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Lecture II: Suggestions And Perversions Of The Rite

2.6 - Inter-Communion Through Blood

Beyond the idea of inspiration through an inter flow of God-representing blood, there has been in primitive man's mind (however it came there) the thought of a possible inter-communion with God through an inter union with God by blood. God is life. All life is from God, and belongs to God. Blood is life. Blood, therefore, as life, may be a means of man's inter-union with God. As the closest and most sacred of covenants between man and man; as, indeed, an absolute merging of two human natures into one, is a possibility through an inter-flowing of a common blood; so the closest and most sacred of covenants between man and God; so the inter-union of the human nature with the divine, has been looked upon as a possibility, through the proffer and acceptance of a common life in a common blood-flow.

Whatever has been man's view of sin and its punishment, and of his separation from God because of unforgiven sin (I speak now of man as he is without the specific teachings of the Bible on the subject), he has counted blood his own blood, in active duality or by substitute a means of inter-union with God, or with the gods. Blood is not death, but life. The shedding of blood, Godward, is not the taking of life, but the giving of life. The out flowing of blood toward God is an act of gratitude or of affection, a proof of loving confidence, a means of inter-union. This seems to have been the universal primitive conception of the race. And an evidence of man's trust in the accomplished fact of his inter-union with God, or with the gods, by blood, has been the also universal practice of man's inter-communion with God, or with the gods, by his sharing, in food-partaking, of the body of the sacrificial offering, whose blood is the means of the divine-human inter-union.

Perhaps the most ancient existing form of religious worship, as also the simplest and most primitive form, is to be found in China, in the state religion, represented by the Emperor's worship at the Temple of Heaven, in Peking. And in that worship, the idea of the worshiper's inter-communion with God, through the body and blood of the sacrificial offering, is disclosed, even if not always recognized, by all the representative Western authorities on the religions of China.

"The Chinese idea of a sacrifice to the supreme spirit of Heaven and of Earth is that of a banquet.There is no trace of any other idea," says Dr. Edkins. 1 Dr. Legge, 2 citing this statement, expands its significance by saying: "The notion of the whole service [at the Temple of Heaven] might be that of a banquet; but a sacrifice and a banquet are incompatible ideas." 3 He then shows that the Chinese character tsi, signifying "sacrifice," "covers a much wider space of meaning than our term sacrifice [as he seems to view our use of that term]." Morrison gives as one of the meanings of tsi, "That which is the medium between, or brings together, men and gods"; and Hsu Shan "says, that tsl is made up of two ideograms; one the primitive for spiritual beings, and the other representing a right hand and a piece of flesh." Legge adds: "The most general idea symbolized by it is an offering whereby communication and communion with spiritual beings [God, or the gods] is effected." 4

Dr. S. Wells Williams says that "no religious system has been found among the Chinese which taught

Religion in China, pp. 23, 32.

The Religions of China, p. 55.

Vila Note: Leviticus 7:11-15- 11

“‘These are the regulations for the fellowship offering anyone may present to the Lord: 12 “‘If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. 13 Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. 14 They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. 15 The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning. -- New International Version (NIV)

The Relig. of China, Notes to Lect. I, p. 66.

the doctrine of the atonement by the shedding of blood"; and this he counts "an argument in favor of their [the Chinese] antiquity"; adding that "the state religion . . . has maintained its main features during the past three thousand years." 1 Williams here, evidently, refers to an expiatory atonement for sin; and Legge has a similar view of the facts. 2 The idea of an approach to God through blood blood as a means of favor, even if not blood as a canceling of guilt is obvious in the outpouring of blood by the Emperor when he approaches God for his worship in the Temple of Heaven. The symbolic sacrifice in that worship, which precedes the communion, is of a whole "burnt offering, of a bullock, entire and without blemish"; 3 and the blood of that offering is reverently poured out into the earth, 4 to be buried there, according to the thought of man and the teachings of God in all the ages. It is even claimed that as early as 2697 B.C., it was the blood of the first-born which must be poured out toward God as a means of favor - in the Emperor's approach for communion with

The Mid. King., II., 194. Sec also Martin's The Chinese, p. 258.

The Relig. of China, p. 53 f Gray thinks differently (China, I, 87.)

The Mid. King., I , 76-78; The Chinese, p. 99; Relig., in China, p. 21; The Relig., of China, p. 25; Confucianism and Taouism, p. 87.

The Relig. of China, p. 22. The same is true m sacrifices to Confucius (Gray's China, I., 87).

God; "a first-born male" being offered up "as a whole burnt sacrifice," in this worship. 1 Surely, in this surrender of the first-born, there must have been some idea of an affectionate offering, in the gift of that which was dearest, even if there was no idea of substitution by way of expiation; something in addition to the simple idea of "a banquet"; something which was an essential preliminary to the banquet.

Access to God being attained by the Emperor, the Emperor enjoys communion with God in the Temple of Heaven. It is after the outpouring of blood, and the offering of the holocaust, that - in a lull of the orchestral music, in the great annual sacrifice - a single voice is heard, on the upper terrace of the altar, chanting the words, 'Give the cup of blessing, and the meat of blessing.' In response, the officer in charge of the cushion advances and kneels, spreading the cushion. Other officers present the cup of blessing and the meat of blessing [which have already been presented Godward] to the Emperor, who partakes of the wine and returns them. The Emperor then again prostrates himself, and knocks his forehead three times against the ground, and then nine times more, to represent his thankful reception of the wine and meat [in communion]." 2

Chow le, cited by Douglas in Confuc. and Taou., p. 82 f.

Edkins's Relig. in China, p. 27.

The evidence is abundant, that the main idea of this primitive and supreme service in the religions of China is the inter-communion of the Emperor with God. And there is no lack of proof that in China, as elsewhere all the world over, blood as life is the means of covenanting in an indissoluble inter-union; of which inter-union, inter-communion is a result and a proof.

In China, as also in India, 1 when the sacrifice of human beings was abolished, it was followed by the sacrifice of the horse. And the horse-sacrifice is still practiced in some parts of the Chinese Empire, on important occasions. A white horse is brought to the brink of a stream, or a lake, and there sacrificed, by decapitating it, "burying its head below low-water mark, but reserving its carcass for food" 2 In a description of this sacrifice, in honor of a certain goddess, as witnessed by Archdeacon Gray; 3 it is said: "Its blood was received in a large earthenware jar, and a portion carried to the temple of the aforesaid goddess;

See page 156 f., infra.

"The flesh of the horse is eaten both by the Chinese and the Mongolians." (Gray's China, II., 174.)

See C. F. Guidon Cumining's article "A Visit to the Temple of Heaven at Peking," in Lond. Quart. Rev., for July, 1885.

When all the villagers rushed tumultuously to secure a sprinkling of blood on the charms which they had already purchased. The rest of the blood was mingled with sand," and taken, with various accessories, in a boat "This boat headed a long procession of richly carved and gilded boats, in which were priests, both Buddhist and Taouists, and village warriors discharging matchlocks to terrify the water-devils; while the men in the first boat sprinkle the waters, as they advance, with blood-stained sand."

So, again, it is the blood of a cock, not the body but the blood, which is made the propitiatory offering to the goddess known as "Loong-moo, or the Dragon's Mother," on the river junks of China. The blood is sprinkled on the deck, near a temporary altar, where libations of wine have already been poured out by the master of this junk, who is the sacrificer. Afterwards, bits of silver paper are "sprinkled with the blood, and then fastened to the door-posts and lintels of the cabin"; 1 as if in token of the blood-covenant between those who are within those doors and the goddess whose substitute blood is there affixed. And this precedes the feast of inter-communion. 2

Nor are indications wanting, that the idea of inter-union with the gods by blood was originally linked with, if it were not primarily based upon, the rite of blood-covenanting between two human friends.

See Exod. 12: 7-10

Vila Note:

Exodus 12:7-10 - 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. -- New International Version (NIV)

Gray's China, II., 271 f.

Thus, Archdeacon Gray unconsciously discloses traces of this rite, in his description of the exorcising of demons from the body of a child, by a Taouist priest, in Canton. 1 Certain preliminary ceremonies were concluded, which were supposed to drive out the demons. "The priest then proceeded to uncover his [own] arm, and made an incision with a lancet in the fleshy part. The blood which flowed from the wound, was allowed to mingle with a small quantity of water in a cup. The seal of the temple, the impression of which was the name of the idol, was then dipped into the blood, and stamped upon the wrists, neck, back and forehead 2 of the poor heathen child." By this means, that child was symbolically sealed in covenant relations with the god of that temple, by the substitute blood of that god's representative priest.

