Sacrifice, Blood Magic, and the other stuff we pretend we don’t do

Following on from my last Editorial, in which I ranted about how we’re so obsessed with being socially acceptable that we loose so much of our religion’s vivacity, I have decided that in all our attempts to be politically and socially correct and to gain a social standing in the inter-faith dialogue that is the modern religious world, we have lost all the stuff that makes our practices good.

And yes, I’m talking the dark stuff. The real stuff. The stuff that hammer horror got right… I’m talking about sacrifices, blood magic, cursing, the use of hallucinogens, and sex magic…

You see, there’s a definite scale to Neo-Pagan practice. At one end you’ve got all the stuff we do in public: which usually involves writing some wish on a piece of paper and burying it; or dancing happily at the Summer Solstice; or wishing blessings upon everybody we meet. And on the other end you’ve got the stuff we vehemently deny any knowledge of... Yet we still practice it. Well, some of us do. But we can’t have the non-Pagans knowing about the darker stuff we do, right? Their opinion of us matters too much, true?

Not true. Every other religion in the Western world is open about its practices, even the ones society sees as a little bit weird. Christians in certain churches routinely speak in tongues and have visions granted to them by the Holy Spirit; Orthodox Jewish men have that funky hairstyle and hat; orthodox Muslims get on their knees facing Mecca five times a day, no matter where they are; Jains sweep the path ahead of them just in case they step on creepy crawlies… These religions go about their practices unashamedly. Yet we do not. What we do is not illegal; we’re also not the first religion to do it. It just seems that we fear the Western world does not approve of these practices.

So, what practices am I talking about? I understand that not every Pagan engages in these practices, but a considerable number do, and many of them date back to ancient paganism as well. Sacrifice is the first one. First of all, you need a black goat…

No, seriously. Sacrifice isn’t all about killing animals and drinking their blood. If you want to do that I may recommend black pudding from your nearest Tesco’s. Sacrifice, instead, is about giving something in a sacred manner to your Gods or your community. In fact, the term itself comes from the Latin meaning “to make sacred.” A sacrifice can be food offerings, – often a big part of Vodou and Santeria – offerings of energy, – usually found in the practice of raising energy used so often in Wiccan ritual – offerings of intent, time, or items of value. We offer to our Gods our old selves so that they may be renewed. Upon death we offer our spirits and bodies to our Gods. In fact, we sacrifice every day – it’s just not always a virgin tied to a rock being sliced open with a very sharp blade.

However, in some living Pagan traditions animal sacrifice is performed. Anybody balking at this now had better continue reading before judging to harshly though: in these living Pagan traditions the community is often quite poor, and the animals that are killed by the priests and priestesses are then cooked and given to the community. It’s just like buying in Tesco’s for people who don’t have a Tesco’s. Here in the UK, we have the convenience of going out and buying cleanly packaged chicken to offer to our Gods if we so choose, but in these countries they don’t. And you don’t see them apologizing to the wider society for the practice – yet we can’t even use the word “sacrifice” without getting our pentacles in a twist! And so we pretend that we don’t do it at all.

And then we come onto the notion of blood magic, cursing, sex magic, and drugs… Here’s an important message for all those who think that such practices are abhorrent and completely against “Pagan ethics” (whatever the hell they are…): Pagans do all these things. You yourself may not, but some of us do. And just because it’s not all dancing through faerie glens and crystal healing doesn’t mean it’s not as valid a part of Paganism as the stuff even $ilver Ravenwolf herself would condone as “healthy Pagan practice”. Yes, some of us give our blood to our Gods. We cover our runes it it, bury it in the earth, work magic with it… And more of us that would probably care to admit have thrown hexes and curses from time to time. Some of us are writing a dissertation on it (and thereby have forfeited any possibility of receiving funding for future research!) and some of us (gasp! Shock horror!) have, or do, take drugs to enhance the spiritual experience.

Now, I don’t personally practice or enjoy all the stuff listed above. But that doesn’t mean I should deny the existence of such practices! It doesn’t mean that I should view those who do practice it as “bad Pagans” or “evil”. And given the number of Pagans that do have these practices as part of their everyday spirituality, it is a damnable shame to sell them short by telling everybody that Pagans wouldn’t engage in such “lewd” and “dark” practices…

The biggest problem though is when we, as a Pagan community, believe our own lies. When we reassure the non-Pagan public that we are acceptable in their eyes because we don’t do all that weird stuff… We say it so often we start to think it is truth. And then we find somebody who – like the Christians, Muslims, and Jews of our society – unashamedly practices their Pagan religion and doesn’t water it (or themselves) down to make themselves PG-rated and suitable for human consumption. We stare at this evil and perverse creature who is obviously dragging the good name of Paganism through the mud with their obscene use of blood or drugs or the word “sacrifice” and we wonder how they can do such things! (“You practice Vodou? How?! You’re Pagan aren’t you? Doesn’t that mean you can’t do such evil things?” “Oh, you can’t be serious about cursing somebody. That’s just not very nice…”)

People, people. We’re Pagans. We’re supposed to pride ourselves in thinking outside the box and accepting all viewpoints and alternative spiritualities. What’s most important is that we pride ourselves on being well-informed about the paths we walk and those we choose not to walk. So many of us can spout hundreds of scriptural passages from the Bible or Koran, yet we demonstrate a disgusting lack of knowledge about our fellow Pagans!

Ah dammit. I guess in the end we’re all human, and since I highly doubt there’s any religion out there that doesn’t have some sort of in-fighting or ignorance, I also highly doubt the Pagan community will ever live up to it’s ideals of knowledge and tolerance. As such, I’m off to give some rather nice beef as a SACRIFICE to my Gods, BLOOD my runes, show the bastard who’s just threatened my nearest and dearest exactly what Graveyard Dirt can do placed on a doorstep, and have lots of SEX under the pretence that I’m doing magic. So there.

Have a great Summer all! Here’s wishing you much fire, passion, sex, and growth in the heat of the Sun!

Blessings,

Kim Huggens
Editor, Offerings 2004-2007
President, CUPS, 2003-2005, 2006-2007