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Large numbers of purification rites are performed universally on widely varying occasions, both in private life, from conception to death, and in religious ceremonies. Such rites employ materials that include water, dust, or dry sand (in Islam); water and henna, a reddish brown dye (in Islam); oil, incense, balm, and natron, a salt (in ancient Egyptian religion); ale (öl) or wine (in post-15th-century Germanic religion); salt (in Shintō); bread, sugar, spices, and animal blood (in ancient Greek and Scandinavian religions); paper, used in the Shintō gohei, a white paper “whip” that is shaken; ashes, among the Brahmans; and other materials. ...(100 of 10182 words)