Thus, also, Dr. Legge, referring to old-time covenanting in China, says; 3 "Many covenants were made among the feudal princes, made over the blood of a victim, with which each covenanting party smeared the corners of his mouth [which is one form of tasting], 4 while an appeal was addressed to the invisible powers to inflict vengeance on all who should violate the conditions agreed upon [the ordinary imprecatory prayers in the rite of blood-covenanting]."

Gray's China, I., 102.

See Rev. 7: 3; 9: 4; 13: 16; 14: I ; 20: 4; 22; 4.

The Relig. of China, p. 289

See The Rite in Brurmah, in Appendix.

A symbolic inter-union of blood is a basis of inter-communion between two human beings, as also between the human and the divine beings even in China where, perhaps, that idea would be least likely to be looked for.

It is a common opinion, that in no part of the world is there a more general prejudice against blood-shedding, or the taking of animal life, than in India. And it certainly is a fact, that the great religious systems, of Brahmanism and of Booddhism, which have controlled the moral sense of the peoples of India for a score or two of centuries, have exerted themselves, in the main, to the inculcation of these views as to the sacredness of blood and of life or of blood which is life. Hence, we would naturally look, in India, only for traces, or vestiges, of the primitive, world-wide idea of inter-communion with God, or with the gods, through a divine-human inter-union by blood. No rare such traces and vestiges lacking in the religious customs of India.

In India, as in China, human sacrifices, especially the sacrifice of the first-born son, were formerly made freely, as a means of bringing the offerer into closer relations with the gods, through the out-poured blood. 1

See Dubois's Des. Man. and Cust. of People of India, Part III., chap. 7; also Monier Williams's Hinduism, p. 36 f.

It was the blood, as the life, which was believed to be the common possession of gods, men, and beasts; hence the final substitution, in India, of beasts for men, in the blood-covenanting with the gods. On this point, the evidence seems clear.

The Vedas, or sacred books of the Brahmans, teach, indeed, that the gods themselves were mere mortals, until by repeated offerings of blood in sacrifice, to the Supreme Being, they won immortality from him; which is only another way of making the claim, put forward by the immortalized-mortal, in the Book of the Dead, of ancient Egypt, that the mortal became one with the gods through an inter-flow of a common life in the common blood of the two. Mortals gave the blood of their first-born sons in sacrifice to the Supreme Being. Then the Supreme Being gave the blood of his first-born male in sacrifice. Thus, the nature of the favored mortals and the nature of the Supreme Being became one and the same. Dr. Monier Williams cites freely from the Vedas in the direction of this great truth ; although he docs not note its bearing on the blood-covenant rite. Thus, in "the following free translation of a passage of the Satapathabrahmana:

"The gods lived constantly in head of Death - The mighty Ender - so, with toilsome rites They worshiped, and repeated sacrifices, Till they became immortal."

"And again in the Taittiriya-brahmana: 'By means of the sacrifice the gods obtained heaven.' "In the Tandya-brahmanas: "The lord of creatures offered himself a sacrifice for the gods." "And again, in the Satapatha-brahmana: 'He who, knowing this, sacrifices with the Purusha-medha, or sacrifice of the primeval male, becomes everything' " 1

That it was the blood, which was the chief element in the covenanting-sacrifice, is evident from all the facts in the case. Thus, in the Aitareya-brahmana, it is said: "The gods killed a man for their victim [of sacrifice]. But from him thus killed, the part which was fit for a sacrifice went out and entered a horse. Thence, the horse became an animal fit for being sacrificed. The gods then killed the horse, but the part of it fit for being sacrificed went out of it and entered an ox. The gods then killed the ox, but the part of it fit for being sacrificed went out of it and entered a sheep. Thence it entered a goat The sacrificial part remained for the longest time in the goat; thence it [the goat] became pre-eminently fit for being sacrificed! "Indian history shows that this has been the progress of reform, from the days of human sacrifice downward." It is remarkable that in Vedic times, even a cow . . . was sometimes killed; and goats, as is well known, are still sacrificed to the goddess Kali." 2 Kali, also called Doorga, is the blood-craving goddess.

Monier Williams's Hinduism, p 35 f.

Ibid., p. 37 f.

The blood of one human victim, it is said, "gives her a gleam of pleasure that endures a thousand years; and the sacrifice of three men together, would prolong her ecstasy for a thousand centuries." 1

Bishop Heber indicates the "sacrificial part" of the goat as he saw it offered at a temple of Kali in Umeer. He was being shown by his guide through that city, on his first visit there, and the guide proposed a look at the temple. "He turned short, and led us some little distance up the citadel, then through a dark, low arch into a small court, where, to my surprise, the first object which met my eyes was a pool of blood on the pavement, by which a naked man stood with a bloody sword in his hand. . . The guide . . . cautioned me against treading in the blood, and told me that a goat was sacrificed here every morning. In fact a second glance showed me the headless body of the poor animal lying before the steps of a small shrine, apparently of Kali. The Brahman was officiating and tinkling his bell. . . . The guide told us, on our way back, that the tradition was, that, in ancient times, a man was sacrificed here every clay; that the custom had been laid aside till Jye Singh [the builder of Umeer] had a frightful dream, in which the destroying power appeared to him, and asked why her image was suffered to be dry [It is blood, flesh, that moistens].

Dubois's Des. of Man. and Cust, in India, Part III., chap. Vii.

The Rajah, afraid to disobey, and reluctant to fulfill the requisition to its ancient extent of horror, took counsel and substituted a goat [in which as well as in man there is blood which is life which is the chief thing in a sacrifice Godward] for the human victim; with which the "Dark goddess of the azure flood, whose robes are wet with infant tears, skull-chaplet wearier, whom the blood of man delights three thousand years,' was graciously pleased to be contented." 1

"I had always heard, and fully believed till I came to India," says Bishop Heber, "that it was a grievous crime, in the opinion of the Brahmans, to eat the flesh or shed the blood of any living creature whatever. I have now myself seen Brahmans of the highest caste cut off the heads of goats, as a sacrifice to Doorga; and I know from the testimony of Brahmans, as well as from other sources, that not only hecatombs of animals are often offered in this manner, as a most meritorious act (a Rajah, about twenty-five years back [say about A. D. 1800], offered sixty thousand in one fortnight); but that any persons, Brahmans not excepted, eat readily [in inter-communion] of the flesh which has been offered up to one of their divinities." 2

Heber's Travels in India, II., 13 f.

Ibid II., 285.

Clearly, the idea of inter-communion with the gods, on the basis of the inter-flow of blood, exists in many Brahmanic practices of to-day. It still finds its expression in the occasional "Sacrifice of the Yajna, at which a ram is immolated." It is claimed by the Brahmans that "this sacrifice is the most exalted and the most meritorious of all that human beings can devise. It is the most grateful to the gods. It calls down all sorts of temporal blessings, and blots out all the sins that can have been accumulated for four generations." The ram chosen for this sacrifice must be "entirely white, and without blemish : of about three years old." Only Brahmans who are free from physical infirmities and from ceremonial defects can have a part in its offering," at which no man of any other caste can be present" Because of the Brahmanic horror of the shedding of blood, the victim is smothered, or "strangled"; after which it is cut in pieces, and burned as an oblation. "A part, however, is preserved for him who presides at the sacrifice, and part for him who is at the expense of it. These share their portions with the Brahmans who arc present; amongst whom a scuffle ensues, each striving for a small bit of the flesh. Such morsels as they can catch they tear with their hands, and devour as a sacred viand [the meat of inter-communion with the gods].

This practice is the more remarkable, as being the only occasion in their [the Brahmans'] lives when they can venture to touch animal food." "This most renowned sacrifice ... is one of the six privileges of the Brahmans"; and it would seem that its offering may now be directed to any one of the divinities, at the preference of the offerer. Formerly there was also the "Great Sacrifice of the Yajna," which is no longer in use. "At this sacrifice," in its day, "every species of victim was immolated; and it is beyond doubt that human beings even were offered up; but the horse and the elephant were the most common." 1 So, there has never been an entire absence from the Brahmanic practices of an inter-communion with the gods through an inter-union by blood.

