ritual sacrifices
Ceremonial deaths given
Ritual sacrifices are offerings—often of animals or food, sometimes historically of humans—made to gods, spirits, or supernatural forces as part of religious ceremony.
The act typically follows prescribed rites and serves purposes like appeasing deities, seeking favor, or marking sacred occasions: The temple conducted ritual sacrifices at each solstice.
The phrase also appears figuratively for anything given up in service of a larger goal or belief.
- altarSacred ritual table
- high priestChief temple officiant
- atonementCompensation for wrongdoing
- ceremonyFormal event marking occasions
- deityWorshipped supernatural being
morality · ancestor worship · festival · taboo · offering · sin offering · purification · immolation · redemption · social cohesion · libation · prayer · scapegoat · folklore · catharsis · devotion · power dynamics · firstfruits
- folk religionancestral worship, ancestor veneration, spirit mediums, nature deities, libations
- traditional religionancestors, ancestral spirits, deities, spirits, spirit possession
- Temple sacrificesburnt offering, sin offering, peace offering, drink offering, daily offering
- burial customsburial, burials, burial customs, tombs, grave offerings
ritual sacrificesdivine blessings
Favors granted by God
heavenly rewards · manna from heaven · miracles · grace · benedictions
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