1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910812770703321

Autore

Meyer Melissa L (Melissa Lee)

Titolo

Thicker than water : the origins of blood as symbol and ritual / / Melissa L. Meyer

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York : , : Routledge, , 2005

ISBN

1-135-34207-5

1-135-34200-8

0-203-95260-X

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (272 p.)

Disciplina

306.4

Soggetti

Blood - Social aspects

Blood - Symbolic aspects

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Cover; Title Page; Copyright Page; Dedication; Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Chapter 1 Introduction The Human Inclination to Symbolize and Ritualize Blood; Chapter 2 Women's Blood and Men's Blood at the Dawn of Human Culture; Chapter 3 The Blood of Conception, Pregnancy, and Childbirth; Chapter 4 Initiation Rites The Role of Blood in Attaining Adult or Group Status; Chapter 5 Menstruation The Fundamental Foundation; Chapter 6 Sacrifice ""Birth Done Better""; Chapter 7 Conclusion The Patterned Heterogeneity of Blood Symbols and Rituals; Notes; Index

Sommario/riassunto

Blood is more than a fluid solution of cells, platelets and plasma. It is a symbol for the most basic of human concerns--life, death and family find expression in rituals surrounding everything from menstruation to human sacrifice. Comprehensive in its scope and provocative in its argument, this book examines beliefs and rituals concerning blood in a range of regional and religious contexts throughout human history. Meyer reveals the origins of a wide range of blood rituals, from the earliest surviving human symbolism of fertility and the hunt, to the Jewish bris, and the clitoridectom