NOte on SPRINKLING/Imposition of ashes;is the ancient way in the West and East, and very common in Italy, and its become the Benedictine /Monastic way, even in Abbeys outside of Europe.(Ashes in the early days were sprinkled/poured( as it says in the Old Testament), onto the tonsure atop the head of clerics, and returned to the laity in the 1800;s upload.wikimedia.org/…/Fałat_Julian,_P… ,also on the head is more 'Biblical OT "And all the Israelite men, women and children who lived in Jerusalem prostrated themselves in front of the temple building, with ashes strewn on their heads, displaying their sackcloth covering before the Lord" (Judith 4:11; see also 4:15 and 9:1).That day they fasted and wore sackcloth; they sprinkled ashes on their heads and tore their clothes" (1 Mc 3:47; see also 4:39). And in the new T.like Matthew 6: 1 - 6, 16 - 18 not to show your fasting/penance before men..but, that is mainly about intentions ..anyhoo "the first clearly datable liturgy for Ash Wednesday that provides for sprinkling ashes is in the Romano-Germanic pontifical of 960. Before that time, ashes had been used as a sign of admission to the Order of Penitents. As early as the sixth century, the Spanish Mozarabic rite calls for signing the forehead with ashes when admitting a gravely ill person to the Order of Penitents. At the beginning of the 11th century, Abbot Aelfric notes that it was customary for all the faithful to take part in a ceremony on the Wednesday before Lent that included the imposition of ashes. Near the end of that century, Pope Urban II called for the general use of ashes on that day. Only later did this day come to be called Ash Wednesday.

At first, clerics and men had ashes sprinkled on their heads, while women had the sign of the cross made with ashes on their foreheads. Eventually, of course, the ritual used with women came to be used for men as well.

In the 12th century the rule developed that the ashes were to be created by burning palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. Many parishes today invite parishioners to bring such palms to church before Lent begins and have a ritual burning of the palms after Mass."