“Sacrificium facereen in religions and humankind”

Note: This article is not intended to make any direct reference nor to confront followers of other beliefs or dogmas. This is just my personal opinion and criterium from an instructional point of view. I am no one’s spokesperson.

‘Sacrificium facere’: the etymology of this phrase comprises its manifestation; its meaning is ‘to deliver’, ‘to make things sacred’ or ‘to honor something’. Religiously speaking, it means: ‘to get rid of something very valuable and give it to a divinity in exchange for a certain objective’. This has happened for thousands of years and in many different cultures. There are certain ceremonial moments in some religions such as the Yoruba ((Ebo or Ibo), the Celt’s religion, Islam (Aid al-Kebir), Judaism, Christianism (without blood), in which sacrifices are an inner and inevitable part of their practices in order to comply with the deities and thus eliminate evil, seek prosperity, approval or blessings in general.

I am not advocating for the sacrifice of animals, plants or things, but the liturgical traditions are inherent to each religion and play a fundamental role in them. Thus, I think that sacrifices are necessary.

‘Getting closer to God and doing good for humanity’

Eucharist is the sacrifice in Christianism because when Jesus, the Lamb of God as he is called by believers, sacrificed himself on the cross; this meant an end to animal sacrifice: ‘no more bloodshed’. Animal sacrifices only brought temporary redemption and according to his believers it was Jesus, the Messiah and savior who gave his own blood, the one who ended this. He made the perfect ‘sacrificium’ for the common good in order for humankind to receive indulgence for their sins then and in the future. From that moment on, everyone was free of sin, as were those to be born who would have to go to church to be baptized and later fortified by confirmation when they receive in Eucharist the food of eternal life. This is still true for them in our days, and those who do not do this are sinners.

The Yorubas say that ‘today is not tomorrow’, if today you are not doing well as an individual with a unique destiny, a sacrifice should be made to recuperate your spiritual balance. That is the way it should be. When speaking about making animal sacrifices, if necessary, some people do not see it as a flawless event; for them it is something controversial. There are others who in their homily demonize the Yoruba religion with spurious lies and stigmatize placing it in an artful demonic way as an example. Christian theologists disrespect the Yoruba religion for being polytheist. They even refer to Èsú, a very important Òrìsà in our religion, in an offensive manner; mainly to the figure of Èsú Álajé who is considered by them as a fetish representation of Lucifer. This only proves the fatuousness, foolishness and ignorance of some people who never mention other religions which make sacrifices their own way. These people’s criteria show a total lack of respect for the self determination of every religious practice whose ordinary and common aim is to get closer to God and do good for humankind.

I do not want to overlook the fact that in many occasions the animals are used as food in the ceremonies after being sacrificed.

For Christians, the so-called Good Friday is a specific day in which the Catholic Church, as penitence, orders its believers to fast and abstain from eating meat. This is a ‘NO’ to any bloodshed because Jesus already shed his blood in return. This day, they can eat other alternative options such as fish or seafood because these animals die from asphyxia; there is no bloodshed. It is as if the suffering of a fish at the moment of death is different from that of a lamb; as if there was no blood in the body of a fish. They only pay attention to the method used to kill this animal and serve it on the table; as if a fish was not an animal too. Then, can a lamb be eaten if it is drowned? I assume that the rest of the year, as it is normal for many, they eat some red meat but, how is it possible? Was not there any bloodshed when that animal was sacrificed? Since it is not Good Friday, it is correct to do this because there was someone who wrote in his commandments that it was permitted to eat meat the rest of the year. I think this is an anomaly. Does any of this make any sense?

“The reason behind a sacrifice of plants, animals or things in the graphic iconography as such is an essential and inherent part of every existing religion in order to maintain a link, connection or communication with the deity in exchange for protection or any other favor.”

But why killing innocent animals? Some people ask this question in a judging manner. We precisely believe that the animal takes the place of the person who performs the sacrifice and so this person is redeemed before Olódùmarè (God). In this process, there is a transmutation from the spirituality of the person towards the animal and when sacrificed, the ‘emi’ (breath of life) rises with the message from the person faithfully seeking God’s blessings and exoneration. This animal sacrifice will bring the benefit of temporary forgiveness, not permanent; as it is mentioned in the Old Testament. It will bring spiritual balance.

The examples below include some passages from the Old Testament in which sacrifice is mentioned:

Hebrews 9:22- According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Genesis 3:21- According to the interpretation of the Bible, God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife Eve and clothed them when they were found naked in the garden after eating the forbidden fruit. When Adam and Eve sinned, God killed the animals to provide the skin.

Genesis 4:4-5- And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor, it was fruits.

Genesis 8:20-21- Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma. Noah sacrificed animals to God.

When I read about the examples I mentioned before, I realized that there is no more rooted and loyal religion to these biblical statements of human existence, based on the criteria of our predecessors, than the Yoruba religion. Nowadays and without any abjuration, what was stated in the mythology by other cultures in their religious practices is still done in the Yoruba religion.

For the Yoruba religion followers, as well as for many others around the world, Jesus is not the Messiah. However, all criteria are highly respected and understood; we unconditionally accept in our practice all those who are novice, pagan or scholar. In addition, we do not engage in any proselytism even though the Yoruba religion has more years of existence than any other, approximately 10,000 years B.C. Ifá is for everyone, Ifá’s oracle comprises the destiny of everyone of us without distinction.

