AC 6292 - The Ritual of Blessing; AC 9298 - Blessing

AC 6292 - The Ritual of Blessing

. . . when he was blessing,
Israel placed his hand on the head,
was from a ritual received from the ancients;
for in the head are the very intellectual and will of a person,
but in the body are acts according these,
and compliance;
thus putting the hand on the head
was a representative that a blessing
was being communicated to the intellectual and the will,
thus to the person himself.
From that ancient time
the same ritual remains even to this day,
and is in use in inaugurations,
and also in the act of blessing.

AC 6298 - Blessing

And he blessed them in this day
(Genesis 48:20)

That this means foresight and providence eternally,
is evident from the meaning of "blessing,"
as being prediction,
but in the supreme sense the Lord's foresight;
and because it is foresight, it is also Providence,
for the one is impossible without the other;
for evil is foreseen and good is provided,
and the evil which is foreseen
is by providence bent into good.
That here "to bless" denotes foresight and providence,
is because Israel, who here blesses,
in the supreme sense is the Lord.
That eternally is meant,
is evident from the meaning of "this day," or "today,"
as being what is eternal.