ABSTRACT
It may come as a surprise to many that the anointing is no inconsiderable part of the coronation service; but so it is, and it would even be correct to describe it as more important than the crowning itself—more important, that is, from the inner and significant aspect of the ceremony. As part of the coronation ritual anointing was introduced into England in 871, when King Alfred came to the throne, and into Scotland in 1097, when King Edgar was crowned; it now forms a culminating point in the solemn spectacle enacted in Westminster Abbey, when a new monarch comes to rule as King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the seas. It is interesting, further, to recollect that anointing has a long history behind it, and that it probably took origin, as A E Crawley asserts [Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics 1908 vol. 1 pp 549–57], in pre-theistic and even pre-fetish times. At first unguents, varying in nature from a crude animal fat to a perfumed vegetable oil, were used for cosmetic purposes; they gave to the body, after bathing, a feeling of comfort and they were useful in hot climates to protect the skin against the sun’s rays and in cold countries to prevent the escape of the body heat. But soon a new meaning—the aesthetic—was added to the cosmetic; the oil gave a gloss to the skin, and the effect was increased by the admixture of a colouring substance. ‘Of the majority of early peoples,’ says Crawley, ‘it may be said that grease and ochre constitute their wardrobe.’ In this way personal attractiveness was sought for, and, in the opinion of those interested, was obtained. What, then, could be more, natural than to anoint the body for such special occasions as festivals and holy days? The honoured guest also was welcomed with bathing and anointing, and inanimate objects were polished and to some extent preserved from decay by being rubbed with unguents. It is easy to link on these uses to the magical and religious employment of ointments, but in the process a new notion is found to have come in. Organic matter is believed to be instinct with some Divine force or vital essence and to have a magical or supernatural power; further, this power can be transmitted either by eating and drinking the specially sacred matter, or, more easily and doubtless more safely, by external application of it to the body of the worshipper. Fat has come to occupy a curiously important place among the substances which are held to transmit the desirable gifts of life and strength; and it is reported, for instance; that the Australian savage will kill a man to get his kidney fat for anointing himself with. A further stage in development sees fat consecrated in various ways, so that it may serve as the vehicle for the transmission of a Divine Essence. It can now be seen how anointing has entered into medical practice, not by one, but by several routes. There has been the belief in the magical effect of the fat as well as in the sacred influence which it carries; there has been in an interesting way (too intricate to enter into here) the principle of the removal of tabu; there has been the discovery of the invigorating effect of rubbing the skin with oil; and there has been the knowledge of the action of the unguent upon the cutaneous secretions and upon transpiration. If to these be added the ascertained therapeutic effects of various medicinal substances, we are possessed of a series of contributing causes which sufficed to introduce anointing into medicine and to keep it among the accredited means of treating disease.’
