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SACRIFICE: ITS NATURE AND FUNCTION

By Henry Hubert and Marcel Mauss

Mauss, after his work on sacrifice concluded that sacrificial ritual belonged to the much evolved forms of religious life, not to the primitive base. It was connected with the far more general system of consecrations. The essential point is that following Robertson Smith and Durkheim, he showed clearly the functioning of the idea of the sacred.

In his work Mauss tries to define the nature and social functions of sacrifice. It was Roberston Smith the first one to attempt a rational explanation of sacrifice. He was inspired by the discovery of totemism. He saw in the practice of totemic cult the root origin of sacrifice. Mauss does not intend to trace the history and genesis and sacrifice here.

1.- Definition and Unity of the Sacrificial System

Sacrifice is a religious act which through the consecratlonofavictlrn, modifies the conditions of the moral person who accomplishes it and of certain objects with which he is concerned.

All sacrifices imply consecration> an object passes from the profane to the sacred world. the consecration touches beyond the consecrated object; devotee adquires a religious character that did not have before or gets rid of sins.

The sacrifier: the subject who receives the benefits of the sacrifice or undergoes its effects. Is can be an indivual or a collectivity (family, clan). Is the one who bears the expenses of the ceremony.

Objects of sacrifice: those kinds of things for whose sake the sacrifice takes place (house, field). The sacrifice affects both the sacrifier and the object of sacrifice. It serves as intermediary between men and god since they are not in direct contact.

Victim: animal or vegetable/fruit offered in sacrifice which is destroyed, releasing lots of energy, spirit.

Maus called those sacrifices in which the personaJity of the sacrifier is directly affected by the sacrifice, personal sacrifices, and those in which objects real or ideal receive directly the sacrificial action, objective sacrifices. This approach assumes the generic unity of.sacrifices .

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Sacrifices are classified into regular and occasional. Occasional sacrifices are a) sacramental sacrifices,· those which accompany the solemn moments of life, example, birth, marriage, funerals, etc. b) votive sacrifices which occasional nature is more marked and c) curative and expiatory sacrifices. Periodical or regular sacrifices are linked to certain moments of life, independent of men's will: daily sacrifice, full and new moon. There is a basic scheme of sacrifice which is flexible and varies according to the circumstances and the ends pursued.

The Hebrew ritual provides no less striking examples of the complexity of rites and identical nature of the component elements. Leviticus reduces all sacrifice to four classic forms: olah (dispatch of offering to the divinity), hattat (expiation), she/amin (communion), minha (moment of presentation of the vistim). In reality those four types are no longer real types of sacrifice but kind of component elements

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in which one of the organs of sacrifice is particularly developed. Thus here is continuity between the forms of sacrifice, since they mix and mingle with each other. They are both two diverse and yet to similar for it to be possible to divide them into specialized categories. There are all the same in essence, it is which constitutes they unity.

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2.- The Scheme of Sacrifice

Sacrifice is a religious act that can only be carried out in a religious atmosphere and by means of religious agents:"Before the ceremony, neither agents, place, instruments or victim have a religious character. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce all of them into the sacred world.

The schematic elements of sacrifice are:

a) Introduction to the sacred world: agents and elements are profane, so their condition must be changes

b) The sacrifier: he or she must become divine or at least, sacred, pure. Mauss took the case of Diksha, namely the preparation of the sacrifier for the sacrifice of soma. These rites are peculiar not only for Hindus but the Semitic world, Greece and Rome too. He asserts that a certain degree of relationship with the god is demanded first of all from those who wish to be admitted to the sacrifice; All these purifications, lustrations. Ablutions, fasting and consecrations prepare the profane participants for the sacred act by eliminating from their body the imperfection of the secular nature cutting them off from the common life, introducing him into the sacred world of the gods.

c) The sacrificer: one cannot approach sacred things directly, and intermediary is required, for example the priest. The priest is the link between the sacred and the profane. He is familiar with the sacred world and can approach it more closely. He already has a religious character so less or non preparation is required. Sometime the profane person (sacrifier) is even formally excluded from the sanctuary and the sacrifice. In this case the priest becomes' on one hand, the mandatory of the sacrifier, whose conditions he shares and sins he bears.

d) Place and instruments: the place of sacrifice must be sacred; outside a holy place immolation is only murder. Thus, if the ceremony does not take place ina temple, preliminary consecration is necessary. In Hindu tradition,fire (Agni) is a sign of consecration: what is divine of Agni IS transmitted to the place of sacrifice. Also the instruments are consecrated, purified. The entry of the victim marks the beginning of the drama. A perfect continuity of the ritual is required in order to control the forces at work. The religious act must be accompanied by a religious fram of mind of the agents; a total confidence on the result of the sacrifice.

e) The victim: the victim is the focus of the place of sacrifice. It can have a divine character or fixed rites may be required to confer upon it the religious condition. Series of operations are oriented towards purification and consecration. Also the victim must be persuaded to allow to be sacrificed peacefully and not to take vengeance. The liberation of the spirit of the victim is the aim of the ceremony

Magical and religious sympathy between victim and sacrifier is provided by physical contact, like laying on of hands. Thus, they are united, merged, fused together. The sacrifier passes on

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something of his own personality to the victim. Then onwards, the future fate of the victim, its imminent death, has a reverse effect upon the sacrifier.

