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Saining is a Scots language word for blessing, protecting, or consecrating.Ross, David and Gavin D. Smith, Scots-English/English-Scots Dictionary (Hippocrene Practical Dictionary), 1998, p102. Sain is cognate with the Irish language and Scottish Gaelic seun and sian and the Old Irish sén .Black, Ronald, The Gaelic Otherworld, 2005, p136-7, 211Carmichael, Alexander, Carmina Gadelica Volume II, 1900, p26-37Macbain, Etymological Dictionary of Scottish-Gaelic, 1998, p309.
Saining can also refer to less formal customs like making religious signs to protect against evil, such as the sign of the cross. In Shetland, the Scottish folklorist F. Marian McNeil also refers to the custom of making the sign of Thor's hammer to sain the goblet that was passed around at New Year's celebrations.
Saining is a common practice in more modern traditions based on Scottish folklore, such as blessing and protecting children and other family members. While many of the surviving saining prayers and charms are Christianity in nature, other traditional pieces that focus on the spirits and powers of nature are used as part of Gaelic polytheist ceremonies.Loughlin, Annie " Saining" at Tairis UK. (Archived from the original, accessed 22.03.22)Loughlin, Annie " Saining Ritual" at Tairis UK. (Archived from the original, accessed 22.03.22)
During Hogmanay
An old Hogmanay (New Year's) custom in the Highlands of Scotland, which has survived to a small extent and seen some degree of revival, is to celebrate Hogmanay with the saining of the household and livestock. Early on New Year's morning, householders drink and then sprinkle 'magic water' from 'a dead and living ford' around the house (a 'dead and living ford' refers to a river ford that is routinely crossed by both the living and the dead). After the sprinkling of the water in every room, on the beds and all the inhabitants, the house is sealed up tight and branches of juniper are set on fire and carried throughout the house and byre. The juniper smoke is allowed to thoroughly fumigate the buildings until it causes sneezing and coughing among the inhabitants. Then all the doors and windows are flung open to let in the cold, fresh air of the new year. The woman of the house then administers 'a restorative' from the whisky bottle, and the household sits down to its New Year breakfast.
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