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You are here: Experts > Religion/Spirituality > Pagan/Wiccan Religion > Pagan/Wiccan Religion > animal sacrifice
Expert: Jason - 11/10/2009
Question
What is the purpose of animal sacrifice? Is there some way in which the pain and fear of the animal provide energy which non-physical entities feed on? In other words of what benefit is it to the being that is sacrificed to? Try as I might I can't find the answer on the Web. Thank you in advance for your answer.
Answer
Dear Brian,
Hello and thank you for contacting me. Animal sacrifice is an extremely controversial subject people feel very strongly about. It really isn't done in the Pagan community but it is still a very big part of various African diasporic traditions. First of all, most of the clergy of these religions are actually trained to kill the animals with as little pain as possible. Also usually the animals are eaten at a later part of the ceremony as part of a communal meal. In fact your average Vodou sacrifice probably suffered a lot less than that burger I had at the fast food restaurant. Much of what goes on is grossly exaggerated by the media. Now then, with that out of the way let me actually start answering your question, lol! You see the spirits that are served in Vodou, Santeria, Lucumi, and so on, are not gods. They believe in a singular all powerful creator deity. The view is that this all powerful God is far too big for us to understand and he frankly has better things to do. The spirits are closer to humanity so it it believed that they will be more likely help you. A good analogy might be asking God for help is like asking the president to help you with your streetlight issue. Sure you may get a response but you are far more likely to get you streetlight fixed if you contacted your local government agencies. Now the spirits are very powerful beings that are much greater than us but they are not all powerful. When animals and other offerings are given to these spirits they are thought to feed on the spiritual energy off of them, much in the same way that we need to eat to be strong enough to do our tasks. Also it is to gain the favor of the spirits that you are trying to call. The spirits don't exist for us nor do they have to help us. It never hurts to curry their favor. So I hope that this helps and good luck on your spiritual search.
---Jason
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