The culminating point is when the spirit residing in the victim, until then attached to its body, is released, making the consecration definitive and irrevocable. This is the passage of the victim from its profane world into the sacred. The act of destruction of the victim is the essential action of sacrifice, where the victim changes its nature. Now, the victims or its remains (sprinkling blood, application of the skin, eating a piece) will pass on to the sacrifier the new qualities it has acquired by action of the sacrifice. The gods must also receive their share of the victim which was offered to

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them.

The victim is the intermediary, through whom communication between man and god is established, passing religious powers; it establishes a continuity between the sacred and the profane and unity among the participants.

f) The exit: this phase is going back to the profane. The ceremony must be dissolved slowly, without disturbance. The errors of the ceremony must be wiped up, so they won't threaten the normal life. All the remains of the offering are destroyed, the utensils are cleaned. Thus, the religious atmosphere is abandoned, descending from the world of gods to the world of men. The religious condition of both victim and sacrifier go through a curve rising progressively while entering into the sacred world, attaining its culmination at the moment of sacrifice of the victim, and descending while going back to the profane world. Thus, there is a continuous movement from entry to exit. Of course, among the elements and agents of the ceremony, is the victim that reaches [he highest

point of sacredness. ;

3.- The Schemes Varies According to the General Functions of the Sacrifice

The scheme described above changes according tothe end sought the function it is to fulfill; the parts are arranged in different order and proportions. Same may assume greater importance while others may be lacking. The scheme varies according to the religious state of the sacrifier.

a) Ordination or initiation sacrifices: the sacrifier is not invested with any sacred character before the ceremony. The goal of the sacrifice is to impart this character to him. Thus, the ceremonies of introduction to the sacred world are the. most salient. The sacrifiej must retain his sacred character when he returns to the profane; the exit practices almost disappear.

b) Sacralization sacrifices: the most essential part is when the spirit of the victim has departure, when the communion of food is practiced.

c) Desacralization sacrifices: the sacred character is passed from the sacrifier to the victim. For example, when the nozir (Jew tradition), who is a pure being, finishes his periods of consecration to Yahweh (keeping away from all stain), he performs a desacralization sacrifice, freeing himself from the consecration.

d) Curative and expiatory sacrifices: performed to get rid of sickness, impurity, death or sin, which are consider identical from the religious view point; all caused by faults in observing the religious rules. The sacred character (sin, iinpurity)is transmitted from the sacrifier to the victim, and in this way, he gets rid of it. It is before and not after the immolation that contact between the both takes place. Here, the rites of exit are emphasized. These are only a variety of

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desacralization sacrifices, which is independent of the favorable or unfavorable character of the religious state of the sacrifier (purity or impurity). What is pure and what is impure are not mutually exclusive opposites; they are two aspects of religious reality.

The scheme of the sacrifice also varies when it is performed on behalf of the sacrifier himself or on behalf of a thing. For the personal sacrifices, the sacrifier is the beginning and the end of the sacrifice. If the sacrifice is the fulfillment of a promise, the sacrifier must be released from the religious bond, so the ceremony takes aspects of expiation. If the sacrifice is sought to bind a

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contract with the god, no portion of the victim is set aside for the sacrifier. For the objective

sacrifices, the rites of entry and exit become rudimentary, while the consecration is the most important part. The particular nature of the object modifies the ceremony; a building, a house, a land. In all situations, the characteristics of the victim depend on the nature of the of the end desired, since it is the vehicle to communicate with the gods.

About the agrarian rites: Sacrifices such as the agrarian ones, look for more than one effect. For example, to allow men to work the land by lifting the prohibition that protect it (desacralization), and also to make the cultivated land fertile (sacralization). Thus, we can see the fusion of two ceremonies in one. The periodical return of the agrarian sacrifice assured the continuity of. natural life. Sacrifice contain in itself the condition of its recurrence.

