Praying Hands by Albrecht Dürer Christians in prayer Wiki A kneeling position with raised hands expressed “supplication” in classical antiquity. The word for “prayer” and for “supplication” is identical in ancient languages (oratio, ????????, ????????? etc.), with no terminological distinction between supplications addressed to human as opposed to divine powers. Statuette known as “Praying German” or “supplicating barbarian”. It is not known if this figure was originally set in a context of religious prayer or of military surrender. The valkyrie Sigrdrífa says a pagan Norse prayer in Sigrdrífumál; illustration by Arthur Rackham Old woman praying by Théophile Lybaert David Prays for Deliverance, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld Shakta Hindus in Dhaka, Bangladesh, pray to the goddess during Durga Puja, October 2003 A Sikh holy man, doing Sikh prayer (Ard?s) Many Thelemites recite “Resh” (Liber Resh vel Helios, or “Liber CC”) facing the direction of the ever-present sun as it rises in the East, triumphs in the (northern-hemisphere) South, sets in the West, and “hides” in the North. Image shows a close-up of the Stele of Revealing. To pray over an individual while laying hands on them is a form of faith healing in Christianity.