Even more remarkable than this canonical sacrifice of the Yajna, with its accompanying inter-communion, are some of the occult sacrifices to the gods of the Hindoo Pantheon, in which all the ordinary barriers of caste are disregarded, in the un-canonical but greatly prized services of inter-communion with the gods on the basis of an inter-flow of blood. The offerings of blood-flowing sacrifices, including even the cow, are made before the image of Vishnoo; or, more probably, of Krishna as one of the forms of Vishnoo. The spirituous liquors of the country are also presented as drink-offerings. Then follows the inter-communion.

Dubois's Des. of Man and Cust. of India, Part II., chap. Xxxi.

"He who administers [at the offering to the god] tastes each species of meat and of liquor; after which he gives permission to the worshipers to consume the rest. Then may be seen men and women rushing forward, tearing and devouring. One seizes a morsel, and while he gnaws it, another snatches it out of his hands, and thus it passes on from mouth to mouth till it disappears, while fresh morsels, in succession, are making the same disgusting round. The meat being greedily eaten up, the strong liquors and the opium [which have all been offered to the gods] are sent round. All drink out of the same cup, one draining what another leaves, in spite of their natural abhorrence of such a practice. . . . All castes are confounded, and the Brahman is not above the Pariah. . . . Brahmans, Sudras, Pariahs, men and women, swill the arrack which was the offering to the Saktis, regardless of the same glass being used by them all, which in ordinary cases would excite abhorrence. Here it is a virtuous act to participate in the same morsel, and to receive from each other's mouths the half-gnawn flesh." 1

The fact that this service is of so disgusting a character, does not lessen its importance as an illustration of a primitive custom degraded by successive generations of defiling influences.

Dubois's Des. of Man. and Cust, of India, Part II, chap. xi.

It still stands as one of the proofs of the universal custom of an attempted inter-communion with the gods through an inter-union by blood. Indeed, there are many traces, in India, of the survival of this primitive idea. Referring to the worship of Krishna, under the form of Jagan-natha (or Juggernaut, as the name is popularly rendered) a recent writer on India says: "Before this monstrous shrine, all distinctions of caste are forgotten, and even a Christian may sit down and eat with a Brahman. In his work on Orissa, Dr. W. W. Hunter says that at the 'Sacrament of the Holy Food' he has seen a Puri priest receive his food from a Christian's hand. . . . This rite is evidently also a survival of Buddhism [It goes a long way back of that]. It is remarkable that at the shrine of Vyankoba, an obscure form of Siva, at Pandharpur, in the Southern Maratha country, caste is also in abeyance, all men being deemed equal in its presence. Food is daily sent as a gift from the god to persons in all parts of the surrounding country, and the proudest Brahman gladly will accept and partake of it from the hands of the Sudra, or Mahar, who is usually its bearer. There are two great annual festivals in honor of Jagan-natha. . . . They are held everywhere; but at Puri they are attended by pilgrims from every part of India, as many as 200,000 often being present.

All the ground is holy within twenty miles of the pagoda, and the establishment of priests amounts to 3000. The ' Sacrament of the Holy Food' is celebrated three times a day." 1

Thus it is evident that the idea of inter-communion with the gods has not been lost sight of in India, even through the influence of Brahmanism and Booddhism against the idea of divine-human inter-union by blood which is life. Indeed, this idea so pervades the religious thought of the Hindoos, that the commands are specific in their sacred books, that a portion of all food must be offered to the spirits, before any of it is partaken of by the eater. "It is emphatically declared that he who partakes of food before it has been offered in sacrifice as above described, eats but to his own damnation;" 2 unless he discerns there the principle of divine-human inter-communion, he eats to his own spiritual destruction.3

And just here it is well to notice an incidental item of evidence that in India, as in the other lands of the East, the sacrifices to the gods were in some way linked with the primitive rite of human covenanting by blood. An Oriental scholar has called attention to the origin of the nose-ring, so commonly worn in India, as described in the Hindoo Paga-Vatham. 4

"The Hindu Pantheon," in Birdwood's Indian Arts, p. 76 f.

Ibid., p. 42.

i Cor. II: 29. Vila Note: New International Version - 1 Corinthians 11:29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

See Roberts's Oriental Illus. of Scriptures, pp. 484-489.

The story runs, that at the incarnation of Vishnoo as Krishna, the holy child's life was sought, and his mother exchanged her infant for the child of another woman, in order to his protection. In doing so, she "bored a hole in the nose of her infant, and put a ring into it as an impediment and a sign. The blood which came from the wound was as a sacrifice to prevent him from falling into the hand of his enemies." And, to this day, the nose-ring has two names, indicative of its two-fold purpose. "The first [name] is nate-kaddan, which signifies 'the obligation or debt a person is under-by a vow'; the second [name] is mooka-taddi, literally 'nose-impediment or hindrance,' that is, to sickness or death." The child's blood is given in covenant obligation to the gods, and the nose-ring is the token of the covenant-obligation, and a pledge of protected life. When a Hindoo youth who has worn a nose-ring would remove it, on the occasion of his marriage, he must do so with formal ceremonies at the temple, and by the use of a liquid "which represents blood' composed of saffron, 1 of lime, and of water. A young tree must also be planted in connection with this ceremony, as in the ceremony of blood-covenanting in some portions of the East 2 These symbolisms can hardly fail to be recognized as based on the universal primitive rite of blood-covenanting. 3

See page 77, supra

See page 53, supra

See also page 194 ff, infra.

The very earliest records of Babylon and Assyria, indicate the outreaching of man for an inter-union with God, or with the gods, by substitute blood, and the confident inter-communion of man with God, or with the gods, on the strength of this inter-union by blood. There is an Akkadian poem which clearly "goes back to pre-Semitic times," with its later Assyrian translation, concerning the sacrifice, to the gods, of a first-born son. 1 It says distinctly: "His offspring for his life he gave." Here is obviously the idea of vicarious substitution, of life for life, of the blood of the son for the blood of the father, but this substitution does not necessarily involve the idea of an expiatory offering for sin; even though it does include the idea of propitiation. Abraham's surrender of his first-born son to God was in proof of his loving trust, not of his sense of a penalty due for sin. Jephthah's surrender of his daughter was on a vow of devoutness, not as an exhibit of remorse, or of penitence, for unexpurgated guilt. In each instance, the outpouring of substitute blood was in evidence of a desire to be in new covenant oneness with God. Thus Queen Manenko and Dr. Livingstone made a covenant of blood vicariously, by the substitution of her husband on the one part, and of an attendant of Livingstone, on the other part. 3

See Sayce's paper, in Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., Vol. I., Part I, pp. 25-31.

See page 13 f., supra.

So also the Akkadian king may have sought a covenant union with his god from whom sin had separated him by the substitute blood of his firstborn and best loved son.

Certain it is, that the early kings of Babylon and Assyria were accustomed to make their grateful offerings to the gods, and to share those offerings with the gods, by way of inter-communion with the gods, apart from any sense of sin and of its merited punishment which they may have felt. 1 Indeed, it is claimed, with a show of reason, that the very word (surqinu) which was used for "altar" in the Assyrian, was primarily the word for "table"; that, in fact, what was later known as the "altar" to the gods, was originally the table of communion between the gods and their worshipers. 2 There seems to be a reference to this idea in the interchanged use of the words "altar" and "table" by the Prophet Malachi: "And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar. And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible." 3

"Whether he has overcome his enemies or the wild beasts, he pours out a libation from the sacred cup," says Layaid (Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. II , chap. 7) concerning the old-time King of Nineveh.

See H. Fox Talbot's paper, in Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., Vol. IV, Part I, p. 58 f.

Mal I: 6, 7. See also Isa. 65: 11.

So again, in Isaiah 65: 11: "But ye that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for Fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto Destiny; I will destine you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter."