4.- The Sacrifice of the God

The singular value if the victim appears clearlv.jn one of the most perfect forms of the historical evolution of the sacrificial system: the sacrifice of the god, a divine personage. According to Mauss, the agrarian sacrifice is the point of departure of this evolution that ends in the sacrifices of the god; The first stage is when the victim is essentially agrarian representing, for example, when the first fruits of the crops represent the spirit of life of the field. In the second stage, to some extent the victim loses a part of its agrarian nature: For example, the agrarian product is replaced by an animal, a goat that becomes the harvest goat. The last stage is when the part of the victim is assumed by a man; the spiri~ becomes a moral person who has a name, who begins to have existence in a legend apart from festivals and sacrifices. Thus, the spirit of life of the filed becomes exterior to it and its individualized.

The sacrifice of the god is the rebirth of the victim; the victim is invested with the highest degree of sanctity. In the sacrifice, the is a indissoluble association between a species of creatures and a supernatural power, which is fruit of the recurrence of the ceremonies. Thus, the creation of the divinity is the work of previous sacrifice. For example, in Christianity, the figure of the Paschal Lamb, the customary victim of agrarian or pastoral sacrifices, has persisted until today to designate Christ; sacrifice has furnished the elements of divine symbolism.

Myth: the creation of myths is part of the elaboration of the sacrifice of god. A status and a history, and a more eontinuous life is given to a prior passive personality, born from regular occurrence of sacrifices. Thus, sacrifice is the origin of the myth and is expresses in the central episode of the legend; the mythical death of the god recalls the ritual sacrifice which is wrapped up in a legend.

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Here we find an identity of victim and god. The sacrifice is periodically repeated because the rhythm of nature demands this recurrence. Then, the myth shows the god emerging alive from the test of death afresh; he must undergo uninterrupted chain of death and resurrection. The primitive purpose of sacrifice is relegated to the background (no longer agrarian nor pastoral). The sacrifice

. appears to be a repetition and a commemoration of the original sacrifice of god. thus, the myth guarantees its perpetuation. Here we have two different notions: sacrifice to the god and sacrifice of the god.

lmplications'for a theory of sacrifice: the victim is the food of the gods and sacrifice becomes the very condition of the divine existence. Through sacrifice, gods are born and their existence is sustained. Another idea is that the sacrificial myth gives shape to religious cosmogony (understanding of the universe), by relating the origin of the world to the sacrifice of the god.

5.- Conclusion

There is unity in sacrificial system not because it comes from one primitive form. The basic elements of sacrifice are sacralization and desacralization; in all sacrifices both aspects are interdependent, thus, becoming very complex phenomenon. From the diversity of functions and ends, arise various procedures.Uhe unity of sacrifice comes from the fact that beneath the diversity of forms, it always consist in the same procedure, used for very different purposes: this procedure consist in establishing a means of communication between the sacred and the profane world through the mediation of a victim, that is, of a thing that that in the course of the ceremony is destroye[jThe victim not necessarily comes to the sacrifice with a religious nature (Smith believed that victim was always sacred because it was the totem) but is the sacrifice itself that confers it. Sacrifice can impart the victim the most varied powers; is suitable for fulfilling different purposes.

Ghe profane must enter in relationship with the sacred since it sees in it the source of lif~ This communication is always done through an intermediary since the religious forces are fearful! for man, are so intense that can destroy the profane world. Thus, the victim takes the place of the sa~rifier; the gods take it instead of him (the victim redeems him). In the victim, the two worlds can interpenetrate yet remain distinct. In the case of the sacrifice of the god, no intermediary is required; the god is the sacrifier and the victim. But this identity is only possible in the realm of the myth, which is ideal.

Sacrifice involves an act of abnegation; he must deprive himself, and give as a duty imposed over him. But the gives in order to receive, so can also be seen as a form of contract. The fact that the gods need profane world (their food comes from it) is an inherent ambiguity in the nature of sacrifice.

@acrifice ritual can be seen as illusions but, according to Mauss, the constitute reality since religious ideas exist because they are believed; they exist objectively, as social facts. The sacred things, in relation to which sacrifice functions, are social things. Sacrifice has a social function since it is concerned with social matters,fulfills social needs. There lsa personal renunciation oftheir property by individuals or groups that nourishes social forces. Sacrifice, through the inherent act of

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abnegation, recalls to the consciousness of the individual, the presence of the collectivity. Sacrificial ceremonies renew periodically for the community, represented by its gods, the good, strong grave and terrible character of society. Through sacrifice, they confer the whole strength of society upon themselves, the each other, and the things which are dear to them. They invest with the authority of society their vows and oaths. Furthermore, through sacrifice, they surround with protective sanctity their fields and houses, and also readdress the equilibrium that has been upset. Thus, sacrifice

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fulf}lIs its social functions for both individual and communitD

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