DeConick A.D

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PLEASANTVILLE RELIGIONS
Figure 10.5 Mandaean youth called to baptism by a Mandaean priest in the Saint Charles
River, 1999. Still from the film Masbuta (2003). Photo courtesy of Jesse Buckley.
When the baptizand leaves the water for the second part of the ceremony,
his or her forehead is sealed with sesame oil and a ritual meal is
eaten. This ceremony includes a number of consecutive prayers that call
upon the beings of light to protect and cure the baptizand, “to heal,
uplift, raise up, and ameliorate all pains, diseases, complaints, tumors,
and the seven mysteries that inhabit the body” (prayer 23.19, in Buckley
2002, 84). These seven mysteries refer to the rulers of the planets, who affect
the body by controlling it through astrological influences and who try
to trap the soul as it ascends to the world of light at death. There also is
a principle prayer recited for the absolution of sins for all Mandaeans past
and present (prayer 72, in Buckley 2002, 85).
Through baptism the Mandaeans secure their connection to the light
world and to each other. Their souls are being safeguarded from evil every
time it is performed. Their souls also are being continually conditioned to
confine the vacillating spirit, to limit its negative influence. The constant
refreshing of the link with the world of light provides both body and soul