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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Any Jewelry, post: 456009, member: 2844&quot;]Frequent rubbing and kissing. Orthodox tradition involves much more kissing of images than any other religious tradition I know. It probably evolved from the ancient concept of passing on of secret knowledge, symbolised by a kiss.</p><p><br /></p><p>Travel in those days was never safe. There were a lot of occasions when even more kissing was needed to ask for blessing and protection. You would wear this around you neck, under your clothes, and pull it out to kiss it every time you crossed a bridge, entered an unknown town or village, saw strangers coming towards you, etc.</p><p><br /></p><p>Many of these were made. They were blessed by priests and sold by churches and monasteries. Faithful were expected to buy them as an expression of their faith just as much as for their protective qualities.</p><p>The fakes that flooded the Western European markets in the 60s and 70s had a slight artificial patina, much like the one April posted.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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