Holy

Preach to the choir Religion

Crux of the matter

Christianity Judaism Islam Hinduism Buddhism Zoroastrianism Sikhism Jainism

Speak of the devil

Satanism Atheism Antitheism Agnosticism Deism Secularism Humanism Paganism

An act of faith

Guru Blasphemy Sophisticated theology Relic Resurrection Iconoclasm Omnipresence v - t - e

Holy or sacred are religious terms which strictly mean "designated for spiritual use". More informally, these terms are used to describe a person, place, or thing that conveys "supernatural" feelings.

Holy things are held in veneration by followers of the relevant religion, and followers of other religions (or none) are usually expected to respect this. In dualistic terms, what is "holy" is the opposite of that which is "profane".

The Hebrew word קָדוֹשׁ (transliterated as "qadosh" or "kadosh") is typically translated in the Bible as "holy", but literally means "set aside for a purpose".

Religious use

• Holy places can be churches, temples, mountains, places a religious leader came from or went to (e.g. Mecca, or the Holy Land), or places that seem to convey something "other worldly", such as the caves of Lascaux or the wind tunnels in Southern Colorado.

• Holy books or holy words are generally writings and sayings which are ascribed to the supernatural leader or the god(s) of that religion.

• Holy artifacts can be relics associated with religious leaders, animal skulls found in odd places, rocks that are oddly colored, or human-made tools of the trade, like the Ark of the Covenant.

• Holy days, found in most religions, are days in which instead of doing ordinary tasks such as working, people get to sit on their rears adoring God or doing whatever else it is their religion considers holy. These holy days have evolved into our "holidays".

Secular use

The term "holy" is often applied in the secular world to things which a group has deemed "off limits" to criticism. Players or coaches of a sports team might be considered "holy" to the locals. Political leaders will speak of a particular tax plan or omnibus bill as "holy" if they are chastised by another for challenging it. Texts, particular to non-religious groups, might be called "holy" if it is discouraged or disallowed for members of the group to question them.

See also

• Holy Blood, Holy Grail — a conspiracy book about the Holy Grail
• Holy Grail — a hypothetical Christian relic
• Holy Foreskin — the "fishes and loaves" of circumcision
• Holy Koolaid — a freethought blog
• Holy Lance — another relic
• Holy Land — land of endless war
• Holy Land Experience — a method for Trinity Broadcasting Network to extract more money from sheeple
• Holy Spirit — part of the Trinity
• Holy water
• The Sacred and the Profane