Cannibalism

Human sacrifice and cannibalism have appeared in many forms throughout the course of history. From elaborate rituals to satisfy bloodthirsty gods to simply sealing children into the foundations of buildings to protect the structures from the elements, the various forms of sacrifice share only one common characteristic Ð'- death. Though uncommon today, it is still practiced in some remote parts of Asia. Prior to the twentieth century, cannibalism was fairly common among certain Australian tribes; however, they did not make human sacrifices, but only ate those who died in battle or of old age.

In Asia, human sacrifices are made to the Ð''mother' goddess Kali. She was, according to Hindu mythology, a violent slayer of evil with an unquenchable thirst for blood. In the nineteenth century, a child was killed every day at the Kali temple in Calcutta. The reason for these sacrifices was the idea that Kali would send riches to the poor, children to the childless, and revenge to the oppressed, if they provided her with blood. For instance, if a couple had one child, but wanted many more, they might sacrifice the first child to Kali, and she would send more to replace him. In order to have Kali send as much blessing as she possibly could, it was necessary to have a willing victim who knew what was going to happen and would not hinder it in any way. This practice and others, such as burning a widow in the cremation fires of her dead husband, were put to an end by Christian governors while India was under British rule.

Today, because of laws prohibiting the sacrifice of humans, the number of human sacrifices in Asia is unknown, but is still reported almost monthly. Substitutes, including pumpkins, human images made of flour, and various animals, are sacrificed more frequently. The reasons for these sacrifices, whether human or otherwise, are similar to those two hundred years ago Ð'- they are made for the sake of riches, marriages, or power.

In Australia, cannibalism was mostly practiced to gain the powers of the particular person who was being eaten. Some tribes ate their enemies only, some their own people, and some both. When tribes ate their enemies, they only ate certain body parts, such as the brain, heart, legs, sweat, and/or tongue. The brain was eaten for knowledge, the heart for courage and power, the legs were only eaten in the case of swift runners, for speed, and the sweat and tongue were consumed for bravery. When tribes ate their own people, family members would eat small portions of fat from their dead relative as a sign of respect. Only people of worth were eaten. People who died of disease or were very elderly were not eaten in some tribes. In some cases, infants were killed and eaten because of food shortages. A family with two children might kill the younger and feed its muscles to the elder to make him stronger. The reason for nearly all of the cannibalism was similar to this: if a man ate another man, he would gain the virtues which the dead man had had; in particular, those thought to originate in the part eaten. There seems to be little, if any, evidence of cannibalism in Australia today.

Human sacrifice in Europe was mainly performed to protect buildings from weather, war, or the devil. The victims were usually illegitimate children bought from their mother for the purpose. These children were sealed into compartments in the walls or foundations of buildings or cities. Supposedly, the spirit of the dead child would protect the building. In other places, a virgin was sacrificed annually to a nearby lake so that it would not flood the city. Apparently there was another city where a virgin was interred in the wall each year to keep the lake from swallowing the city.

The Aztecs were perhaps the most famous for taking human captives for sacrifice to their gods and then eating the corpse. It was this that so appalled the Christians traveling with Cortez and gave them the confidence that God's justice was being carried out through the small pox that wiped out that civilization.

The religion of Moctezuma and his Aztecs believed that the gods were fearful, bloodthirsty beings that were to be appeased with human sacrifices. The greatest honor that a warrior could have was to die in battle or to volunteer himself as a sacrifice to the