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Dr. Sasha Chaitow's avatar

We cannot judge the past by modern mores. There were no supermarkets to purchase neatly packaged fillets; life was short, harsh, and brutal, and humans not exempt from natural disasters. Unpleasant as it may seem to modern sensibilities, we need to step into that world to truly understand the whys and wherefores. The conceptual frameworks of the deities and the practices associated with them are ultimately human and derive from the realities of life in that context. There are regions of Greece in which ritual animal sacrifice persists - to the new religion - but the practices remain the same. Yes, the animal is slaughtered fairly humanely first, but it reflects the power of the symbolism as it has persisted through time, and the conceptual framework that makes it acceptable.

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Karen Tate's avatar

BRAVA!! I so envy you both sharing this incredible experience. You've helped me conjure the old feeling of standing in Her sacred sites with that thin veil of remembering....

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