SACRIFICE, the ritual destruction of an object, or, more commonly, the slaughter of a victim by effusion of blood, suffo cation, fire or other means (from Lat. sacrificium; sacer, holy and facere, to make). While the Hebrew for sacrifice, makes the killing of the victim the central feature, the Latin word brings out sacralization (see TABoo) as an essential element in many cases. The sacrifice of desacralization is also found; hence MM. Hubert and Mauss describe a sacrifice as "a religious act, which, by the consecration of a victim, modifies the moral state of the sacrificer or of certain material objects which he has in view," i.e., it either confers sanctity or removes it and its analogue, impurity. It is, in fact, "a procedure whereby com munication is established between the sacred and profane spheres by a victim, that is to say by an object destroyed in the course of the ceremony." Principles of Classification.—It is possible to classify sacri fices according to (a) the occasion of the rite, (b) the end to be achieved, (c) the material object to be effected or (d) the form of the rite. (a) The division into periodical and occasional is important in Hindu and other higher religions; the former class is obligatory, the latter facultative. In less developed creeds the difference tends to remain in the background; but where sacri fices are found, solemn annual rites, communal, purificatory or expiatory, are celebrated, and are obligatory. (b) The end to be achieved is, sometimes sacralization, sometimes desacralization. In the former case the sacrificer 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 sacri ficer 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 (1.) subjective or personal, where the sacrificer himself gains or loses sanctity or impurity; (ii.) objective, where the current of mana (see TABU) is directed upon some other person or object, and only a second ary effect is produced on the sacrificer himself.
Sacralization and desacralization, sometimes performed by means of subsidiary sacrifices, were the essential elements of the preparation for sacrifice and the subsequent lustration. In de veloped forms, such as the offering of soma, they assumed a great importance; (I) 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 num berless taboos imposed for the purpose of maintaining his cere monial purity. In like manner (2) the officiant prepared himself for his task; but in his case the natural sanctity of the priest re lieved 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 there was no need of preparation of a place of sacrifice. (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 sacrificer and to which the victim was tied, and other minor details. (5) The victim might be naturally sacred or might have to undergo sancti fication. 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 with out blemish; (c) the age, colour or sex of the victim might differ according to the purpose of the sacrifice. It reached a degree of sanctity when only the priest might touch it. 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 pur pose. 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 vic tim ceased to breathe ; its spirit passed into the world of the gods. It remained to dispose of the corpse. After a rite intended to secure its perfect ceremonial purity, a part of the victim was removed, held over the fire and finally cast into it. The remain der, divided into portions, was cooked; a certain number of these portions 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 de sacralization. Finally the priest, the sacrificer, and his wife per formed a lustration and the ceremonies were at an end.
With present knowledge the problem of the original form of sacrifice, if there be a single primary form, is insoluble. It is impossible to give a general survey of the purposes of sacrifice; they are too numerous, and it is rare to find any but mixed forms.
(i.) The best example of the first class is the scapegoat, where a more concrete idea of expulsion of evil (see DEMONOLOGY, EXORCISM) 15 present among primitive peoples, such as the Aus tralians.
(ii.) As an example of the second class may be taken the sacri fice of the bull to Rudra, which exemplifies the concentration of holiness in a single animal as representative of its species (see