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Questions tagged [sacrifice]

For sacrificial rituals or processes in mythology, or any other processes in which a character undergoes an ordeal.

Sacrifices are rituals or processes in which a character undergoes an ordeal. This traumatic experience is significant in modeling the mythos of the character or key on a certain story of a mythos.

It can also depict sacrificial rituals made to gods of a pantheon in order to gain favors from them.

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Is Odin the only being who gained knowledge of the runes?

In order to learn the secrets of the runes (symbols of some of the most powerful forces in the cosmos), Odin hangs himself from Yggdrasil, pierces himself with his own spear, and peers downward to the Well of Urn for nine days. He fasts during this…
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Why would slaves be sacrificed after their master's death?

Sacrifice is a common practice in the Norse pagan religion. Sacrifice (blót) played a huge role in most of the rituals that are known about today, and communal feasting on the meat of sacrificed animals, [...] The purpose of these sacrifices was to…
anon
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Was Hermes originally mortal?

In Greek mythology the story of the birth of the god Hermes makes it sound as if he was originally mortal and that he somehow managed to bribe his way into becoming the twelfth [i.e. the last] of the Twelve Olympians, after appeasing his…
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Any examples of dying and resurrecting gods that exist only in heaven, not earth?

In recent years proponents of the Christ-myth theory (e.g., Earl Doherty in his writings) have begun to argue that St. Paul in his epistles was setting forth the view that Christ was wholly divine and operated entirely in heaven, including his being…
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What myth explains animal sacrifices to the Olympian gods?

I seem to remember a particular ancient Greek myth that used to explain how animal sacrifices to the Olympian gods were performed. In particular, when poultry or mammals was sacrificed, the humans would keep the meat of the animal to them, and burn…
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What kind of offerings did worshipers make to Thor?

I'm currently playing a role-playing game as a cleric that worships a god of storms and I'm researching what kinds of offerings that god would likely accept. What examples are there of the kinds of offerings that were made to Thor?
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Why do sacrificial victims break flutes on the steps of a temple before their death?

Sahagún's Codex Florentine includes an account of people sacrificed for Tezcatlipoca (an Aztec god): For him who was thus, who had no flaw, who had no bodily defects, who had no blemish, who had no mark, who had no warts, no small tumor; the…
user62
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Is there a specific term in Norse mythology for Odin's self-sacrifice?

Norse mythology knows some terms for quite complex concepts, such as "Ragnarök". Is there a term for Odin's nine-day self-sacrifice?
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Why did the gods demand Iphigenia's sacrifice?

In the Greek drama (?) Iphigenia, in order to be able to go on a war against Troy, the Greeks need wind, and for the wind, they need to sacrifice Agamemnon's daughter (the gods demand it). Menelaus wants him to JUST DO IT!, he's like: "Okay…
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What did the Mayans hope to accomplish from ritual sacrifice?

There are many descriptions of Mayan religious practices involving human sacrifice. For example, the Wikipedia has a long article on bloodletting and human sacrifice by the Mayans. However, these treatments do not clearly explain the purported…
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Why did Odysseus not sacrifice poultry?

In Homer's Odyssey, Odysseus is rich: he owns cattle, swine, sheep, goats. Kirkē asks Odysseus to sacrifice cattle and sheep, and to do libation with milk, honey, wine, flour; Teiresias asks Odysseus to sacrifice cattle and sheep and swine (in the…
Matt Cloudy-grid
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What was the Aztec religion's view of virginity?

This is a follow-up question to: "Why did druidesses vow perpetual virginity?" What was the Aztec religion's view of virginity? Did they, like the Romans with their vestal virgins, view virginity as a sort of stored-up power upon which their…
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Why thank the person who is cutting out your heart?

So, my grandfather got back from vacation yesterday. As we were looking through his pictures today and explaining them to me (what's he doing/going on...), we came to the part with the Aztec Pyramids. He talked a little about what he learn, such as:…
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Which ancient cults would cut out the hearts of live animals and offer them as sacrifices?

Which ancient cults would cut out the hearts of live animals and offer them as sacrifices? The Mishnah (Avodah Zarah 2:3) mentions a concept called עורות לבובין which Maimonides and other commentators explain refers to the pagan practice of making…
Reb Chaim HaQoton
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Did a pagan cult remove the gallbladder of animals before sacrificing them?

Rabbi Gedaliah ibn Yachya in his work Shalshelet ha-Kabbalah (Jerusalem, 1962), p. 223 alleges that when sacrificing animals, some pagans would remove the gallbladder (מרה, marah) from the animal in order to symbolize that they request sweet things…
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