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Re: human sacrifice
Michael Westerfield (westerfd@neca.com)
17 Sep 1996 12:11:15 GMT
Tiffany Willis <dtwillis@iamerica.net> wrote:
>
> As a student of theology and anthropology I have always been interested
> in the topic of human sacrifice. However, very little is written about
> it. I have read "The Highest Altar," by Patrick Tierney, who seems to
> dwell mostly on the Incan or Aztec practice of human sacrifice. I've
> also read "The Stranglers," by George Bruce who gives a first hand
> account of the Kali worshipping cults of Thuggee in 19th century India.
> Both these books are OK, but give little information as to the liturgy
> of the practices. Anyhow, I was reading "Russia," by Harrison E.
> Salisbury and on page 22 he mentions that prior to the christianization
> of Russia, the Kievan ruler Vladimir I and the Russian people sacrificed
> humans to the gods Perun, Svarog and Stribog. Is there anyone out there
> who can point me in the direction of historical facts or data for the
> liturgical rites of any of the death cults; Kali worshippers, Incan or
> Aztec, pagan, satanic, or pre-Christian Russia?
>
> Sincerely,
>
> David
I have always been of the opinion that historical liturgical practices were
were fairly direct descendants of previous "pagan" practices and that
the "sacrifice" of the Catholic mass fairly closely mirrored the
ritual sacrifices, including human sacrifices, that were its antecedents.
At this point, I think that this is the only area available for
investigation aside from the writings of early authors - Greek and Roman -
who touched upon the subject.
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