How long before pagan sacrifice is reinstituted?
22. Apr, 2010 
26 Comments
Theodosius I was the first to enforce Constantine's ban on animal sacrifice among pagans. I've noticed more and more people claiming to be pagan lately, and I was wondering how long it will be before the pagans and wiccans bring back animal sacrifice. It will ultimately result in human sacrifice* as it always has, but how long will it take?
*See "bog bodies". Or Aztecs. Or Mayans if you like.
Probably only until they discover your home address.
You know, most modern pagans don’t agree with animal sacrifice. Instead of using bat’s blood or dove’s blood, for example, they use a blend of herbal dyes made specifically as a replacement.
Thanks for sounding like a complete jerk, though. =)
How long before the Witch Hunts are reinstituted where any suspected Witch gets burnt? The Crusades? Hmmmm. Yeah. History is history, and it’s gonna stay that way.
* Or Jephthah. Or King Josiah. Or Isaac. Or Jesus if you like.
Do you eat meat? Then stop your whining about animal sacrifices.
Wicca was made up last century. They never sacrificed animals.
Well as far as I know Wiccans never did animal sacrifice. After all Wicca is a modern religion started back in the 1940’s.
And comparing ALL Pagan religions to ancient Aztecs and Mayan religious practices? Ethnocentric much? Do you know how few Aztec reconstructionalists there are?
FYI: Most *ancient* religions practiced animal sacrifice, even your fore-bearers did. Ever bother to read the OT in your bible? [I am assuming you're a Christian] I emphasis the word ancient there because most modern folks would be horrified at the thought of ritually killing an animal, Pagans being no exception here.
Once again, we don’t do sacrifices of any kind. Have you realized how ignorant you sound?
You obviously know NOTHING about modern pagans. Too bad you are spreading more ignorance and lies but then what can we expect from people like you. Sigh…sad, sad, sad!
answer: this is one of the worst attempts at discrediting a fellow RELIGION(S) yet. Do try and learn about something before judging or trying to appear clever about it.
answer: pagans are active in animal rights on levels that outshine other religions.
Perhaps you missed the “An it harm none” that many believe.
As for human sacrifice, grow up
Why is it ok to eat animals, but not ok to offer them to the Gods?
Even YHVH had animals sacrificed to him.
Guess it depends on how you look at animal sacrifice. When I kill our chickens I thank them for their sacrifice that my family have food. Then they are processed and go in the freezer. The steer we will have slaughtered this summer will also be thanked…processed and go into the freezer. The Santeria sacrifice animals in some of their rituals, then after the ritual they feast on the animals sacrificed.
So…where do you get your meat? Do you take any part in it’s raising, it’s slaughter? Or do you just go to the grocery store and buy a hunk that was carved off the carcase of a mistreated animal?
Roman religion is said to have been instituted by Numa Pompilius, a legendary emperor who is said to have lived in the 8th century BCE. Blood sacrifice actually was prohibited under the tradition established by Numa and there even were religious currents that advocated vegetarianism. But because of foreign influence and cross-culturalism, animal sacrifice was conducted in certain eras among certain groups in Rome. Animal sacrifice as part of ritual worship in the Mediterranean actually was the only time when some of the population got to eat meat. Blood letting was actually a very solemn event and provided food for the community. Nowadays, you just go into a supermarket and see lbs of flesh processed from slaughter houses — meat that comes from animals that had the most pathetic and pitiful existence imaginable before their end came. And it is consumed and disgarded in the most profane, casual, and thankless way–by a Judeo-Christian society.
Yes, many ancient cultures did practice human sacrifice. It stopped because people evolved and changed their paradigms, not because they were Christianized.
And, as mentioned, if you had the slightest clue about Wicca or modern Paganism, you would know that your Q is baseless. Wiccans and modern Pagans honor the Earth and its habitants, human or not, unlike their Judeo-Christian counterparts.
*starred for the lulz.
Some of us who truly understand what this actually means, still practice Human Sacrifice.
*rolls eyes*
With a few notable exceptions, human sacrifice was actually a very rare thing in Pagan religions. In fact, it was just as abhorrent to the Greeks and Romans as it is to us moderns. There are quite a few myths that tell of how the gods punished anyone who did such a thing.
Animal sacrifice is also misunderstood. The animal was not wantonly slaughtered for the thrill of the kill. It was humanely slaughtered, then *cooked* and *eaten* by the participants. It was more like a barbecue in honor of the gods than anything some scary movie has led you to believe.
Much of this misinformation comes about from the early Christians, who demonized the older religions in order to overthrow them (with a good bit of violence and destruction thrown in). They couldn’t get enough people to willingly betray the old gods, so they had to invent scare tactics. There’s been more human lives “sacrificed” in the name of their deity than any other.
