PRAYER ETIQUETTE

Do you know that the Taoists have a set of rules to follow when praying to the deities? If you don't I have listed them down below:

1. Before offering prayers to the deities, one must wash his/her thoroughly as joss-sticks and other prayer paraphernalia are items to be offered to the deities and holding them with dirty hands would mean showing disrespect.
2. Wear decent clothes when praying to the deities as a form of respect. Wearing a bikini to the temple is a definite No-No.
3. When offering prayers, one must be sincere and not perform the prayers out of a sense of obligation.
4. Do not offer dog meat, eel, fish that has been scaled and beef to the deities.
5. Do not offer food items that have been used before to the deities.
6. Fruits offered to the deities must be washed first.
7. Women who are having their monthly periods should refrain from offering prayers. According to ancient belief, women who are menstrating are considered to be 'unclean'.
8. Do not offer joss-papers that are torn, dirty or messed up to deities. Not only is this a sign of disrespect, it is also siad that such joss-papers have lost their value.
9. Joss-sticks that have fallen on to the ground should not be picked up and used as offering to the deities.
10. When offering joss-sticks one must concentrate on the task of praying. Do not hold the lit joss-sticks and scold others as it is believed that the scolding might be misinterpreted as a request. As an example, a lady who is holding the joss-sticks sees her son lazing around the house shouts at the boy, "You lazy good for nothing person. You will not amount to much".
11. When praying, do not request that misfortune or bad things befall others because 'he who digs a pit for his brother will he himself fall into it'. This means that all the misfortune and bad things will directly fall back on the person requesting it.