See, in this connection, the Assyrian inscription of Esarhaddon, the son of Sennacherib, 1 in description of his great palace at Nineveh: "I filled with beauties the great palace of my empire, and I called it 'The Palace which Rivals the World.' Ashur, Ishtar of Nineveh, and the gods of Assyria, all of them, I feasted within it. Victims precious and beautiful I sacrificed before them, and I caused them to receive my gifts. I did for those gods whatever they wished." 2 It is even claimed by Assyrian scholars, that in this inter-communion with the gods, worshipers might partake of the flesh of animals which was forbidden to them at all other times 3 as among the Brahmans of India to-day.

In farther illustration of the truth that inter-communion with the gods was shown in partaking of sacred food with the gods, H. Fox Talbot, the Assyriologist, says of the ancient Assyrian inscription :

2 Kings 19:37, Ezia 4:2; Isa. 37:38. See also I Cor. 10:21.

Vila Notes:

2 Kings 19:37 = English Standard Version; "And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place."

Ezra 4:2 = Berean Study Bible; "they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here."

Isaiah 37:38 = New American Standard Bible; "It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.

1 Corinthians 10:21 = King James Bible; "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils."

Rec. of Past III., 122 f

Savce's Anc. Emp. of East, p. 201; also, W. Robeztson Smith's Old Test. in Jew. Ch., 9 notes on Lect xii.

they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of the families, saying, “Let us build with you because, like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to Him since the time of King Esar-haddon of Assyria, who brought us here.” 1

Among the Parsees, or the Zoroastrians, who intervene, as it were, between the primitive peoples of Assyria and India, and the later inhabitants of the Persian empire, there prevailed the same idea of divine-human inter-union through blood, and of divine-human inter-communion through sharing the flesh of the proffered and accepted sacrifice, at the altar, or at the table, of the gods, Ormuzd and Ahriman. The horse was a favorite substitute victim of sacrifice, among the Parsees; as also among the Hindoos and the Chinese.

Its blood was the means of divine-human inter-union. "The flesh of the victim was eaten by the priest and the worshipers; the 'soul' [the life, the blood] of it only was enjoyed by Ormazd" 2 The communion-drink, in the Parsee sacrament, as still observed, is the juice of the haoma, or horn. "Small bread [or wafers] called Darun, of the size of a dollar, and covered with a piece of meat, incense, and Haoma, or Horn," the juice of the plant known in India as Soma, are used in this sacrament.

Rec. of Past, III., 135.

Sayce's Anc. Emp. of East, p. 266.

"The Darun and the Horn [having been presented to the gods] are afterwards eaten by the priests," as in communion .1 This is sometimes called the " Sacrament of the Haoma " 2 In ancient Egypt, it seems to have been much as in China, and India, and Assyria. Substitute blood was a basis of inter-union between man and the gods; and a divine-human inter-communion was secured as a proof and as a result of that inter-union. That it was human blood which was, of old, in Egypt, poured out as a means of this inter-union (in some cases at least) seems clear. It is declared by Manetho, and Diodorus, and Athenseus, and Plutarch, and Porphyry. 8 It is recognized as proven, by Kenrick 4 and Ebers 5 and other Egyptian scholars. Wilkinson, it is true, was unwilling to accept its reality, because, in his opinion, "it is quite incompatible with the character of a nation whose artists thought acts of clemency towards a foe worthy of record, and whose laws were distinguished by that humanity which punished with death the murder even of a slave"; 6 and he prefers to rest on "the improbability of such a custom among a civilized people.

Schaff-Heizog's Encyc. of Relig. Knowl., art. "Parseeism."

Anc. Emp. of East, p. 266.

See Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt., III., 30, 400.

Kenrick's Anc. Egypt, I., 369 ff.

Ebers's AEgypt. u. d. Buch. Mose's, p. 245 f.

Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt., III., 402.

Yet, a single item of proof from the monuments would seem sufficient to settle this question, if it were still deemed a question. The ideogram which was employed on the seal of the priests, authorizing the slaying of an animal in sacrifice, "bore the figure of a man on his knees, with his hands tied behind him, and a sword pointed at his throat." 1

Herodotus, 2 describing the magnificent festival of Isis, at Busiris, says that a bull was sacrificed on that occasion; and we know that in every such sacrifice the blood of the victim was poured out as an oblation, at the altar. 3 When the duly prepared offering was consumed upon the altar, those portions of the victim which had been reserved were eaten by the priest and others. 4 Herodotus says, moreover, that some of the Greeks who were present at this festival were in the habit of causing their own blood to flow during the consuming of the sacrifice, as if in proof of their desire for inter-union with the goddess, as precedent to their inter-communion with her He says:

Cited from Castor, in Plutarch, in Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt., III., 407. See also Ebeis's AEgypt. u. d. Buch. Mose's, p. 246.

Hist., II., 59.

Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt, III., 409; See also page 102, supra.

Wilkinson's Anc, Egypt, III., 109; 410; Kenrick's Anc. Egypt., I., p. 373. See Herodotus, Hist., II., 47

"But as many of the Karians as are dwelling in Egypt, do yet more than these [native Egyptians], inasmuch as they cut their foreheads with swords; l and so they are shown to be foreigners and not Egyptians." 2

It would even seem that in Egypt, as in other parts of the primitive world, the prohibition of the eating of many sacred animals applied to the eating of them when not offered in sacrifice. Because those animals became, as it were, on the altar, or on the table, of the gods, a portion of the gods themselves, they must not be eaten except by those who discerned in them the body of the gods, and who were entitled to share them in inter-communion with the gods. 3

Hist., II., 61.

See references to this custom at page 85 ff, supra.

See Wilkinson's Anc. Egypt, III., pp. 404-406.

Renoufs The Relig. of Anc. Egypt, pp. 138-147.

In this inscription, which is sometimes called the Book of Hades, or more properly the Book of Amenti, the Sun-god Ra is represented as passing through Amenti - or the underworld - on his nocturnal circuit,and speaking words of approval to his disembodied worshipers there. 1 "These are they who worshiped Ra on the earth, . . . who offered their oblations. . . . They are [now] masters of their refreshments; they take their meat; they seize their offerings in the porch of him, whose being is mysterious. . . . Ra says to them, Your offerings are yours; take your refreshment." Again and again the declaration is made of "the elect," of those who are greeted by Ra in Amenti: "Their food is (composed) of Ra's bread; their drink [is] of his liquor tesher [a common word for "red" 1 often standing for "blood" 2]. And yet again: "Their food is to hear the word of this god." 3 "Their food is that of the vertical [the truth-speaking] ones. Offerings are [now] made to them on earth ; because the true word is in them." 4 Thus there was inter-communion between man and the gods in ancient Egypt, on the basis of a blood made inter-union between man and the gods; as there was also in primitive Assyria and Babylon, in primitive India, and in primitive China.

See Rec. of Past, X., pp. 79-134.

See page 102 f., supra.

"Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." (Deut 8:3. See also, Matt. 4:4; Job 23:12; John 4:34.)

Vila Notes:

Deuteronomy 8:3 = Christian Standard Bible; "He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD."

Matthew 4:4 = "Holman Christian Standard Bible; But He answered, "It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God."

Job 23:12 = NET Bible; "I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my allotted portion."

John 4:34 = New Heart English Bible: "Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work."

See John 8:31-32; 16:13; 17:19.

Vila Notes:

John 8:31-32 = New American Standard 1977: "Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

John 16:13 = Aramaic Bible in Plain English; “But whenever The Spirit of The Truth comes, he will lead you into the whole truth, for he will not speak of his own will, but he shall speak whatever he shall hear and he shall reveal the future to you.”

John 17:19 = Jubilee Bible 2000: "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified in the truth."

Turning now from the far East to the far West, we find that Central American and South American history and legends tend to illustrate the same primitive belief, that inter-communion with the gods was to be secured by the hearty surrender of self as evidenced by the tender of personal, or of substitute blood. A Guatemalan legend has its suggestion of that outreaching of man for fire from heaven which is illustrated in the primitive and the classic myths of the ages. 1 The men of Guatemala were without the heaven-born fire, and they turned, in their longing, to the Quiche god, Tohil, seeking it from him, on such terms as he might prescribe. "The condition finally named by the god was, that they consent to ' unite themselves to me, under their armpit, and under their girdle, and that they embrace me, Tohil'; a condition not very clearly expressed [says a historian], but which, as is shown by what follows, was an agreement to worship the Quiche god, and sacrifice to him their blood, and, if required, their children. They accepted the condition, and received the fire." 2

See Reville's Native Relig. of Mex. and Peru, pp. 63, 163; Cory's Anc. Frag., p. 5; Dubois's Des. Man and Cust. of India, Part II, chap. 31; Tylor's Prim Cult., II., 278 ff.; Dorman's Orig. of Prim. Supers., p. 150; Anerderson's Lake Ngami, p. 220.

