1st Documented Kiss from Vedic sources

[Guest guest]

The first documented records of kissing date to Vedic Sanskrit texts

of India in 1500 B.C., according to Vaughn Bryant, an anthropology

professor at Texas A&M University.

 

Kissing: nature's cure-all, for most

By Gina Kim

The Sacramento Bee

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Some cultures in Africa and the Himalayas don't

believe in it.

 

Some indigenous groups in the northern extremes of North America and

in the Asian Pacific don't do it the same way you do it.

 

And 40 percent of U.S. women believe they are so good at it,

they're "unforgettable."

 

It's first base. Locking lips. Snogging. Mashing.

 

Whatever you call it, kissing is largely universal, with 90 percent

of the world's population engaging in some form of it.

 

While there are different kisses — greeting kisses, show-of-respect

kisses, familial kisses and passionate kisses — kissing has become as

ingrained in our lives as breathing.

 

"Kissing can be a bonding ritual," said Robin Hicks, an anthropology

instructor at Ball State University in Muncie, Ind. "The human

species is kind of wired that way — humans need other humans."

 

Americans spend an average of two weeks of their lives kissing; the

average woman will kiss 79 guys before marriage; and a man who kisses

his lady goodbye before leaving for work generally has a higher

income than the guy who doesn't, according to Andréa

Demirjian's "Kissing: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About One of

Life's Sweetest Pleasures." And in the book's survey, when people

were asked which they'd give up — kissing or sex — 63 percent said

sex, 21 percent would give up kissing and 16 percent said the

question was too hard to answer.

 

"A kiss is really about that intimate connection between two people

that no one else can share. It gives you the feeling of closeness,

feeling cared for and cherished," Demirjian said. "That's what a kiss

does when we're kissed as a child by our loved ones — it makes us

feel safe. And as an adult, it's the same way as well as a whole host

of other things, like being desired and feeling attractive."

 

Although no one knows exactly how the act of smooching began, there

are various theories dating to the caveman era. The lip-lock could

have stemmed from cave mothers passing their already-chewed food to

the mouths of babies, or it might have been the natural evolution

from sucking on a mother's breast for nourishment, according to

Demirjian's book.

 

 

 

 

Demirjian actually believes a third hypothesis — kissing is a

derivative of cavemen smelling the breath of their prospective cave

women.

 

"There is a theory that cavemen would smell the saliva of women to

see if they're healthy," she said. "I can't imagine their breath was

fresh, but they probably did eat very simple diets."

 

The first documented records of kissing date to Vedic Sanskrit texts

of India in 1500 B.C., according to Vaughn Bryant, an anthropology

professor at Texas A&M University.

 

When Alexander the Great's army conquered parts of northern India in

326 B.C., they learned about kissing and spread the practice of

swapping spit wherever they went — the Middle Eastern countries of

Persia, Syria and Assyria, and then to Greece and Rome, Bryant said.

 

Romans embraced kissing and started many traditions that are still

intact: kissing at the altar and kissing the rings of officials and

leaders.

 

Roman men also began the practice of kissing their wives when they

returned home for the day, but not because they were glad to see

them; they wanted to check if their ladies were drinking wine while

they were away, Demirjian said.

 

"They wanted to taste their wives' lips to make sure they weren't

drinking the vats of homemade wine all day," she said. "This custom

we think is sweet and almost perfunctory was to make sure she had

been behaving herself."

 

Not everyone believes puckering up is a sweet, tender act.

 

"Some cultures in the Himalayas don't kiss at all — saliva has a lot

of bacteria, so they think it's very dirty," Demirjian said. "And

there are some cultures in Africa who don't kiss on the mouth because

the mouth is the portal to the soul, so someone who kisses you can

take your soul, capture your soul, or invite in germs and death."

 

There also are restrictions on kissing in more traditional countries,

such as India, Malaysia and Pakistan, with fines and possible jail

time for planting one on each other in public places.

 

In Indonesia, lawmakers are in a two-year debate process considering

a law that would jail public canoodlers for up to 10 years and fining

them as much as $33,000, according to BBC News.

 

"It's a very cultural thing," said Bryant, the anthropology

professor. "It means different things in different cultures."

 

Indeed, some Asian Pacific cultures don't believe in the meeting of

the lips; they instead sniff each other's cheeks, noses and necks,

often referred to as "the Eskimo kiss."

 

They likely knew a person's individual scent is secreted by glands

that are largest and most numerous in that region, Bryant says in his

lectures.

 

In the United States, where kissing is widely accepted as a gesture

of love, giving each other sugar has health benefits along with the

emotional ones.

 

The lower half of the face is one of the most sensitive areas of the

body, according to the book, "Kiss & Tell: A Trivial Study of

Smooching," by Kevin Dwyer.

 

The lips and tongue are the home of nerve endings wired to the brain

so that during a snog session, the brain releases endorphins,

according to Dwyer's book.

 

Although 278 colonies of bacteria are exchanged in a luscious lip-

lock, the good can outweigh the bad, Demirjian said.

 

Besides raising self-esteem, kissing can prevent cavities and tooth

decay because the increased saliva washes away plaque, according to

her book. It also reduces stress, anxiety and blood pressure, while

at the same time boosting the immune system by heightening oxytocin

levels in the body.

 

Plus, when you share saliva you work 34 facial muscles, slowing the

aging process because you're toning the jaw and cheek muscles,

Demirjian's book contends.

 

Add that to the two to six calories you're burning each minute,

compared with the 11 calories on the treadmill, and kissing can be

downright wholesome.

 

"It's great for you," Demirjian said. "I just feel that you should

really embrace it, enjoy it and never regret it. If there's a guy you

want to kiss, carpe kiss — seize the kiss.

 

"Even if it goes nowhere, at least you've kissed him."

 

2006 The Seattle Times Company

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002800160_kiss12.ht

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