[PW] Re: Church Ritual?

[Paul Zimmerman]

"Shari Haber" <shaber at mcls.org> writes:

 >Great Brains:

 >I desperately need help in identifying a church ritual for another
 >librarian's client (who it is very hard to get information from).

 >The client was attending a Methodist Church service when she observed
 >a ritual in which a couple faces each other, they place their thumbs
 >on the other person's arm, then lower each finger one-by-one onto the
 >arm.

 >The patron believes this to be some sort of friendship or healing
 >ritual, and did not believe that her minister had made it up. (She
 >did not want to ask him about it either.)

 >We have not been able to find out if more than one couple partakes
 >in this ritual at once, or if any praying or singing is taking place
 >simultaneous to the ritual.

 >Has anybody seen anything similar this before?  If you can
 >name-that-ritual please reply to shaber at mcls.org, or to the list.
 >TIA.

This is probably not specifically "Methodist" but some sort of independent 
tradition. Lots of folk-invented things get added to "official" church 
ritual. The Catholic church is trying to suppress the singing of 'Danny Boy' 
at all Roman Catholic funerals in the Northeast, for example. (The 'Irish 
Catholic' heartland :)

The 'thumb and fingers progression' is different from what I have heard of 
before, but this might be related to a common "unofficial" marriage ritual, 
"The Blessing of the Hands":

http://www.ultimatewedding.com/articles/get.php?action=getarticle&articleid=615

Then again, it might be something completely new and different. :)