A #camel reacts before being #sacrificed in honor of those who died during the revolution overthrowing Moammar #Gaddafi, during a gathering at the main square in #Tripoli, #Libya on Sept. 29, 2011.

#Animal sacrifice is older than #history. #Human #beings have #slaughtered #birds and #livestock throughout the ages in attempt to propitiate the #gods—to alter fate, to enhance fortune, to pay for sins.

One of the great hymns of the #Rigveda is that of the #Horse #Sacrifice, which only a king can perform. The rituals continue to this day, as the photographs in this collection show: in the #Muslim and #Hindu worlds, as well as in #Judaism.

The #first #murder related in the #bible stems from jealousy over sacrifice. #Cain’s sacrifice of vegetables did not please God as much as his brother’s sacrifice of animals—and so Cain slew #Abel.

Of the #world’s great #faiths, #only #Buddhism and #Daoism #eschew #rituals of animal sacrifice, indeed, the taking of any life. Indeed, according to legend, one of the #Buddha’s previous #incarnations gave up his #life to #feed a #hungry #tiger.

The various #Christian #sects and denominations very #rarely #perform animal #sacrifices.

But the very Catholic societies of #Spain and #Latin-America still hold #bullfights, which are descended from pagan animal sacrifices. And, of course, at the heart of #Christianity is a #sacrament that is essentially a human sacrifice.

https://time.com/3781731/the-blood-of-bird-and-beast-the-persistence-of-animal-sacrifice/