Rev. Fr. C. Joseph
Counsellor, St. Joseph’s College, Jakhama
Introduction: I’ve been looking into the significance of 40 days. There are a few reasons I chose 40 days as the period to do this detox. Pragmatically speaking it seemed like a period of time that was neither too short nor too long. It was a long enough time period to notice a difference while short enough to not feel like a tiresome marathon. It also seems a long enough time to change my eating habits. In the back of my mind 40 days also held a vague mystical relevance. I remember as I was growing up my mother would dedicate 40 days to reciting certain prayers for a certain wish and on the 40th or 41st day something would happen to make that wish come true. Funnily enough while I was researching the significance of 40 days according to different cultures and religions I came across a magic spells website that prescribed reciting Arabic phrases (more specifically, names of Allah) for forty days for different effects.
I’m not sure if the author of the website realizes that these aren’t spells but Islamic prayers! Also while I was in abroad I met a Black American Islamic student who was just about to commence studying Irfan (the Twelve Shia discipline of mysticism) and during one of our conversations he mentioned that his teacher said that he would have to stop eating meat for 40 days before the “veil begins to lift”. This background influenced my decision to detox for 40 days. However it is only now after doing some research have I discovered the almost universal appeal that 40 days has across different religions and cultures all over the world throughout large portions of human history and in a special way for Catholics who begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday which is today.
The Significance: It seems the significance of 40 days is deeply ingrained in human consciousness. The Ancient Egyptians based their calendar system on the heliacal rising of Sirius. This was when the star Sirius became visible just before sunrise. These days were known as Dog Days, they heralded the imminent coming of the Nile floods and lasted for 40 days. This celestial event also coincided with extreme heat. According to the The Old Farmers Almanac the traditional timing of the Dog Days is for 40 days from the 3rd July to August 11th. Forty days was significant to the ancient Egyptians in another way: they used to pack the bodies of their dead with salt for 40 days to drain fluid from the body as part of the mummification process. Sindhis at a religious procession in Ahmadabad India at the end of Chaliho Sahib – a 40 day fast of gratitude. The Sindhi Hindu community commemorates a festival of thanks to God called Chaliho Sahib. It lasts for 40 days during which time devotees avoid: cutting their hair, wearing clothes washed by soap, drinking milk, eating fried food and wearing shoes. In Hinduism when someone dies, the family of the deceased are given 13 or 40 days space (length of time depends on caste and community) until they are reintegrated into society. Amongst Hindus it also common for a mother and child to rest for 40 days after the birth during which neither leaves their. Kundalini Yoga has evolved as a practice out of Hinduism. Kundalini Yoga is known as the yoga of awareness because it uses physical movement, breathing and sound to directly affect ones consciousness, develop intuition, increase self knowledge, and unleashes the unlimited creative potential that exists within every human being. It emphasizes the need to practice Kundalini Yoga for a consecutive 40 day period to make or break habits. Some Jains practice Uapvas which is a water-only fast lasting up to 40 days.
Forty days have a sacred relevance in Judaism due to the time period being mentioned many times in the Old Testament(Bible) in relation to different Jewish Prophets. There are many instances in the Old Testament that refer to 40 days. 40 days and nights God sent rain in the great flood of Noah: Genesis 7:4, 12. Forty days after sighting the tops of the mountains,Noah set forth a raven and a dove: Genesis 8:6-7. Joseph mourned the death of his father Jacob for a period of 40 days: Genesis 50:3. Moses and the Ten Commandments after one of many 40 day fasts. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai with God fasting, not drinking water or eating bread, after which, his face shone with radiance: Exodus 24:18, 34:28, Deuteronomy 9:9-11.Moses pleads for Israel 40 days on Sinai Moses after the sin of the Golden Calf: Deuteronomy 9:18-25, Deuteronomy 10:10.It took the spies 40 days to search out the Promised Land Canaan: Numbers 13:25, 14:34.Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days: 1 Samuel 17:16.An Angel Awakens the Prophet Elijah 1667 by Juan Antonio Escalante (before he starts his 40 day fast)Elijah rested under a broom tree until an angel provided him with water and a stone-baked cake twice. He then fasted and journeyed to Horeb for 40 days. After the 40 days fast God spoke to Elijah in the sound of a low whisper at a cave at Mount Horeb: 1 Kings 19:8.Ezekiel bore the iniquity of Judah for 40 days by laying on his right side to symbolize the 40 years of Judah’s transgression: Ezekiel 4:6.Jonah warned Nineveh of judgment in 40 days: Jonah 3:4.In the current age Jewish people observe The 40 Days of Awe which represent the forty days Moses spent on Mount Sinai before he came down with the Ten Commandments. During this period Jews are called upon to heighten their activities in three areas: repentance, prayer and charity.Jewish attitudes towards abortion are quite lenient when it comes to a foetus that is less than 40 days old as it is considered up until this point as “mere fluid”.Following the birth of a male child an Israelite mother is expected to purify herself from ceremonial impurity for 40 days. During this time she should not touch any sacred thing or enter the sanctuary: Leviticus 12. Like my mother, Jews also have a 40 day prayer formula for having prayers answered. They have a mystical practice which says one who seeks an answer to their prayers should journey to the Western Wall in Jerusalem to pray the same prayer request every day for 40 consecutive days.
Conclusions: When I started this detox and set 40 days or six weeks as the time period in which to engage this process, I had a vague idea that 40 days had some form of mystical relevance based on my religious background. It is only now after looking into the subject in more detail that I have found 40 days has relevance to many of the world’s religions and cultures in so many different ways. From pre-enlightenment fasting to post birth nutritional programmes it seems 40 days as being the number of days it takes for transformation to complete isn’t just a superstitious practice that permeates so many of the world’s societies. It seems that there are physiological and psychological basis for many of the stories handed down from generation to generation from society to society. Lent for Catholics, the forty-day liturgical season of fasting, special prayer and almsgiving in preparation for Easter.
