SH Comments
Reged: Feb 16 2004
Posts: 1056
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This thread is for comments about The Logic of Sacrifice, by Marie Brennan.
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Anonymous
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What a great article. Certainly the fantasy genre has yet to tap such potential in something so enigmatic as the necessity for human/blood sacrifice. A great historical epic that might help further understanding is "Aztec" by Gary Jennings.
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Anonymous
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Thanks for an excellent article on the anthropology of human sacrifice; the comparison to Christian Eucharist is apt here. I have just one comment on Ms. Brennan's conclusion:
"The image of life coming from death is a powerful one, but fundamentally it still depends on the blood, pain, and death of human beings and animals. A world which depends on these things for its continued functioning, or for the stability of its political institutions, is a dark and harsh one."
A world which depends on life coming from death need not be dark nor harsh; for those who see life as cyclical, it's just the way the universe works. All life forms on Earth grow, reproduce, then die to make way for their descendants, and their decomposing bodies provide raw material for more life. Religions like Wicca and Hinduism celebrate this process in the Spiral Dance and the Wheel of Rebirth. And virtually all religions advocate sacrifice in some form, though most eschew blood these days! It would be interesting to imagine a created world in which ritual human sacrifice is portrayed as noble and heroic.
K Stoddard Hayes
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Anonymous
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I don't have to _imagine_ a "world where ritual human sacrifice is portrayed as noble and heroic," unfortunately.
I only have to look at any country's war-time propaganda, or religious doctrine. Followers of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam praise the faith of Abraham, because he was willing to kill his own son when the voices told him to.
I will, however, imagine a world without patriotism or superstition, wars or religion.
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Anonymous
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Thanks for the comment!
Your point is a good one; I thought about trying to discuss in more detail that kind of thing, and the sacrifice of people's lives in war, and similar issues, but it just didn't seem to fit into the shape of this article. It's true that life has to come from death, but also true that Mesoamerican human sacrifice also tended to involve a lot of pain, which is what I meant by it being dark and harsh -- it can get pretty sadistic.
But yes, death and even pain can be valorized; Marella Sands' two Mesoamerican novels did a great job of that. Unfortunately, I think many readers have a hard time empathizing with a viewpoint that says, this is a good thing. Which doesn't mean authors shouldn't try it; it's just a challenge to handle well.
--Marie Brennan
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Anonymous
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Oooh, new references! I'm always on the lookout for more writing that tackles this area. Thanks!
--Marie Brennan
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Anonymous
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I can't believe the amount of ignorance in the author of this post. Of course the author has no knowledge of the workings of mesoamerican society and is far too arrogant to even mind such a small detail when slandering a whole culture. Before you go about writing about cultures you know nothing about, start with your own culture, the inquisition or the witch hunts.
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Anonymous
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Hi,
Believe me or not, Spanish conquerors were so shocked with Aztec's human sacrifices they called them the "worship of satan". They considered those practices brutish.
However, to be fair with the Aztecs (a superb civilization), we should know that many ancient cultures practised human sacrifices as well, like the peoples of Palestine, Carthago, China and the German tribes of Northern Europe. Others, like Romans, killed people for fun in the Circus. And even Modern Europeans practised witchcraft-burning in public or enjoyed cutting the throats of rich people in the guillotine.
I wonder if today the executions of criminals, the deaths in risky sports, and even abortion, could be considered human sacrifices to the godness of Justice, the godness of fun, and the godness of freedom, respectively.
Perhaps people of the future will judge us as well.
Regards,
Omar Vega
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