Eastern Europe
The Cruelty of Beauty
“They warm them to extreme heat, then undress, and after anointing themselves with an acid liquid, they take young branches and lash their bodies.” […]
Ritual
Orient
To Answer Before Osiris
“I have not dammed a flowing stream,
I have not quenched a needed fire.
I have not neglected the days of meat offerings,
I have not detained cattle belonging to the god,
I have not stopped a god in his procession.
I am pure, I am pure, I am pure, I am pure!” […]
Human Affairs
Ritual for Infanticide
“Using the light they had brought with them, they lit two candies, each an inch long, one on each side of the child’s head and fixed them in -the trunk above it. Then they withdrew until the candles had burnt out.” […]
Supernatural
Speaker with the Dead
“Next Thrandur instructed a blazing fire be made in the fire-house, and he had four metal grates placed in a square, and Thrandur himself scored nine furrows in the earthen floor, making nine concentric circles around the square, and he sat down on a stool between the fire and the grated pen. He asked his men not to speak to him, and they stood silently by.” […]
History
Ritualized Affection
“Still on his knees, the Cid kissed the King’s hands, and then, rising to his feet, he kissed him on the mouth. The whole assembly rejoiced at this.” […]
History
How to Sacrifice a Cow, Scythian Style
“he bones burn beautifully; and the paunch easily contains all the flesh when it is stripped from the bones, so that by this plan your ox is made to boil himself, and other victims also to do the like.” […]
Eastern Europe
The Old Gods and the New
“Messengers thus came and said to the father, “Since the lot has fallen upon your son, the gods have claimed him as their own. Let us therefore make sacrifice to the gods.”” […]
Supernatural
The Death of Odin
“Othin was burned after his death, and this burning on the pyre of his body took place with great splendor.” […]
Human Affairs
A Dead Man With a Message
“he way in which the emissary was dispatched was as follow: certain of them held a number of sharp spears pointing upwards, and others, seizing the hands and feet of the man who was fated to be sent, threw him on top of them.” […]
Humor
A Bedroom Blessing
“Before you turn to messing /
With my body and cunt, a blessing /
You must pronounce and make as well /
The sign of the cross, for I tell” […]