66 



SACRIFICE 



his worshippers, and the element* the flesh and 

 blood of a sacred victim. Primitive tribes every- 

 where seem to regard themselves as related to 

 their gods by the bond of kinship, and every tribe 

 has certain sacred animals which it regards as 

 related to the tribal gixl by precisely the same bond. 

 These sacred animals are probably a survival of the 

 totem-stage through which all civilised races seem 

 to have passed. In any case they play a mo-i 

 important part in primitive religion. They are 

 regarded with reverence as sources or media of 

 supernatural influences. Their lives are protected 

 like those of kinsmen. To slaughter one of 

 them for private use is an act of sacrilege or 

 murder. Sacrifice is a rare and solemn public 

 function. The significant part of it is not tin' 

 slaving of the victim, but the sacrificial meal which 

 follows. During this meal the life of the sacrosanct 

 animal with its mysterious virtues is supposed to 

 pass physically into the communicants, whereby 

 the natural bond of union between the god and his 

 clients is sacramentallv continued and sealed. 



While this sacrificial meal occurs with the same 

 general features in all natural religions, there is 

 infinite diversity in detail. ( 1 ) There are differ- 

 ences as to the portions assigned to the divine 

 and human communicants. As a rule one or 

 more parts which are regarded as either peculiarly 

 sacred or peculiarly choice the blood, the fat, the 

 head, the shoulders, the viscera are given to the 

 deity, and the rest is eaten by the worshippers. 

 Sometimes a whole victim is given to the deity, 

 while another is eaten by his commensals. Some- 

 times the portion of the god, sometimes that of the 

 worshippers, is eaten by priests but that is a late 

 refinement. (2) There are differences as to the 

 minor offerings which usually accompany the great 

 sacrifice and help to furnish forth the feast. Fruit, 

 cakes, honey, wine, milk, butter, and oil are the 

 most common of the secondary oblations. What 

 is prescribed in one country is forbidden in 

 another. Each people naturally offers the choicest 

 produce of its own land. (3) There are differences 

 as to the times and seasons of sacrifice. Among 

 pastoral tribes the great sacrifices occur at the time 

 of yeaning, among agricultural peoples during 

 vintage and harvest. (4) Finally there are im- 

 portant differences as to the way in which the 

 portion of the deity is conveyed to him. At first 

 men believe that he actually eats the flesh of sacri- 

 fice. He is supposed to dwell in certain hallowed 

 spots in his dominions in stones, trees, fountains, 

 caves. At these natural shrines his worshippers 

 meet and sacrifice, and there they lay out his 

 portion and leave it. At this stage sacrifice is 

 literally the food of the gods. After a time men 

 rise above this crude conception. The deity comes 

 to be regarded as an ethereal being whose home is 

 the unper air, and he can no longer be supposed to 

 partake of solid food. The difficulty that now- 

 arises is overcome partly by the use of fire, which 

 etherealises the sacrifice and sends it up to the 

 deity in savoury clouds of smoke and vapour, 

 partly by the multiplication of liquid offerings, 

 especially blood and wine, which sink into the 

 ground and may readily be supposed to be drunk 

 up by the cod. 



These are the details and non-essentials of primi- 

 tive sacrifice. The essentials are the public assem- 

 bly, the shrine, the sacred victim, the banquet, 

 and the supposed presence of the god as a guest- 

 friend. The object is always to renew and 

 strengthen the ties of kinship and friendship be- 

 tween the god and his worshippers, and so to 

 secure the continuance of material prosperity. 

 This primitive sacrificial system is not without 

 religious value. If it is not lofty, it is genuine. 

 It u no mere imposing or touching ceremony. 



The ideas which it embodies are to every wor- 

 shipper realities. Religion and ritual are si ill 

 one. The system has also cou-i.i.-iuMe ethical 

 value. It binds the woishippers not im-i.-l\ to 

 their god but to one another. The goods it seeks 

 are material, but they are always imblic and social. 

 never Hellish goods. It gives the individual no 

 place except as a member of the commune or 

 tribe. 



A new and radically different conception of 

 sacrifice in formed when the trilwl system begins 

 tu break up. Primitive ideas of the consanguinity 

 of gods, men, and beasts become otisolete. Sacred 

 animals become private pruperty. their flesh begins 



to be used as con n food, and they lose their 



sanctity. llei'ore a sacrifice can now take place an 

 animal has first to be surrendered hy its owner anil 

 consecrated. Indication takes the place of natural 

 sanctity. It is this new and ini]>oitant element 

 that changes the character of sacrifice. The act 

 of surrender, which is at first a mere preliminary, 

 comes to be regarded as the e-.rnti.al feature. A 

 sacrifice begins to be spoken of as a gift or tribute 

 from the worshipper to the deity, and the original 

 sacramental idea is gradually lost sight of. Is this 

 a forward or a backward movement of thought? 

 It may be the one or the other, according to the 

 meaning attached to the gift. Two interpretations 

 are possible. Gifts have either a symlmiical or an 

 intrinsic value. If the sacrificial gift is simply an 

 expression of the truth that all private property is 

 a trust from God and ought to be devoted to Hia 

 service, the new conception is an advance and can 

 do nothing but good. But if it be supposed that 

 God stands in need of gifts, and that the more 

 numerous and costly the oblations the greater their 

 efficacy, the tribute-idea is a backward movement. 

 Sacrifice then l>ecomes nothing but a method of 

 conjuring. Unfortunately the latter view is the 

 common one. The historical outcome of the gift 

 or tribute theory is holocausts, hecatomlw, and 

 human sacrifices. These last are a strange in- 

 stance of reversion to barbaric practice. Human 

 sacrifice is natural among cannibals : the food that 

 is most grateful to man is always presented to the 

 gods. Its revival among civilised peoples is the 

 result of a very different train of thought. Those 

 who begin to measure the atoning power of a sacri- 

 fice by its magnitude, splendour, or cost cannot 

 forget that they have posses-ions more precious 

 than flocks and herds. Hence in times of great 

 distress they begin to conjure the displeasure of 

 their gods with offerings of their own flesh and 

 blood. 



As the breaking up of the tribal system leads to 

 a radically new conception of the nature of sacri- 

 fice, so the downfall of a nation may always be 

 expected to produce great changes in the sacri- 

 ficial system. Adversity always puts a great 

 strain on a nation's faith in the efficacy of sacri- 

 ficial gifts. Repeated calamity shatters it faith. 

 How can it escape from religious negation? Not 

 by any new sacrificial theory. Sacrifice is either . 

 sacramental rite or a tribute. No other conception 

 is possible. The history of Israel, however, prove- 

 that two courses are still open to a people whose 

 minds have lieen purged of the superstition that 

 mere gifts can secure the divine favour. Some few- 

 great minds rise above the sacrificial idea to a 

 purely spiritual religion. The majority return to 

 the sacramental idea. Of the latter some revive 

 the sacramental rite in its most primitive form, 

 using as the sacramental element- the llesh and 

 blood of various animals still tabooed or sacred. 

 A greater number adopt the most complex and re- 

 fined sacramental ritual. Taking it up at the stage 

 where ito historical development has been arrested, 

 elaborating it at certain points and recasting it 



