On page 17 of Van der leeuw's book he talks about the unity of dance and religion. He says:
"The dance is neither an "art" in a present day one-sided aesthetic sense, nor an entertainment. It is half ritual, half work and both together....In primitive cultures, prayer work and dance-for us strictly separate concepts with fully different modes of expression- belong together, indeed so closely that they can scarcely be differentiated."
This reminds me of the ancient Jewish practice where they lean back and forth as they pray. The movement is meant to show total and utter surrender to God and it is to compliment the prayer. More so, the movement is itself a part of the prayer, where the individual is making the body pray before God just as much as he/she is making the mind pray before God. This practice is old and unites the two, movement and prayer, together. Now, in many christian circles, people sit still while they pray maybe bowing their heads and closing their eyes as is custom. But there has definitely been a divide that has come somewhere along the way between the Jewish practice (which is still done in some circles) and many prayer practices today.
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