Washing and anointing

Washing and anointing is a Latter-day Saint practice of <a href="/facts/Ritual_purification/m0QPWCBj">ritual purification</a>. It is a key part of the <a href="/facts/Endowment_(Mormonism)/rwM0Kh1n">temple endowment</a> ceremony as well as the controversial <a href="/facts/Second_Anointing/wfHsWbwY">Second Anointing</a> ceremony practiced by <a href="/facts/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints/rcgQH9bT">the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints</a> (LDS Church) and <a href="/facts/Mormon_fundamentalism/9sBFp9C4">Mormon fundamentalists</a>. It was also part of the female-only healing rituals among Latter-day Saints until at least the 1940s. 
In preparation for the temple endowment, a person, generally over the age of 18, is sprinkled with water, then <a href="/facts/Anointing/nq9JrbVB">anointed</a> with perfume or oil as a cleansing before God. Once washed and anointed, the participant is dressed in the <a href="/facts/Temple_garment/f5eQe02j">temple garment</a>, a symbolic white undergarment. The ordinance performed by the authority of the <a href="/facts/Melchizedek_priesthood_(Latter_Day_Saints)/fXfj87Cb">Melchizedek priesthood</a>, and by an officiator of the same sex as the participant, is "mostly symbolic in nature, but promis[es] definite, immediate blessings as well as future blessings," contingent upon continued righteous living. These ordinances of washing and <a href="/facts/Anointing/nq9JrbVB">anointing</a> are referred to often in the temple as "initiatory ordinances" since they precede the endowment and <a href="/facts/Sealing_(Mormonism)/vATg9xpX">sealing</a> ordinances. 
Like other temple ordinances, washings and anointings are also conducted on behalf of deceased individuals as a type of "vicarious ordinance".
The LDS Church states the origins of these rituals can be traced back to the biblical period, where <a href="/facts/Anointing/nq9JrbVB">anointings</a> were used to sanctify individuals and objects, while washings were used for ritual purification. The LDS Church introduced washings and anointings in the <a href="/facts/Kirtland_Temple/ufxhhHuv">Kirtland Temple</a> in 1836, before revising the rituals in <a href="/facts/Nauvoo%2c_Illinois/AsdWXEGJ">Nauvoo, Illinois</a> in 1842. The modern LDS Church only performs these rites in <a href="/facts/Temple_(LDS_Church)/mkT6zN3A">temples</a> set apart and dedicated for sacred purposes according to a January 19, 1841 revelation that <a href="/facts/Joseph_Smith/qgolfeUd">Joseph Smith</a> stated was from <a href="/facts/Jesus_Christ/1q0H0m4n">Jesus Christ</a>.
Washing and anointing also plays a key role in the <a href="/facts/Second_Anointing/wfHsWbwY">Second Anointing</a> ritual practiced by the LDS Church, in which participants are anointed as a "priest and king" or a "priestess and queen", and are sealed to the highest degree of salvation in LDS theology. This is the most secretive ritual practiced by Latter-day Saints, and most church members are unaware of its existence.

Washing and anointing open-in-new

Washing and anointing