This April is a very special month for the 3 major Abrahamic religions. Jewish are celebrating Pesach ( פסח ), one of the most sacred festivals, from the evening of April 15th to April 23rd, Christians are celebrating Easter on April 17th, although most orthodox and eastern Christians are celebrating on April 24th, and Muslims are celebrating their holy month of Ramadan ( رمضان ) from the evening of April 1st to May 1st.
One of the topics I wanted to talk about since long time ago is Sacred languages. This topic is very complex and the definition very often changes depending on who explains it and their religious point of view. There are many kinds of Sacred languages and every religion has a different use for it. Perhaps the most simple definition is the one that I found in Wikipedia: “ Any language that is cultivated and used primarily in religious service (I changed a word here) or for other religious reasons by people who speak another primary language in their daily lives “
But for those who want to understand better this topic, I recommend a book that I read last year, “ Sacred Languages of the World. An Introduction “, written by Brian Bennett, a very well researched book that explains the different roles assumed by those languages and how they help to shape our own beliefs and practices.
There are many possible origins of a sacred language. It can be the language spoken by a prophet, the language used to compose sacred texts or just the language spoken by the ancestors of certain peoples and still used today thanks to a set of rituals kept throughout the times. Languages communicate, and sacred languages are not the exception. They exist to pass a revelation or a noble truth. Languages change, and at the same time the followers of certain traditions are afraid of loosing connection with the original message so they keep the language unchanged and flag it as sacred. Sacred languages are not any more used for modern communications.
Some known sacred languages are: Hebrew in Judaism, Arabic for Muslims, Latin in the Catholic church, Church Slavonic in many Eastern Orthodox churches and some Catholic churches who keep Eastern rites, Avestan for Zoroastrians, Sanskrit in Hinduism and Pali in Buddhism. There are many more. It is interesting to see living languages making this list like Arabic and Hebrew. But the Arabic used in Islamic rituals is classical Arabic, different from modern Arabic, and today Arabic speakers need special training to understand it. Modern Hebrew exists now, but is different from the language used in religious ceremonies, and for many centuries, it was a dead language, used only for religious purposes such as worship, scholastic learning or meditation.
Studying a sacred language has its differences in regards to study a modern language. When we study a sacred language, same as other classical languages, we are not looking for fluency. To know how to produce (Write new texts to express ideas) might not be that important. Reading and Hearing are much more valuable skills.
In my life, I met with many instances where different sacred Languages were used. I will talk about 3 of them who marked me. Avestan, Hebrew and Slavonic.
Having a family from one side from Ukraine and the other from Russia, both parts following different religions (Greek Catholic and Orthodox), Having Slavonic in the middle means that both sides have a common language for prayers. It did not matter which ceremonies I attended and from which side, rituals and prayers were very similar. This language means that I have a spiritual connection with the lands of Eastern Europe where my family used to dwell
Hebrew came later to my life. I was very interested in learning about Judaism and later about Kabbalah. Hebrew language taught me that there are concepts that you cannot always translate, no matter which language I speak, there are some words that will transcend the language barrier (Let’s use a simple example, when we talk about Kosher food, it is much easier to say the word kosher than explain each time what kind of food I am looking for, and now many languages have adopted this term). Hebrew is a language that allow certain puns and this taught me that there are different ways of doing something without necessary call one of them right and wrong the other. Hebrew is also a language that teaches that words have power. Kabbalah considers that Hebrew alphabet is also sacred, and writing is risen to a different dimension (A simple written word can be part of a deep meditation).
Avestan came to my life at a later stage. It is a treasure, because it connects you to the origins of the Indo-European languages and to the Zoroastrian philosophy. It connects to thoughts and teachings which can be traced to the most ancient times, perhaps when humans started to question their relationship with the infinite. Avestan teaches that even though we might think that we live in a chaotic world, the universe continues its path of evolution and growth according to a universal order that remains unchanged. In 2018 I dedicated an article to this ancient language. You can read it here.
In regards to the festivals celebrated this month, here are some useful words and expressions:
- The word Pesach ( פסח ) is in Hebrew. In English we say “Passover”, in Spanish is “la Pascua Judía”, and in French is « la pâque » I you want to send greetings for this festival you can say:
Happy Passover ! (English)
Joyeuse Pâque / Bonnes fêtes de Pessah ! (French)
חג פסח שמח [Chag Pesach Sameach] (Hebrew)
Feliz Pésaj! (Spanish)
- Easter is the English name of this festival. In Spanish is “Pascua”, “Pascua de Resurrección”, “Pascua Florida”, and in French is « Pâques ».
Happy Easter (English)
Joyeuses Pâques (French)
Feliz Pascua / Feliz Pascua de Resurrección (Spanish)
- Orthodox Easter (English) is called “ Pascua Ortodoxa “ (Spanish), « Pâque » (French), “ Πάσχα “ (Greek) and “ Великдень “ (Ukrainian) [Meaning: “Great Day”. Similar expressions exist in Russian, Belarusian, Bulgarian. It is interesting to see that Slavic languages used outside the Orthodox world, tend to use the word “velika noč” Which means “Great Night”].
For Orthodox Easter you can say “Happy Easter!”. But the traditional way is to greet and response:
Christ is Risen! Resp: Truly, He is Risen!
Χριστὁς άνέστη! R: Άληθῶς άνέστη! [Khristós anésti! Alithós anésti!] (Greek)
Христосъ воскресе! Воистину воскресе! [Khristos voskrese! Voistinu voskrese!] (Church Slavonic)
Ramadan ( رمضان ) is the name of a month in the Islamic calendar. You can say “Happy Ramadan!”, but greetings of Arabic origin are also appreciated. You can also say: رمضان كريم [Ramadan Karim], meaning: “Have a Noble Ramadan!” or رمضان مبارك [Ramadan Mubarak], “Have a Blessed Ramadan!”
In many religions, the language used to compose their main texts is considered sacred. It is considered that if you want to better use or understand the content of the text, you need to know how to use the language.
In my next article, I provide a list of sacred texts of the different religions and their original languages, A list I did not find before and in which I have been working already for months. I hope this list will be a contributions for those who want to understand better the existence of the sacred texts and the religions they serve.
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