Bancroft's Native Races, V, 547 f.

In the light of the prevailing customs of the world, concerning this rite of blood-covenanting, the requirements of the Quiche god were clearly based on the symbolism of that rite ; as the historian did not perceive, from his unfamiliarity with the rite. If men would be in favor with that god, and would receive his choicest gifts, they must unite themselves to him; must enter into oneness of nature with him, by giving of their blood, from " under their armpit, and under their girdle"; from the source of life, and at the issue of life; for themselves and for their seed; and they must lovingly embrace their covenant-god, accordingly. And in the counsel given to those new worshipers, it was said: "Make first your thanksgiving; prepare the holes in your ears; [blood was drawn from the ears, as well as from other parts of the body, in Central American worship ; indeed one of their festivals was 'the feast of piercing the ears,' suggesting a similar religious custom in India;1] pierce your elbows; and offer sacrifice. This will be your act of gratitude before God." 2

Among all these aboriginal races of Central America, not only was the flesh of the sacrificial offerings eaten as in communion with the gods; but the blood of the offerings, and also the blood of the offerers themselves, was sometimes sprinkled upon, or commingled with, those articles of food, which were made a means of spiritual inter-communion with their deities.

Monier Wilhams's Hinduism, p. 60.

Bancroft's Native Races, V., 548.

Cakes of maize sprinkled with their own blood, drawn from "under the girdle," during their religious worship, were " distributed and eaten as blessed bread." 1 Moreover, an image of their god, made with certain seeds from the first fruits of their temple gardens, with a certain gum, and with the blood of human sacrifices, was partaken of by them reverently, under the name, "Food of our soul." 2 At the conclusion of one of the great feasts of the year at Cuzco, in Peru, the worshipers "received the loaves of maize and the sacrificial blood, which they ate as a symbol of brotherhood with the Inca-" 3 who claimed to be of divine blood and of divine power.

Herrera describes one of these ceremonies of inter-communion with the gods, by means of a blood-moistened representation of a god. "An idol made of all the varieties of the seeds and grain of the country, was made, and moistened with the blood of children and virgins. This idol was broken into small bits, and given by way of communion to men and women to eat; who, to prepare for that festival, bathed, and dressed their heads, and scarce slept all the night.

Bancroft's Native Races, II., 710.

Mendieta's Hist. Eccles. Ind., p 108 f.; cited in Spencer's DCS. Soc. II., 20.

Acosta's Hist. Nat. Mor. Ind., Bk. V., chap. 27, cited in Spencer's Des. Soc., II., 26.

They prayed, and as soon as it was day [they] were all in the temple to receive that communion, with such singular silence and devotion, that though there was an infinite multitude, there seemed to be nobody. If any of the idol was left, the priests ate it" 1

So marked, indeed, was the sacramental character of these Peruvian communion feasts, that a Spanish Jesuit missionary to that country, three centuries ago, was disposed to see in them an invention of Satan, rather than a survival of a world-wide primitive custom. He said: "That which is most admirable in the hatred and presumption of Sathan is, that he not only counterfeited in idolatry and sacrifices, 'but also in certain ceremonies, our sacraments, which Jesus Christ our Lord instituted, and the Holy Church uses; having, especially, pretended to imitate, in some sort, the sacrament of the communion, which is the most high and divine of all others." 2

Yet again, a prisoner of war would be selected to represent one of the gods, and so to be partaken of, in inter-communion through his blood. He would receive the name of the god; and for a longer or a shorter time, "sometimes a year, sometimes six months, and sometimes less," he would be ministered to, and would receive honors and reverence as a god.

Herrera's Gen. Hist, of America, II, 379; cited in Dorman's Orig. of Prim. Supers, p 152 f.

Acosta's Hist. Nat. Mor. Ind., Bk. V., chap. 23; cited in Piescott's Conquest of Peru, I., 108, note.

Then he would be offered in sacrifice. His heart would be presented to the god. His blood would be employed reverently as was the case with all sacrifices in token of covenanting. His flesh would be eaten by the worshipers of the god whom he represented. 1 This "rite of dressing and worshiping the sacrifices like the deities themselves, is related as being performed at the festivals of many gods and goddesses." 2

A remarkable illustration of the unity of the race, and of the universal sweep of these customs in conjunction with the symbolism of the blood-covenant, is found in the similarity of this last named Central American practice, with a practice charged upon the Jews by Apion, as replied to by Josephus. The charge is, that "Antiochus found, upon entering the temple [at Jerusalem], a man lying upon a bed, with a table before him, set out with all the delicacies that either sea or land could afford." This captive's story was "I am a Greek, and wandering up and down in quest of the means of subsistence, was taken up by some foreigners, brought to this place, and shut up.

Herrera's Gen. Hist., III., 207 f.; cited in Spencer's Des. Soc. II, 20.

Spencer's Des. Soc., II., 20 See also Southey's Hist. of Brazil, II., 370.

... They gave me to understand, that the Jews had a custom among them, once a year, upon a certain day prefixed, to seize upon a Grecian stranger, and when they had kept him fattening one whole year, to take him into a wood, and offer him up for a sacrifice according to their own form, taking a taste of his blood, with a horrid oath to live and die sworn enemies to the Greeks" 1 Baseless as was this charge against the Jews, its very framing indicates the existence in the East, possibly among the Phoenicians, in days prior to the Christian era, as well as in pre-historic times in the West, of the custom of seeking inter-communion with God, or with the gods, by the tasting of the blood of a substitute human victim, offered in sacrifice to God, or to the gods.

At the two extremes of the world, to-day, among the primitive Bed'ween of the Desert of Arabia, and among the primitive Indians of the prairies of North America, there lingers a trace of this world-wide idea, that the body of an offering covenanted to God by its blood, can be a means of inter-communion with God in its eating. Both the Bed'ween and the Indians connect in their minds the fact of sacrificing and of feasting; and they speak of the two things interchangeably.

Contra Apionem, II., 7

An Arab, when he makes a feast, speaks of sacrificing the animal which is the main feature of that feast I saw an Arab wedding at Castle Nakhl, on the Arabian Desert. The bridegroom sacrificed a young dromedary in honor of the occasion, and to furnish, as it were, the sacramental feast. The blood of the victim was poured out unto the Lord, by being buried in the earth as the Chinese bury the blood of their sacrifices in the Temple of Heaven. Portions of the dromedary were eaten by all the guests, and a portion was sent to the stranger encamping near them. And that is the common method of Arab sacrificing and feasting.

There is much of similarity in the ways of the Arabs and of the Indians. The Indian feasts are largely feasts of inter-communion with the gods. Whether it were the human victim, of former times, whose blood was drunk and whose heart was eaten, as preliminary to the feasting on his entire remains; 1 or, whether it be the preserved hearts and tongues of the buffaloes, which now form the basis of some of the sacred feasts of the Indians; 2 the idea of divine-human inter-communion was and is inseparable from the idea of the feast The first portion of the feast is always proffered to the spirits, in order to make it, in a peculiar sense, a sacred feast.

See pages 105 f., 132, supra.

See Clark's Indian Sign Language, s v., "Feast."

Then, each person having a part in the feast is expected to eat the full share assigned to him; 1 unless indeed he be permitted to carry a remainder of it away "as sacred food" for the benefit of the others. 2 -And so the common root-idea shows itself, in lesser or in larger degree, all the world over, and in all the ages. It is practically universal.

One of the many proofs that the idea of a blood-covenanting sacrifice is that of a loving inter-communion between man and God, or the gods, is the fact that the animals offered in sacrifice are always those animals which are suitable for eating, whether their eating is allowed at other times than when sacrificed, or not. "Animals offered in sacrifice [at the Temple of Heaven, in China]," says Dr. Edkins, "must be those in use for human food. There is no trace in China of any distinction between clean and unclean animals, as furnishing a principle in selecting them for sacrifice.

