Rasta (Mandaeism)

A rasta (Classical Mandaic: ࡓࡀࡎࡕࡀ) is a white ceremonial garment that Mandaeans wear during most baptismal rites,[1] religious ceremonies, and during periods of uncleanliness. It signifies the purity of the World of Light. The rasta is worn equally by the laypersons and the priests. If a Mandaean dies in clothes other than a rasta, it is believed that they will not reenter the "World of Light",[2] unless the rite "Ahaba d-Mania" ('Giving of Garments') can be performed "for those who have died not wearing the ritual garment."[3]

Mandaean men wearing rasta performing masbuta in Ahvaz, Iran
Mandaean women wearing rasta performing Rishama in Ahvaz, Iran in 2013
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A rasta also has a stitched-on pocket called the daša.[4]

Symbolism

The rasta is expected to be transmuted after death into a "garment of glory" for the soul ("the Perfecter of Souls ... will come out toward you and clothe your soul in a garment of radiance"[5]) – this is equivalent to the perispirit.

A Mandaic hymn states:

"I became a garment to the worlds of Light ...
As for the chosen righteous, who put me on (as a garment),
their eyes were filled with Light."[6]

Other ritual clothing pieces that typically go along with the rasta when worn by men, especially priests, are:[4]

Special prayers in the Qolasta are also recited when putting on the burzinqa and pandama.[7]

See also

Notes
  1. Jorunn Jacobsen Buckley, The Mandaeans: Ancient Texts and Modern People, pg.81, Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 0-19-515385-5
  2. Archived November 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Glossary", in E. S. Drouwer, The Mandaeans of Iran and Iraq: Their Cults, Customs, Magic Legends, and Folklore, Gorgias Press (2002) ISBN 1-931956-49-9
  4. Buckley, Jorunn Jacobsen (2002). The Mandaeans: ancient texts and modern people. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515385-5. OCLC 65198443.
  5. The Gnostic Society Library, Mandaean Scriptures and Fragments: Ginza Rba, The Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans
  6. Werner Foerster, Gnosis: A Selection of Gnostic Texts, Vol. 2 – Coptic and Mandean Sources, Oxford University Press (1974) ISBN 0-19-826434-8
  7. Drower, E. S. (1959). Canonical Prayerbook of the Mandaeans. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
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