An icon of Aghia Paraskevi with votive offerings hung beside it. Crete, 2001. The saint holds a plate with two eyeballs in it because she is considered to be an healer of the blind. One of her visitors has left an offering showing eyes to indicate what her affliction is.

A votive deposit or votive offering is an object left in a sacred place for ritual purposes. An ikon of Aghia Paraskevi and some votive objects. ... An ikon of Aghia Paraskevi and some votive objects. ... For other senses of this word, see icon (disambiguation). ... Aghia Paraskevi and votive objects Aghia Paraskevi (or Saint Paraskeva) is a saint recognized by the Eastern Orthodox Church. ... In various religions, sacred (from Latin, sacrum, sacrifice) or holy, objects, places or concepts are believed by followers to be intimately connected with the supernatural, or divinity, and are thus greatly revered. ... A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value, which is prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. ...

Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally made in order to gain favour with supernatural forces. This is attested by historical Roman and Greek sources although similar acts continue into the present day, for example in the wishing well. Look up Supernatural in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Wishing well in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Ancient offerings

In Europe votive deposits date to the Neolithic with polished axe hoards, reaching a peak in the late Bronze Age. High status artifacts such as swords and spearheads were apparently buried or more commonly cast into bodies of water or peat bogs, from whence they could not possibly have been recovered. Often all the objects in a ritual hoard are broken, 'killing' the objects to put them even further beyond utilitarian use before deposition. The purposeful discarding of valuable items such as swords and spearheads is thought to have therefore have had ritual overtones. The items have since been found in rivers, lakes and former wet-places (now drained by modern agriculture) by metal-detectorists, members of the public and archaeologists. European redirects here. ... An array of Neolithic artefacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae Scotland, Europes most complete Neolithic village. ... The axe or ax is an ancient and ubiquitous tool that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, harvest timber, as a weapon and a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. ... For the software, see hoard memory allocator. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... I archaeology, an artifact or artefact is any object made or modified by a human culture, and often one later recovered by some archaeological endeavor. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A spearhead is the head of a spear. ... Lütt-Witt Moor, a bog in Henstedt-Ulzburg in northern Germany. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A spearhead is the head of a spear. ...

In archaeology, votive deposits differ from hoards in that although they may contain similar items, votive deposits were not intended for later recovery. Archaeology, archeology, or archology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... For the software, see hoard memory allocator. ...

Curse Tablets

A curse tablet or defixio is a small sheet of tin or lead on which a message wishing misfortune upon someone else was inscribed. The tablet was subsequently rolled up and thrown into a well or spring. Hundreds of such tablets have been recovered from places such as Aquae Sulis, a Roman Bath in England. A curse tablet (defixio in Latin) is a type of votive deposit found in ancient Athens and other cities of the Greco-Roman world, in which someone would ask the gods or spirits to do harm to others. ... For other uses, see Bath (disambiguation). ...

Catholic practice

In Catholicism offerings were made as either to fulfill a vow made to God for deliverence, or a thing left to a Church in gratitude for some favor that was granted. Today this is made with flowers, statues, vestments, and of course donations. As a Christian ecclesiastical term, Catholic - from the Greek adjective , meaning general or universal[2] - is described in the Oxford Dictionary as follows: ~Church, (originally) whole body of Christians; ~, belonging to or in accord with (a) this, (b) the church before separation into Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western...

Ancient examples include

• Henry III of England had a golden statue of his queen made and placed on the shrine of St. Edward at Westminster
• A falcon in wax at the shrine of St. Wulstan by Edward I
• A diamond and a ruby, adorning the tomb of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury
• Numerous crutches, left in the grotto at Lourdes
• The song "O Wilhelme, pastor bone" composed by John Taverner is a Votive Antiphon dedicated to Cardinal Wolsey

Henry III (1 October 1207 – 16 November 1272) was crowned King of England in 1216, despite being less than ten years of age. ... Edward the Confessor or Eadweard III (c. ... The best-known people called Wulfstan in history are: Wulfstan of Hedeby, 9th century merchantman and traveller Wulfstan I, Archbishop of York, -956 Wulfstan II, Archbishop of York, Bishop of Worcester and Bishop of London, -1023. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Our Lady of Lourdes Basilica Lourdes (Lorda in Occitan) is a town in the Hautes-Pyrénées département in France. ... Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (c. ...

See also

• Ex-voto
• Votive candle
• Grave goods
• Votive site

An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or divinity. ... A votive candle is a small, typically white, candle, burnt as a votive offering in a religious ceremony. ... In archaeology and anthropology grave goods are the items interred along with the body. ... This article needs cleanup. ...

External links

• Votive Offerings on the Catholic Encyclopedia (1917)