Endowment (Mormonism)

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In Mormonism, the endowment usually refers to the first endowment, which is a two-part ordinance (ceremony) designed for participants to become kings, queens, priests, and priestesses in the afterlife. In the first part, participants take part in a scripted reenactment of the Biblical creation and fall of Adam and Eve. The ceremony includes a symbolic washing and anointing, and receipt of a "new name" which they are not to reveal to others except at a certain part in the ceremony, and the receipt of the temple garment, which Mormons then are expected to wear under their clothing day and night throughout their life. In the second part, participants are taught symbolic gestures and passwords considered necessary to pass by angels guarding the way to heaven, and are instructed not to reveal them to others. As practiced today in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the endowment also consists of a series of covenants (promises to God) that participants make, such as a covenant of consecration to the LDS Church. All LDS Church members who choose to serve as missionaries or participate in a celestial marriage in a temple must first complete the first endowment ceremony. The other, and much less common, endowment (usually called the second anointing or second endowment), is considered the pinnacle ordinance of the temple, and is jointly given to a husband and wife couple to ensure salvation, guarantee exaltation, and confer godhood. Recipients of the second anointing are anointed as kings, queens, priests, and priestesses, whereas in the first endowment they are only anointed to become those in the future as long as they follow specified covenants. The second anointing is only given to a select group, and its existence is not widely known among the general membership. The endowment as practiced...