Corey is right. Stop being silly, and go chew on a chop or something.
For your information, Wiccans are Pagans, so you need to brush up on some proper education first.
Considering we worship, and have a great reverence for nature, sacrificing animals is against what we believe.
Seriously, are you a vegetarian and a member of PETA, and believe that anyone who isn’t must be a cannibalistic pagan? Now that does make me laugh.
So like I said, educate yourself before you go asking insulting questions about other religions; you won’t look like such an absolute fool.
Once again, speaking as a Christian man, I am ashamed of this kind of behavior against other religions.
you just had to poke the hornet’s nest, didn’t you?
by the way, for the very occasional times I feel a ritual is in order and if there is a significant request,
I prick one of my fingers with a sterile lancet and use a few drops of my own blood.
maybe freaky but it works for me.
The book about the man in the Lindow peat bog was very interesting.
insulting religions you know nothing about, that’s very christian of you.
All modern European forms of Paganism are all reconstituted from what could be found old books about them. They have no connection to the religions that they are named after but are recreations mostly from the imaginations of their new modern founders. Those of us that are older know of the animal sacrifices since sacrificial altars with the the remains of the sacrificed were found in wooded areas from time to time and could be read a bout in the 60’s and 70’s. There was one case of a woman being sacrificed in the Watchung mountians (NJ) in the early 70’s. A local witch was brough it and knew all about all this kind of sacrifice but did not know who did it. I know of other cases where witches were brought into investigation when animal sacrifice was suspected none of those helping investagators denied that animal sacrifice was part of their beliefs, only that they personally were not involved in it. I was even invited to a sacrificial ritual where a goat and many bird were to be sacrificed to a multitude of “Gods” I said no thank you. In the last 40 years most of these “pagan” groups have mixed more hinduism, translations of theurgy from the middle ages and the works of Madam Blavatski into their the constantly changing beliefs. Since their beliefs are constantly subject to change anything is possible. I do believe that it is unlikely that they would get involved in sacrificing animals again because they are subject to pop culture much more that ancient religions. One need only look at their vies on Homosexuality that have changed dramatically over the years as an example. .
We skipped straight to human sacrifice, animals don’t deserve that.
no, sweetie. first of all, aztecs and mayans aren’t western, so don’t fall under the pagan category, pagan being a western term not used or appreciated in other parts of the world.
second, in western pre-christian religions, animal sacrifices weren’t wasted. the essence was offered to the gods, an the meat, skin, and bones were eaten or used. ‘human sacrifice’ in pre-christian western culture is more correcty labeled as capital punishment, which a large number of christians support. criminals and prisoners of war were consecrated to the gods. offering an innocent human sacrifice was rare in most cultures thru-out the world.
as a pagan, i am completely in favor of live sacrifice when it is done humanely and unwastefully. in fact, it’s no more than dedicating lives we already take to the gods, and that’s a good thing. many pagan hunters already do this, tho without the high ceremony that was common in ancient times.
no pagan will ever seek the sacrifice of innocent humans. we cosider the practice just as abhorrent as you do, and if you’d bother to learn anything about us, you’d already know this instead of spreading this ignorant and sensationalistic BS.
Many pagans do perform animal sacrifices and when the state of Fl came after a group of Santerians, a Jewish rights organization represented them for free and won the case. Animals used in ritual sacrifice are treated better than farm animals sent to slaughter.
“pagans and wiccans” ….Hate to burst your bubble but Wicca is a neo-pagan religion. Wiccans have never sacrificed animal or humans.
If you are so worried about animal and human sacrifice, I suggest you outlaw Christianity. I take it that you have never read the bible?
The early Christians did blood sacrifice as well, do you think that will come back? As a matter of fact, some Christians still KILL in the name of Jesus. This has been a common practice within the past 200 years. It seems that as long as it is in the name of Jesus it is OK to lie, steal, kill, covet, and enslave people.
The only sacrifices I perform are on heads of lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, etc. And even then I thank the earth for providing them for my nourishment.
Wicca is a relatively new religion, and have never done any sort of blood sacrifice.
As a rule, most pagans follow the Wiccan Rede of “Do as you will as long as it harms none”. How many Christians actually follow the “Golden Rule” of Do unto others as you would have done to you?
BB
)O(
Wow. You’re an idiot.
Our Finnish sentence for today is:
Olet idiootti.
You are an idiot.
Most Heathens/Asatruar offer drink and food to the gods/wrights/ancestors. We dont do human sacrifices, you berk.
Instead of trying to take the p1ss out of us, you should look at your own religion. You symbolically eat your god/saviour during your mass/liturgies. This was one of the reasons the Romans didn’t like the early Christians-implied cannibalism.