Victim | Nature, origins, elements and religions (2024)

The nature of the victim

Conceptoffercomes from Latinoffer, which is a combination of the wordsholy, which means something separate fromsecularor profane for the use of supernatural powers, andDoing, which means 'to make'. The term has come into popular and often secular use to describe a speciesexemptionor giving up something valuable so that something more valuable may be obtained; For example, parents sacrifice for their children, someone sacrifices a limb for his country. But the original use of the term was particularly religious, referring to a cultic act of setting objects apart orinitiatedand sacrificed to a god or other supernatural power; therefore, sacrifice must be understood within a religious, sectclutch.

Religion is man's relationship to that which he considers sacred or holy. This relationship can be observed in several ways. althoughMoreelbehavior, correct belief and participation in religious institutions are often components of religious life, cult orloveis generally accepted as the most fundamental and universal element. Worship is man's response to his experience of holy power; it is a response in action, a giving of oneself, especially through dedication and servicetranscendentreality on which man feels dependent. Sacrifice and prayer – man's personal attempt to communicate in words or thoughts with transcendent reality – are the fundamental acts of worship.

In a sense, what is always offered as a sacrifice, in one form or another, is life itself. Sacrifice is a celebration of life, an acknowledgment of its divine and imperishable nature. In sacrifice, a victim's sacred life is released as a sacred power that establishes a bond between the victim and the sacred power. Sacrifice returns life to its divine source, restoring the power or life to that source; life is nourished by life. These are the words of the Roman victim to his god: 'Be greater (to make) through this sacrifice.” However, it is ultimately an increase in holy powerfavorableto the victim. In a sense it is a victimprogressand warranty formutualflow of the divine life force between its source and beingmanifestations.

Often the act of sacrifice involves the destruction of the victim, but this destruction – whether by burning, slaughter, or any other means – is not itself the sacrifice. The killing of an animal is the means by which its sacred life is "liberated" and thus made available to the deity, and the destruction of a food offering in athe altarfire is the means by which the deity receives the sacrifice. However, the sacrifice as such is the total act of sacrifice and not merely the method by which it is performed.

Although the basic meaning of sacrificial rituals is to create a necessary and effective relationship with the sacred power and to establish man and his world in the sacred order, the rituals have taken on a multitude of forms and purposes. However, the basic forms of sacrifice seem to be some form of offering or oblationsacramenteelmeal. Sacrifice as a gift can refer to a gift that is followed by a gift in return (due tointimaterelationship established through gift giving) or to a gift offered in tribute to a god without the expectation of anything in return. Sacrifice as the communal meal of the sacrament may involve the idea that the god participates in the meal or is identical to the food consumed; it can also include the idea of ​​a ritual meal at which both are presentprimordialevent in which creation is repeated or the sanctification of the world is symbolically renewed.