in the Malay Peninsula and elsewhere, blood ceremonies are in
use which are unconnected with the slaughter of a victim; in
this blood ritual we may see another possible source of sacrifice.
The Arunta hold that the spirits of kangaroos are expelled by
human blood from certain rocks. By parity of reasoning a.
blood ritual may have been adopted by peoples who practise
the expulsion of evils, conceiving them either animistic ally or as
powers; catharsis, in the sense of removal of uncleanness, is
not necessarily primitive.
Principles of Classification.—It is possible to classify sacrifices according to (a) the occasion of the rite, (b) the end to be achieved, (c) the material object to be affected or (d) the form of the rite. (a) The division into periodical and occasional is important in Hindu and other higher religions, and the sutras constantly draw the distinction; the former class is obligatory, the latter facultative. In less developed creeds the difference tends to remain in the background; but where sacrifices are found, solemn annual rites, communal, purificatory or expiatory, are celebrated, and these are held to be in like manner obligatory. (b) The end to be achieved is, as has been shown by Hubert and Mauss, sometimes sacralization, sometimes desacralization. In the former case the sacrifice is raised to a higher level; he enters into closer communion with the gods. In the latter either some material object, not necessarily animate, is deprived of a portion of its sanctity and made fit for human use, or the sacrifice himself loses a portion of his sanctity or impurity. In the sacrifice of sacralization the sanctity passes from the victim to the object; in that of desacralization, from the object to the victim. (c) Sacrifices may be classified into (i.) subjective or personal, where the sacrifice himself gains or loses sanctity or impurity; (ii.) objective, where the current of mana (see Taboo) is directed upon some other person or object, and only a secondary effect is produced on the sacrifice himself. (d) The form of the sacrince is discussed in the next section.
Ritual.—For Hinduism and later Judaism we possess a wealth of material on which to base a comparative study of the forms of sacrifice; a form of this—animal sacrifice in the Vedas—has been analysed by MM. Hubert and Mauss. For Greece and Rome, where the instructions as to ritual were not embodied in the elaborate codes handed down in Hinduism or Judaism, our material is far less complete. For other areas we have often no description of the procedure at all, but merely the briefest outline of the actual process of slaughter, and we are ignorant whether the form of the rite is in reality simple (either from a loss of primitive elements or from never having advanced beyond the stage at which we find it), or whether the absence of detail is due to the inattention or lack of interest of the observer. It must therefore be understood that the following analysis of ritual, based on the most elaborate codes known to us, is by no means conclusive as to the primitive form or forms of sacrifice. The necessary elements of a Hindu sacrifice are: (1) the sacrificer, who provides the victim, and is affected, directly or indirectly, by the sacrifice; he may or may not be identical with (2) the officiant, who performs the rite; we have further (3) the place, (4) the instruments of sacrifice and (5) the victim; where the sacrificer enjoys only the secondary results, the direct influence of the sacrifice is directed towards (6) the object; finally, we may distinguish (7) three moments of the rite—(a) the entry, (b) the slaughter, (c) the exit.
The sacrifices of sacralization and desacralization mentioned above find their analogues in the Hindu scheme of the rite; sacralization and desacralization, sometimes performed by means of subsidiary sacrifices, are the essential elements of the preparation for sacrifice and the subsequent lustration. In the most developed forms, such as the offering of soma, they assumed a great importance; (1) the sacrificer had to pass from the world of man into a world of the gods; consequently he was separated from the common herd of mankind and purified; he underwent ceremonies emblematic of rebirth and was then subject to numberless taboos imposed for the purpose of maintaining his ceremonial purity. In like manner (2) the officiant prepared himself for his task; but in his case the natural sanctity of the priest relieved him of the necessity of undergoing all that the common man had to pass through; in fact, this was one of the causes which brought him into existence, the other being the need of a functionary familiar with the ritual, who would avoid disastrous errors of procedure, destructive of the efficacy of the sacrifice. (3) Where there was an appointed place of sacrifice—the Temple at Jerusalem, according to later Jewish prescription—there was no need of preparation of a place of sacrifice; but the Hindu chose, each for himself, the site of his altar. (4) The necessary rites included (a) the establishment of the fires, friction being the only permitted method of kindling it, (b) the tracing on the ground of the vedi, or magical circle, to destroy impurities, (c) the digging of the hole which constituted the real altar, (d) the preparation of the post which represented the sacrifice and to which the victim was tied, and other minor details. (5) The victim might be naturally sacred or might have to undergo sanctification. In the former case (a) individual animals might be distinguished by certain marks, or (b) the whole species might be allied to the god; in the latter case the victim had to be without blemish; (c) the age, colour or sex of the victim might differ according to the purpose of the sacrifice. It was first cleansed; then plied with laudatory epithets; and, thirdly, soothed, so that it might be more acceptable to the gods and less likely to do an injury after its death, when its spirit was set free. It had now reached a degree of sanctity and only the priest might touch it; it was sprinkled with water, and anointed with butter; finally, the priest made three turns round it with a lighted torch in his hand, which finally separated it from the world and fitted it for its high purpose. The object of the sacrifice being to bridge the gulf between the sacred and profane worlds, the sacrificer had to remain in contact with the victim, either personally, or, to avoid ritual perils, by the intermediary of the priest. After excuses made to the animal or to the species in general, the victim was placed in position, and silence observed by all who were present. The cord was drawn tight and the victim ceased to breathe; its spirit passed into the world of the gods. But this did not conclude the ceremony, even as far as the victim was concerned; it remained to dispose of the corpse. After a rite intended to secure its perfect ceremonial purity, a part of the victim, the vapā, was removed, held over the fire and finally cast into it. The remainder, divided into eighteen portions, was cooked; seven fell to the sacrificer, after an invocation, which made them sacred by calling the deity to descend into the offering and thus sanctify the sacrificer. (6) Then followed the rites of desacralization, including burning of certain of the instruments, lustration of the post, destruction of the butter, &c, Finally the priest, the sacrificer and his wife performed a lustration, found in an exaggerated form in the “bath” which concluded the soma sacrifice, and the ceremonies were at an end.
How far this scheme of sacrifice holds good for other areas, and in particular for more primitive peoples, is an open question; Our data are nowhere so full as for India; where they are comparatively abundant they refer either to a civilized or semi civilized people, or to an area, like West Africa, where the influence of Islam has introduced a disturbing element. Though the moralization of gods has only proceeded pari passu with the moralization of mankind, the deities of the more advanced nations are perhaps felt by them to be more terrible and more difficult of access than the divinities of lower races; herein lies one explanation of the power of the priesthood. Even if the conception of the relative sanctity of gods and men remained unaltered, it by no means follows that in primitive times the same precautions were necessary in approaching the former as were demanded by the consciousness of later generations. With our present knowledge the problem of the original form of sacrifice, if there be a single primary form, is insoluble.
No general survey of sacrificial ritual is possible here, but a few details as to the mode of slaying the victim and disposing of the body may be given., The head of the animal or man may be cut off (and custom often requires that a single blow shall suffice), its spine broken or its heart torn out; it may be