“Ifá’s oracle was given the recognition of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO in 2005”

The following lines include a breakdown of the sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament, but I have a question: what were the places in nature, where sacrifices were made, like?

1- God commanded the nation of Israel to perform numerous sacrifices according to certain procedures prescribed by God so that forgiveness and indulgence for their sins could be achieved.

Conditions:

-The animal had to be spotless.

-The person offering the sacrifice had to pray, touch, and identify with the animal.

-The person offering the animal had to inflict death upon it.

-The sacrifice had to be done in faith.

Leviticus 16: For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be cleaned before Jehovah from all your sins. …day of rest for all of you, and affliction…

The high priest used two male goats, like those offered to Esu as messenger of Olódùmarè (God) so that Olódùmarè would bless the destiny of the person doing the sacrifice, or for whom the sacrifice is done, and eliminate evil. (Ajoguns mean sins.)

Leviticus 16:15: Then the high priest shall kill one of the goats, while the other was released (it happens in our cult)

Leviticus 16:20-22: The sin offering provided forgiveness, while the other goat provided the removal of sin, absolution. I mean and it is my interpretation as Priest, that one goat goes with the message to request forgiveness while the other expresses gratitude for being pardoned.

The same way they did that back then according to the Scriptures, this still prevails in the Yoruba religion as a sine qua non condition to achieve the same objectives. Likewise, a sacrifice should NOT be deliberately performed because it would be a fundamental error with harmful effects for whoever does it, either person or people, as it would be in a generalized conflict with the ecosystem causing a spiritual unbalance. I make emphasis on this because it happens many times and Ifá is the only one who can authorize, and provide a destiny, to any element included in the sacrifice, being animal, plant, or a thing.

What sin did Jesus’ commit and why did he sacrifice himself for all people?

Wasn’t Jesus as innocent as all the animals, but with that mission or destiny? Isn’t it possible that the Rooster, for example, could have the same mission?

You should know that we are preceded by the animal, for a Yorùbá the riddle of the hen or the egg is easy to solve.

2- Corinthians 5:21: NAB: He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. NIV: God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

Hebrew 9:22: “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” This is what the Scriptures say, no further comments. It is a total transformation process.

In the ancient cultures like the Yoruba, the Celtic, etc., the arrival of Christianism and its institutionalized power from Rome meant that the other religions in many regions had to resort to syncretism in order to venerate their gods and thus the world started replacing and transforming their beliefs. I think this was absolute wisdom from our ancestors to be able to survive due to the lack of freedom in those times.

In some way, Christianism was imposed to humanity and currently, in contemporary societies, it is the way to be in harmony with the other tendencies. It has to do with the gregarious spirit of our animal nature. If you are a practicing Christian, you will be well accepted in any of its branches, others no; it is like other religions would not take you to the same end: to get closer to the Creator. Practicing Christianism gives a “socially different status”, like it had a value of its own; i.e., if someone is Christian people usually say that this person is good and goes to church like a virtue. Now, if you practice any other religion, why can’t you have a positive description?

I have to say that I do not know the Bible, nor have I studied it as a historical document because it does not appeal to me; I prefer Nietzsche, Plato, Descartes, Kant, Popola, Wande, Oloye Fama, Elebuibon, etc. I think that Christianism is something created which brought a philosophical and definite change from its irruption due to the particular moment lived in ancient Rome and Greece. It was a definitive and historical event which paved the way for a new stage in the world order. Evidently, it had a resounding effect in global policy, but everything was planned from Rome; in the patristic literature you can find elements about these facts. In the Council of Nicaea, the development of Christianism was established, even including the images that had to be worshipped.

Did you know that the Messiah was Jewish and not a European white man like the image worshipped nowadays? That image, picture or sculpture which is popular in any church was part of the plan. It was the pictorial image of Cesare Borgia who Da Vinci used to create this false image of a white Jesus. If you can believe that this image was created, why not everything around it?

Most people in the world are Christian in a way or another, they practice any of its several variants. For many people this is what it is “right” and that is it; but even practicing it they go against everything they should be as Christians and they dare to judge. Thus, at that time and nowadays, either you join the group of Christians in one of the many churches they have, or you are a Mouro or an atheist; you are not well accepted.

Note: do not forget that the Yorùbá religion and culture already existed when this process started. Approximately 12,000 years B.C., the Yorubas already lived in Africa and even now their descendants are located in Nigeria, among other regions of the world where they have emigrated. There is a wide diaspora of followers around the world.

Note: in those places too, most of them are Muslim or Christian. There are many historical reasons which require deeper research and analysis. It is unbelievable what fatality or necessity can do in order to receive acceptance or approval from others who are different.

Nietzsche said "the morals have an esthetic criteria”, and it is so true!

Finally, I ask: who is in possession of the truth? Why do you have to judge? What religion still follows the essence reflected in the history of ancient societies and their beliefs?

The world is constantly changing and in an unfavorable trend. Pejoratively, there are those who perceive themselves as what they are not, and demand that this is right. Many truths from the past are fallacies nowadays and these fallacies could be the most severe truths of the future. The moral is: everything is conveniently adapted by those who rule the world.

As an epilogue to this article, the world is world since the first unicellular bacteria emerged and each person is responsible for filling their own destiny with sins or virtues, for obeying Olódùmarè (God) or whatever they do to worship Him. There is no one better than others, we are just the other in relation with your perception.

I have always said that if the Yoruba religion did not exist I would be a total agnostic.

Áwo Ifájàre Roberto V. III