"Should he fail [to eat his portion], the host would be outraged, the community shocked, and the spirits roused to vengeance. Disaster would befall the nation death, perhaps, the individual." "A feaster unable to do his full part, might, if he could, hire another to aid him; otherwise he must remain in his place till the work was done." (Parkman's Jesuits in No. Am., p xxxviii.)

"At some feasts guests are permitted to take home some small portions for their children as sacred food, especially good for them because it came from a feast." (Clark's Ind. Sign Lang., p. 168.)

That which is good for food is good for sacrifice, is the principle guiding in their selection." l The same principle has been already noted as prevailing in the sacrifices of India, Assyria, and Egypt; although in these last named countries many animals which are "good for food" are not "in use for human food "except as they are served up at the table of the gods. 2 In the primitive New World it was the same as in the primitive Old World Referring to the sacrifices in ancient Peru, Reville says, "It should be noted that they only sacrificed edible animals, which [as he would understand it] is a clear proof that the intention was to feed the gods"; 3 and it certainly seems a clear proof that the intention was to feed the worshipers who shared the sacred food.

That this sharing of the proffered and accepted sacrifice, in divine-human inter-communion, was counted a sharing of the divine nature, by the communicant, seems evident, as widely as the world-wide custom extended. The inter-union was wrought by intermingled blood; the inter-communion gave a common progress to the common nature. The blood gave common life; the flesh gave common nourishment "Almost everywhere," says Reville, 4 "but especially among the Aztecs, we find the notion, that the victim devoted to a deity, and therefore destined to pass into his substance, and to become by assimilation an integral part of him, is already co-substantial with him, has already become part of him; so that the worshiper in his turn, by himself assimilating a part of the victim's flesh, unites himself in substance with the divine being.

Edkins's Relig in China, p. 22, note.

See pages 159, 168, 172, supra.

Reville's Native Relig. of Mex. and Peru, p. 183.

Ibid., p. 76.

And now observe [continues this student in the science of comparative religion] that in all religions the longing, whether grossly or spiritually apprehended, to enter into the closest possible union with the adored being, is fundamental. This longing is inseparable from the religious sentiment itself, and becomes imperious wherever that sentiment is warm; and this consideration is enough to convince us that it is in harmony with the most exalted tendencies of our nature, but may likewise, in times of ignorance, give rise to the most deplorable aberrations." This observation is the more noteworthy, in that it is made by so pronounced a rationalist as Reville.

It would even seem to be indicated, by all the trend of historic facts, that cannibalism gross, repulsive, inhuman cannibalism had its basis in man's perversion of this outreaching of his nature (whether that outreaching were first directed by revelation, or by divinely given innate promptings) after inter-union and inter-communion with God; after life in God's life, and after growth through the partaking of God's food, or of that food which represents God. The studies of many observers in widely different fields have led both the rationalistic and the faith filled student to conclude, that in their sphere of observation it was a religious sentiment, and not a mere animal craving, either through a scarcity of food, or from a spirit of malignity, that was at the bottom of cannibalistic practices there; even if that field were an exception to the world's fields generally. And now we have a glimpse of the nature and workings of that religious sentiment which prompted cannibalism wherever it has been practiced.

Man longed for oneness of life with God. Oneness of life could come only through oneness of blood. To secure such oneness of life, man would give of his own blood, or of that substitute blood which could best represent himself. Counting himself in oneness of life with God, through the covenant of blood, man has sought for nourishment and growth through partaking of that food which in a sense was life, and which in a larger sense gave life, because it was the food of God, and because it was the food which stood for God. In misdirected pursuance of this thought, men have given the blood of a consecrated human victim to bring themselves into union with God; and then they have eaten of the flesh of that victim which had supplied the blood which made them one with God. This seems to be the basis of fact in the premises; whatever may be the understood philosophy of the facts. Why men reasoned thus, may indeed be in question. That they reasoned thus, seems evident.

Certain it is, that,where cannibalism has been studied in modern times, it has commonly been found to have had originally, a religious basis; and the inference is a fair one, that it must have been the same wherever cannibalism existed in earlier times. Even in some regions where cannibalism has long since been prohibited, there are traditions and traces of its former existence as a purely religious rite. Thus, in India, little images of flour paste or clay are now made for decapitation, or other mutilation, in the temples, 1 in avowed imitation of human beings, who were once offered and eaten there. Referring to the frequency of human sacrifices in India, in earlier and in later times, and to these emblematic substitutes for them, now employed, the Abbe Dubois says: 2 "In the kingdom of Tanjore there is a village called Tirushankatam Kudi, where a solemn festival is celebrated every year, at which great multitudes of people assemble, each votary bringing with him one of those little images of dough into the temple dedicated to Vishnu, and there cutting off the head in honor of that god. This ceremony, which is annually performed with great solemnity, was instituted in commemoration of a famous event which happened in that village.

Sec page 176 f, supra.

Des., of Man. and Cust. of India, Part III., chap. 7.

"Two virtuous persons lived there, Sirutenden and his wife Vanagata-ananga, whose faith and piety Vishnu was desirous to prove. He appeared to them, and demanded no other service of them but that of sacrificing, with their own hands, their only and much beloved son Siralen, and serving his flesh for a repast. The parents with heroic courage, surmounting the sentiments and chiding of nature, obeyed without hesitation, and submitted to the pleasure of the god. So illustrious an act of devotion is held worthy of this annual commemoration, at which the sacrifice is emblematically renewed. The same barbarous custom is preserved in many parts of India, and the ardor with which the people engage in it leaves room to suspect that they still regret the times when they would have been at liberty to offer up to their sanguinary gods the reality, instead of the symbol."

Such a legend as this, taken in conjunction with the custom which perpetuates it, and with all the known history of human sacrifices, in India and elsewhere, furnishes evidence that cannibalism as a religious rite was known to the ancestors of the present dwellers in India. And as it is in the far East, so it is in the far West; and so, also, in mid-ocean.

Thus, for example, in the latter field, among the degraded Feejee Islanders, where one would be least likely to look for the sway of a religious sentiment in the more barbarous customs of that barbarous people, this truth has been recognized by Christian missionaries, who would view the relics of heathenism with no undue favor. The Rev. Messrs. Williams and Calvert the one after thirteen years, and the other after seventeen years of missionary service there said on this subject: "Cannibalism is a part of the Fijian religion, and the gods are described as delighting in human flesh." And again: "Human flesh is still the most valued offering [to the gods], and their 'drink offerings of blood' are still the most acceptable [offerings to the gods] in some parts of Fiji." 1

It was the same among the several tribes of-the North American Indians, according to the most trustworthy testimony. A Dutch clergyman, Dominie Megapolensis, writing two centuries ago from near the present site of Albany, "bears the strongest testimony to the ferocity with which his friends the Mohawks treated their prisoners, . . . and is very explicit as to cannibalism.

See Williams and Calvert's Fiji and the Fijians, pp 35 f., 161-166, 181 f.

'The common people,' he says 'eat the arms, buttocks, and trunk; but the chiefs eat the head and the heart.' This feast was of a religious character." 1 Parkman says, of the "hideous scene of feasting [which] followed the torture of a prisoner," "it was, among the Hurons, partly an act of vengeance, and partly a religious rite." 2 He cites evidence, also, that there was cannibalism among the Miamis, where "the act had somewhat of a religious character [and], was attended with ceremonial observances." 3

Of the religious basis of cannibalism among the primitive peoples of Central and South America, students seem agreed. Dorman who has carefully collated important facts on this subject from varied sources, and has considered them in their scientific bearings, is explicit in his conclusions at this point Reviewing all the American field, he says: "I have dwelt longer upon the painful subject of cannibalism than might seem desirable, in order to show its religious character and prevalence everywhere. Instead of being confined to savage peoples, as is generally supposed, it prevailed to a greater extent and with more horrible rites among the most civilized. Its religious inception was the cause of this." 4

Cited in Parkman's Jesuits in No. Am, p. 228, note.

Ibid., p. xxxix

Ibid., p. xI, note.

