In America, we typically rub our hands together as an expression of glad anticipation of something good about to happen, and especially, of a tasty meal about to be served. Additionally, if our hands are cold, we rub them together as we blow our warm breath on them to try to warm our hands.
Because this expression, "rub the hands together" as one "blows into them" is found in the religious poetry of an ethnic group in SE Asia that has no nuanced associations of this term [apart from a derived association involved in their spirit worship], I am trying to determine what this term meant to them when it was first incorporated into this poem [referencing the formation of God's image, etc.].
Do any cultures out there have the practice of "rubbing the hands together"? If so, what is the meaning associated with doing this? Thanks for any help.
Because this expression, "rub the hands together" as one "blows into them" is found in the religious poetry of an ethnic group in SE Asia that has no nuanced associations of this term [apart from a derived association involved in their spirit worship], I am trying to determine what this term meant to them when it was first incorporated into this poem [referencing the formation of God's image, etc.].
Do any cultures out there have the practice of "rubbing the hands together"? If so, what is the meaning associated with doing this? Thanks for any help.