Blessing

A blessing (also used to refer to bestowing of such) is the infusion of something with holiness, spiritual redemption, or divine will.

The modern English language term bless likely derives from the 1225 term blessen, which developed from the Old English blǣdsian (preserved in the Northumbrian dialect around 950 AD). The term also appears in other forms, such as blēdsian (before 830), blētsian from around 725 and blesian from around 1000, all meaning to make sacred or holy by a sacrificial custom in the Anglo-Saxon pagan period, originating in Germanic paganism; to mark with blood. Due to this, the term is related to the term blōd, meaning blood. References to this indigenous practice, Blót, exist in related Icelandic sources.

The modern meaning of the term may have been influenced in translations of the Bible into Old English during the process of Christianization to translate the Latin term benedīcere meaning to "speak well of", resulting in meanings such as to "praise" or "extol" or to speak of or to wish well.

"To be blessed" means 'to be favored by God'. Blessings therefore are directly associated with God and come from God. Thus to express a blessing is like bestowing a wish on someone that they will experience the favor of God. "May you have a blessed Christmas", therefore can also be translated as: "May you experience the favor of God during this Christmas period."

A curse, at least in its most formal sense, is the opposite of a blessing. Compare charm.

In the Bible, blessings and curses are related; the book of Deuteronomy prescribes that obedience to the Law of Moses brings God's blessing. Similar constructions appear in the New Testament, as in the blessings and curses of Jesus recorded in the Beatitudes of Luke 6:20-22.

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