But
the divinity could by anointing be transferred into men no less than
into stones; and from immemorial antiquity, among the Jews as among
other races, kings were anointed or greased, doubtless with the fat of
the victims which, like the blood, was too holy to be eaten by the
common votaries.

Butter made from the milk of the cow, the most sacred of animals, is
used for anointing in the Hindu religion. A newly-built house is smeared
with it, so are demoniacs, care being taken to smear the latter
downwards from head to foot.

In the Christian religion, especially where animal sacrifices, together
with the cult of totem or holy animals, have been given up, it is usual
to hallow the oil used in ritual anointings with special prayers and
exorcisms; oil from the lamps lit before the altar has a peculiar virtue
of its own, perhaps because it can be burned to give light, and
disappears to heaven in doing so. In any case oil has ever been regarded
as the aptest symbol and vehicle of the holy and illuminating spirit.
For this reason the catechumens are anointed with holy oil both before
and after baptism; the one act (of eastern origin) assists the expulsion
of the evil spirits, the other (of western origin), taken in conjunction
with imposition of hands, conveys the spirit and retains it in the
person of the baptized. In the postbaptismal anointing the oil was
applied to the organs of sense, to the head, heart, and midriff. Such
ritual use of oil as a [Greek: sfragis] or seal may have been suggested
in old religions by the practice of keeping wine fresh in jars and
amphorae by pouring on a top layer of oil; for the spoiling of wine was
attributed to the action of demons of corruption, against whom many
ancient formulae of aversion or exorcism still exist.

The holy oil, chrism, or [Greek: muron], as the Easterns call it, was
prepared and consecrated on Maundy Thursday, and in the Gelasian
sacramentary the formula used runs thus: "Send forth, O Lord, we beseech
thee, thy Holy Spirit the Paraclete from heaven into this fatness of
oil, which thou hast deigned to bring forth out of the green wood for
the refreshing of mind and body; and through thy holy benediction may it
be for all who anoint with it, taste it, touch it, a safeguard of mind
and body, of soul and spirit, for the expulsion of all pains, of every
infirmity, of every sickness of mind and body. For with the same thou
hast anointed priests, kings, and prophets and