If you work within a clinic or hospital, you may encounter patients who are wearing or who bring a sacred religious object. These items may require special religious treatment and an understanding of the patients’ view of the objects. Let’s examine some common sacred objects from different religious traditions.

Buddhism: Patients or family members may want to set up a picture of Buddha in the room. Prayer beads are a sacred object and used to count the number of times a mantra is recited, breaths while meditating, or the repetitions of a buddha’s name.

Hinduism: Jewelry and adornments often have strong cultural and religious meaning. For women, jewelry serves as an important medium to activate divinity in her and reduces the black negative energy in her body. Women tend to wear a bindi (dot glued on the forehead) and men put on a kumkum powder (dot applied with ring finger similar to paint). The bindi and kumkum have sacred meanings and you should consult the patient before removing or washing them off.

Judaism: Common Jewish sacred objects include the yarmulke or kippa (skull cap), prayer shawls and the use of phylacteries (two small boxes containing scriptural verses and having leather straps, worn on the forehead and forearm during prayer).

Islam: A Muslim patient or family members may bring a prayer rug or carpet to the hospital room to pray five times a day as part of their prayer ritual.

The hospital chaplain and the Department of Spiritual Care will be a valuable asset to help the hospital staff determine the most appropriate manner to address these issues related to sacred items.