When someone uses the word, "blessings", what exactly are they saying to you? With the advent of Christianity, a blessing was the words bestowed by the priest or church clergy that carried the power of divinity or God in them. Many people see a blessing as coming from God.

The original concept of blessing, however, came from the pagans, before Christianity and its beliefs. Anglo-Saxons, Germanic tribes, and indigenous tribes all over the world have used touching the forehead with blood (usually over the third eye), or sprinkling blood on the head (crown chakra) as a form of blessing. The Celts might utter the words, "Our blood." while blooding the brow. Our ancestors believed the blessings or baptisms offered by the church, with water, were not as powerful as the blessings or baptisms with blood. The concept of "blood is thicker than water" has some meaning in this context.

Quite often when people are arriving or leaving, the host may say, "Many Blessings". This blessing is asking the Goddess/God/Great Spirit/Buddha etc. to grant the visitor many blessings in return for the visit. The greeting/farewell implies that in sending out these blessings, it will be for the greatest and highest good of all concerned.

Blessings may also be offered as part of an angel card reading, crystal ball reading, or other future telling. The blessing is the prophesy of good news or foretelling of abundance of some sort. It may also be the turn about of a streak of bad luck that the querent is having. There is a belief that although the querent may be paying for the card reading, the actual blessing is free! This is the Reader's way of thanking the querent for visiting her/him.

After a lengthy illness, when someone "crosses the veil" people at the funeral will say "it is a blessing she is gone". What the mourners are conveying is that it is a blessing for the deceased to be past the illness (implied suffering) and also that it is a blessing for the family to be past this illness and past watching their loved one become diminished. In this situation, the mourners are passing judgment by saying the death is a blessing. (As an aside, there were probably life lessons to be learned by the family, friends, and even by the deceased during the illness. Illness is a great teacher.)

Throughout time, people have carried out quests and pilgrimages to different holy places or holy shrines. They believe that at the end of the long, often tedious journey, they will receive a blessing from God for having undertaken such a journey. The blessing often may be to cure some illness or ailment either for the pilgrim or for one that the pilgrim loves. The blessing in this case is a specific ask. If the blessing does not unfold, then the pilgrim believes that the journey has not been rigourous enough, and that their belief has not been strong enough.

Today, we say, "it is a blessing to live in this economy" or "it is a blessing that we live in Canada". This type of blessing is implying that by just being alive, well and thankful for our situation is a blessing. Many blessings to you!