Origin of Prim. Supers., p. 151 f

Again, he says, of the peoples of Mexico and of the countries south of it: "All the Nahua nations practiced this religious cannibalism. That cannibalism as a source of food, unconnected with religious rites, was ever practiced, there is little evidence. Sahagun and Las Casas regard the cannibalism of the Nahuas as an abhorrent feature of their religion, and not as an unnatural appetite." l

Reville, treating of the native religions of Mexico and Peru, comes to a similar conclusion with Dorman; and he argues that the state of things which was there was the same the world over, so far as it related to cannibalism. "Cannibalism," he says, 2 "which is now restricted to a few of the savage tribes who have remained closest to the animal life, was once universal to our race. For no one would ever have conceived the idea of offering to the gods a kind of food which excited nothing but disgust and horror " In this suggestion, Reville indicates his conviction that the primal idea of an altar was a table of blood-bought communion.

"Human sacrifices" however, he goes on to say, "prevailed in many places when cannibalism had completely disappeared from the habits and tastes of the population.

Origin of Prim. Supers., p. 150.

Native Rehg. in Mex. and Peru, p. 75 f.

Thus the Semites of Western Asia, and the Civaite Hindus, the Celts, and some of the populations of Greece and Italy, long after they had renounced cannibalism, still continued to sacrifice human beings to their deities." And he might have added, that some savage peoples continued cannibalism when the religious idea of its beginning had been almost swept away entirely by the brutalism of its inhuman nature and tendencies. Referring to the date of the conquest of Mexico, he says: "Cannibalism, in ordinary life, was no longer practiced. The city of Mexico underwent all the horrors of famine during the siege conducted by Fernando Cortes. When the Spaniards finally entered the city, they found the streets strewn with corpses, which is a sufficient proof that human flesh was not eaten even in dire extremities. And, nevertheless, the Aztecs not only pushed human sacrifices to a frantic extreme, but they were ritual cannibals, that is to say, there were certain occasions on which they ate the flesh of the human victims they had immolated." l

And as it was in India and in America and in the Islands of the Sea, so it seems to have been wherever the primitive idea, of cannibalism as a prevalent custom has been intelligently sought out. 2

Native Relig of Mex. and Peru, p. 76.

See references to cannibalism as a religious rite among the Khonds of Orissa, the people of Sumatra, etc, in Adams's Curiosities of Superstition.

#Library #by H. Clay Trumbull #The Blood Covenant A Primitive Rite And Its Bearings On Scripture

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ba11etomane · 6 years

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Winter Kingdom Roles

You may have 2 named characters. I would prefer if they were from different kingdoms. You may have as many extra characters (those with **) as you’d like though.

If there are any roles not listed here or the other kingdoms that you’re dying to include, let me know and we can work something out!

Spring: https://goo.gl/gbdLXN Summer: https://goo.gl/XJV4yp Fall: https://goo.gl/JnTe6g Humans: https://goo.gl/j1cdNF

General Info

Ruler: Mouse King

Magic: Their magic revolves around physical transformation. While the Fall kingdom has power of decay and entropy, the Winter kingdom tends to build up magic and order. They stack forms on forms, creating layers of shapeshifting and transforming creatures so wholly they often forget what they truly were. In a general sense, they change energy from one form to another. While sometimes they do this to release huge surges of energy, in general they prefer to build and not destroy. Many of these shapeshifters can use their powers to transform things beyond themselves, though unlike the Spring kingdom, it is easiest to use their powers on themselves. In its more powerful form, this magic can be used on inanimate objects as well as living, changing beings. The Mouse King can even turn liquid water into swirling palaces of ice, or turn the stored energy in a log into a roaring fire.

Geography: The frozen forest may seem like a fairytale of glittering crystals and silent, towering pines robed in blankets of fluffy snow. But the forest is silent for a reason. All birds are gone, there aren’t even tracks in the snow from rabbits or mice. Some believe this is because the mouse king experiments on his own subjects, transforming them into horrifying creatures or burning them dry of energy to power his grand building projects. But the Winter Kingdomers know the solemn truth. The humble mice and little birds love their king and the order he provides. They love his safety and his shelter and his willingness to carve from the brutal wilderness a kingdom of peace and stability. They volunteered for his quest to destroy Drosselmeyer in droves. And they died in droves to defend him, for most of the war was fought on Winter territory. The frozen rivers ran red with their blood, and the snows were stained crimson under their feet. In sorrow, the ice king blanketed the forests in a thick layer of snow he hasn’t the heart to lift. The silent forest is their mausoleum now, and the Mouse King can sometimes be seen wandering through it with his trailing retinue of mouse knights, thinking over what he lost to maintain the Kingdom’s freedom, a sacrifice he will never e thanked for. The Mouse King’s Palace, an Ice Mount carved by the king himself from living, dancing ice, sits nestled in the last stronghold of the Winter Kingdom. The Crags are a jagged maw of snow-topped mountains at the very Nothern edge of the Winter Kingdom, bordering the Silent Sea, a plain of treacherous ice that drops off into the northern reaches of the Opalescent Ocean that few Summer Kingdomers are brave enough to venture into.

Goals: While the other three kingdoms blame the Mouse King’s greed and ambition for the war he waged against the Spring Kingdom and Drosselmeyer, the Mouse King and his subjects believe it was all in the name of balance. The Mouse King feared what Drosselmeyer and the Sugarplum Fairy would do with a human heart and its resulting power. He vowed to kill the human or banish her, or even take the power for his own and destroy Drosselmeyer if he could. But of course he was foiled by a simple Nutcracker’s actions. But then again, so was Drosselmeyer, so perhaps he can thank the Nutcracker for that at least. Now that four new humans have arrived, the chaos and destruction of the war weighs heavy on the King’s mind. He knows he could use that power to extend his order and peace to the other more chaotic kingdoms, but he also fears what they may do if they get their hands on the humans. So he and his subjects have set out under various guises to capture, banish, or even kill the four humans before war breaks out. And the Mouse King himself has a pretty good idea who is behind this nonsense, and is out hunting Firebirds.

Social Strata: While the Winter Kingdom is one of the more stratified, it is also one of the more peaceful. Perhaps that is simply because its numbers are so low thanks to high casualty rates from the War Between Kingdoms. Or perhaps they are just well and truly loyal to their lord. But in any case, those with more magic tend to have more power within the kingdom. Those who can affect the world around them besides shapeshifting their own form are highly regarded, and those with huge shows of this power through forts of towering rock or wandering homes of walking houses have a special place in the Mouse King’s court. Below them are those with fewer powers but intense loyalty and strength. The Mouse Knights are a rather selective group of soldiers the Mouse King has personally transformed, and while outsiders may be disgusted by them and think them lowly fodder, the Mouse King treasures his Knights. Below them are the kingdomers who cannot protect themselves or those not maritally inclined. While this used to be less important, the war is heavy on everyone’s mind in the Winter Kingdom, and many more passive fae cling to those they hope can protect them. Koschei the Sorcerer has begun to build up his own faction, though for now he remains loyal to the Mouse King. Who knows what his true ambitions are though, and as his numbers grow his power begins to rival even that of the Mouse King.

Mouse King

Ballet: Nutcracker

Gender: Male

Age: 30+

Basic Info:

He has the most expansive control over transformation of inanimate objects in his kingdom. He even has the power to change other WInter Kingdomers into different forms, and bestows this honor on willing and occasionally unwilling kingdomers if he believes the greater good demands it. He used to be a creative, tolerant ruler who was not above twisting the rocky crags and towers of ice into great shows of his power just for the amusement of his subjects. But he has become sullen, distant, and melancholy following his defeat. He is utterly devoted to protecting what is left of his kingdom from any threat of attack, whether this threat is real or imagined. And while many remain deeply loyal, some wonder if the carnage left him a bit unstable. Surely he didn’t need to create a whole battalion of swans to spy on his kingdom and beyond? Surely he didn’t need to fortify his Palace to the point where it is almost impossible to gain entry. And surely he doesn’t intend to destroy the other three rulers and impose orderly winter over The Land Beyond, right? That would be sheer madness. But no matter what his plans are, all he really wants is peace and some way to atone for all the death and destruction caused in his name.

player: @.username

audition:

Odette/Odile

Ballet: Swan Lake

Gender: Female

Age: 18+

Basic Info:

