); this is reflected in Jewish [[diet (nutrition)|dietary]] laws ([[Kashrut]]). Blood is purged from meat by rinsing and soaking in water (to loosen clots), [[salting (food)|salting]] and then rinsing with water again several times. Eggs must also be checked and any blood spots removed before consumption. Although blood from fish is biblically kosher, it is rabbinically forbidden to consume fish blood to avoid the appearance of breaking the Biblical prohibition.

Another ritual involving blood involves the covering of the blood of [[fowl]] and [[Game (food)|game]] after slaughtering (Leviticus 17:13); the reason given by the [[Torah]] is: "Because the life of the animal is [in] its blood" (ibid 17:14). In relation to human beings, [[Kabbalah]] expounds on this verse that the [[animal soul]] of a person is in the blood, and that physical desires stem from it.

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===Islam===

Consumption of food containing blood is forbidden by [[Islamic dietary laws]]. This is derived from the statement in the [[Qur'an]], sura [[Al-Ma'ida]] (5:3): "Forbidden to you (for food) are: dead meat, blood, the flesh of swine, and that on which has been invoked the name of other than Allah."

Blood is considered unclean, hence there are specific methods to obtain physical and ritual status of cleanliness once bleeding has occurred. Specific rules and prohibitions apply to [[menstruation]], postnatal bleeding and irregular vaginal bleeding. When an animal has been slaughtered, the animal's neck is cut in a way to ensure that the spine is not severed, hence the brain may send commands to the heart to pump blood to it for oxygen. In this way, blood is removed from the body, and the meat is generally now safe to cook and eat. In modern times, blood transfusions are generally not considered against the rules.

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===Jehovah's Witnesses===

{{main|Jehovah's Witnesses and blood transfusions}}

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Based on their interpretation of scriptures such as Acts 15:28, 29 ("Keep abstaining...from blood."), many [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] neither consume blood nor accept transfusions of whole blood or its major components: red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets (thrombocytes), and plasma. Members may personally decide whether they will accept medical procedures that involve their own blood or substances that are further fractionated from the four major components.

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===Vampirism===

{{main|Vampire}}

[[Vampire]]s are mythical creatures that drink blood directly for sustenance, usually with a preference for human blood. Cultures all over the world have myths of this kind; for example the '[[Nosferatu]]' legend, a human who achieves damnation and immortality by drinking the blood of others, originates from Eastern European folklore. [[Ticks]], [[leech]]es, female [[mosquito]]es, [[vampire bat]]s, and an assortment of other natural creatures do consume the blood of other animals, but only bats are associated with vampires. This has no relation to vampire bats, which are [[New World]] creatures discovered well after the origins of the European myths.

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==Invertebrates==

{{Main|Hemolymph}}

In invertebrates, a body fluid analogous to blood called hemolymph is found, the main difference being that hemolymph is not contained in a closed circulatory system. Hemolymph may function to carry oxygen, although hemoglobin is not necessarily used. [[Crustacean]]s and [[mollusk]]s use [[hemocyanin]] instead of hemoglobin. In most insects, their hemolymph does not contain oxygen-carrying molecules because their bodies are small enough for their [[invertebrate trachea|tracheal system]] to suffice for supplying oxygen.

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==Other uses==

===Forensic and archaeological===

[[Blood residue]] can help [[forensic]] investigators identify weapons, reconstruct a criminal action, and link suspects to the crime. Through [[bloodstain pattern analysis]], forensic information can also be gained from the spatial distribution of bloodstains.

Blood residue analysis is also a technique used in [[archeology]].

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===Artistic===

Blood is one of the body fluids that has been used in art. In particular, the performances of [[Viennese Actionism|Viennese Actionist]] [[Hermann Nitsch]], [[Istvan Kantor]], [[Franko B]], [[Lennie Lee]], [[Ron Athey]], [[Yang Zhichao]], [[Justice Yeldham|Lucas Abela]] and [[Kira O'Reilly]], along with the photography of [[Andres Serrano]], have incorporated blood as a prominent visual element. [[Marc Quinn]] has made sculptures using frozen blood, including a cast of his own head made using his own blood.