She is closely tied to the Mouse King (though the nature of her ties are up to the individual playing her), but feels she has been betrayed by him as he forced his will and power on her. She used to be a carefree shapeshifter dancing between forms with the abandon of light dancing through leaves. But as war settled over the Winter Kingdom, the Mouse King took it upon himself to turn her into a swan and lock away her own powers deep inside her. Now she is stuck only turning back to her humanoid form by the light of the moon, spending her days acting as his chief intelligence officer. He says it’s to keep her safe and allow her an easy means of escape while ensuring she doesn’t appear a threat to any would-be attackers, for the other Kingdoms would surely hope to harm her to get to him. But she believes it’s his selfish need for control that is only growing after the disaster of his war against Drosselmeyer. She and her other swan maidens are slowly turning away from their king and looking for someone to break what they see as a curse. This war between what she was and what she’s become is starting to split her in two. And sometimes a second form can break free. A black swan, fueled by anger and independence, has been seen silhouetted against the cold white of the Frozen Forest. She sees much, but who knows what exactly she plans to do with this knowledge. Perhaps she even hunts the human for herself, hoping its power will be able to break her spell?

player: @.username

audition:

Siegfried

Ballet: Swan Lake

Gender: Male

Age: 18+

Basic Info:

The head of the Mouse King’s Knights, he was once his King’s most trusted general. But he is slowly losing his king to a dark spiral of depression, and losing the object of his affections to his King’s curse. While he was happy to keep his affections secret before the war, he can’t help feeling his King is destroying the woman he loves by trapping her away, and he is caught between loyalties. Deep down he knows Odette never loved him, and only uses his attention to gain more information about the Mouse King’s growing weakness. But, never good with choices, he seems in a perpetual state of indecision and anger at his own weakness. Like his king, he has some manner of control over water and ice, which makes him a fearsome opponent. But the more his indecision grows, the more tenuous his hold over these elements becomes. He was almost killed by the Nutcracker and Clara during their brief encounter, and has vowed to take vengeance on him and restore his honor, which by all rights is only besmirched in his own eyes. But since he is stuck between his two loyalties, he has devoted all his attentions to this foolish rivalry.

player: @.username

audition:

Koschei

Ballet: Firebird

Gender: Male

Age: 18+

Basic Info:

Tall, incredibly thin, and inhumanly hungry, Koschei knows all too well the danger of rogue magic. He was not originally as powerful as he is now, and while the specifics are fuzzy, rumors spread that he gains power by devouring unsuspecting fae who come to him for help and cannot repay his high prices. Some, it is said, he even turns into various furniture around his treehouse to serve him for eternity. But these are rumors surely. He’s probably just such a powerful sorcerer he can animate dead wood and cold metal. But in any case, his stolen powers are eating him alive. Work takes energy, and if there is no innate source, it simply burns its host from the inside out. But the more it grabs hold of him, the more he hungers for power. Some say this is a destruction of his own doing, the price he bears to lend power to a grieving, broken King and to help the poor survivors of the War Between Kingdoms. But others whisper of a terrible vengeance from a captured fae who gave Koschei his power at a great price. Perhaps this fae knew exactly what he would become, ever hungry and ever wilder, slowly amassing power and wealth and disillusioned followers within the Winter Kingdom. Or perhaps they just wanted quick, vicious vengeance and a chance to see what chaos would unfold.

player: @.username

audition

Mice Knights**

Ballet: Nutcracker

Gender: Any

Age: Any

Basic Info:

Loyal fae and other Winter Kingdomers may have the high honor of being transformed into one of the Mouse King’s Knights, an elite group of warriors who can actually take a variety of forms but choose the humble mouse while at court as a symbol of their humility, bravery, and loyalty to their king. While in battle though, they can take forms ranging from wolves and bears to elk and even eagles. But they come from lowly stock and most do not have any magic of their own. They join for a variety of reasons, some because they feel it is the only way to gain power and protect themselves, others for vengeance against the other Kingdoms that destroyed their homes and families, and others out of a sheer love for their King.

Players: @.usernames

Auditions:

Snowflakes**

Ballet: Nutcracker

Gender: Any

Age: Any

Basic Info:

These various fae have few transformative powers, and generally appear as crystalline humanoids or translucent, opalescent humans who flit from tree to tree as if weightless. Some are as old as the forest and others are as new as the dawn, born from the sheer power the Mouse King gives off trying to maintain his palace. The younger and weaker they are, the more playful but also the less solid they seem. Like snow, some can simply melt away. But the stronger snowflakes harden like ice and can become quite vicious, toying with lost travelers. Some are lucky enough to become Mouse Knights or even Swans, and others just flit abut the Frozen Forest and the palace trying to cheer up their king and become strong enough to be fully real.

Players: @.usernames

Auditions:

#info #roles #winter

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vampireadamooc · 5 years

Text

Lecture II: Suggestions And Perversions Of The Rite

2.6 - Inter-Communion Through Blood

My apologies to mobile users, for whom keep reading and read mores only sometimes works. This one could be it’s own fucking booklet.

Dr. S. Wells Williams says that "no religious system has been found among the Chinese which taught

Religion in China, pp. 23, 32.

The Religions of China, p. 55.

Dr. Legge here seems to use the word "sacrifice" in the light of a single meaning which attaches to it. There is surely no incompatibility in the terms "banquet" and "sacrifice," as we find their two-fold idea in the banquet-sacrifice of the Mosaic peace-offering (see Lev. 7: 11-15). Vila Note: Leviticus 7:11-15- 11 “‘These are the regulations for the fellowship offering anyone may present to the Lord: 12 “‘If they offer it as an expression of thankfulness, then along with this thank offering they are to offer thick loaves made without yeast and with olive oil mixed in, thin loaves made without yeast and brushed with oil, and thick loaves of the finest flour well-kneaded and with oil mixed in. 13 Along with their fellowship offering of thanksgiving they are to present an offering with thick loaves of bread made with yeast. 14 They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. 15 The meat of their fellowship offering of thanksgiving must be eaten on the day it is offered; they must leave none of it till morning. -- New International Version (NIV)

The Relig. of China, Notes to Lect. I, p. 66.

The Mid. King., II., 194. Sec also Martin's The Chinese, p. 258.

The Relig. of China, p. 53 f Gray thinks differently (China, I, 87.)

The Mid. King., I , 76-78; The Chinese, p. 99; Relig., in China, p. 21; The Relig., of China, p. 25; Confucianism and Taouism, p. 87.

The Relig. of China, p. 22. The same is true m sacrifices to Confucius (Gray's China, I., 87).

Chow le, cited by Douglas in Confuc. and Taou., p. 82 f.

Edkins's Relig. in China, p. 27.

See page 156 f., infra.

"The flesh of the horse is eaten both by the Chinese and the Mongolians." (Gray's China, II., 174.)

See C. F. Guidon Cumining's article "A Visit to the Temple of Heaven at Peking," in Lond. Quart. Rev., for July, 1885.

See Exod. 12: 7-10 Vila Note: Exodus 12:7-10 - 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. -- New International Version (NIV)

Gray's China, II., 271 f.

Gray's China, I., 102.

See Rev. 7: 3; 9: 4; 13: 16; 14: I ; 20: 4; 22; 4.

The Relig. of China, p. 289

See The Rite in Brurmah, in Appendix.

See Dubois's Des. Man. and Cust. of People of India, Part III., chap. 7; also Monier Williams's Hinduism, p. 36 f.

"The gods lived constantly in head of Death - The mighty Ender - so, with toilsome rites They worshiped, and repeated sacrifices, Till they became immortal."

Monier Williams's Hinduism, p 35 f.

Ibid., p. 37 f.

Dubois's Des. of Man. and Cust, in India, Part III., chap. vii.

Heber's Travels in India, II., 13 f.

Ibid II., 285.

1 Dubois's Des. of Man and Cust. of India, Part II., chap. xxxi.

The fact that this service is of so disgusting a character, does not lessen its importance as an illustration of a primitive custom degraded by successive generations of defiling influences.

1 Dubois's Des. of Man. and Cust, of India, Part II, chap. xi.

All the ground is holy within twenty miles of the pagoda, and the establishment of priests amounts to 3000. The ' Sacrament of the Holy Food' is celebrated three times a day." 1

"The Hindu Pantheon," in Birdwood's Indian Arts, p. 76 f.

Ibid., p. 42.

i Cor. II: 29. Vila Note: New International Version - 1 Corinthians 11:29 For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.

See Roberts's Oriental Illus. of Scriptures, pp. 484-489.

See page 77, supra

See page 53, supra