, I Ii in was an obstacle in the waj of
confining religious rites within the wall- of temples,
and the pure original faith of Iran bad little need of
alt ir-.
I. Worship, in the narrow sense .it' the word, may include public an. I private prayers ami other liturgical
foundation. In ..r near the Greek temples, and mark- ing the division line between profane and sacred ground,
st l the vessel ef holy water (perirrhanterium), for
the uses of those who entered the pure interior. After this preparation came the offerings with prayers ami
praises. In some nations there was a time w hen these
offerings wen ly unbl ly,oral least the bloody of- ferings or sacrifices played a small part. The institu- tion- ef Niima sanctioned only such things as the fruits of the field, and the mola salsa, or broken grains of spelt mixed with salt. Not even incense was then used bj the simple Romans. The usages changed
iiii offerings unbloody or bloody, and their greatly in this particular at a later time, owing to the attendant lustrations or purgations. Some of these iutluence of the Greek settlements in Southern Italy, i ciallj such as symbolized certain mythological Among the Hindus horses and horned cattle were fre- -■ ret, but of these mysteries we have quent victims in the earlier times, hut afterwards he- no time to -peak. came less common. In the hooks of the Avesta little i. the natural voice of the being who realizes ,,r nothing is said of animal sacrifices, hut il is pre-
his dependence. might he informal in the family re- ligion of the pagan, or attended with formalities; it might need the presence ol a priest, especially on cer-
scribed that tor certain offences (as a tine or an atone- ment ? i a hundred smaller cattle ahould he offered up. But in Persian bistorVi whether in accordance with or
made of animal victims. Xerxeson bis march towards
Greece li .red the Trojan Athena by sacrificing a
tain important oca-ion.- of family life, or the head of m violation of the precepts ol the religion, mention is the household might acl as priest. In public religion a cle-- of priests took the Lad; it was felt that a cer- tain form "i word- had a peculiar efficacy, and from thousand cows. At the Strymon the Magi offered up this notion perhaps belief in incantations derived its birth. In some religions the liturgical tonus have 1 \ minute and elaborate. We have al-
i rreil to the religion of Iran a- an example of
hite horses, and at a spot in Thrace .ailed the Nine Roads nine hoys and nine girls from among the native inhabitants were buried alive. Strabo remarks that no pieces of the victim were given, as elsewhere, to the
this. The Avesta is chiefiy liturgical The lirst part gods, since they had need only of the animal's soul, of ih.- 1 lallei collection, the Vispered, Instead of victims, the great offering in the Indian re- consisl principally of praises, thanksgivings, and. invita- Ligion of the Vedic period was thai ol the Soma, an ac- tions addresse I to various -up irior beings to he present clepias or some other plant of the milk-weed tribe, the rings of the Haoma and at other celebrations, stalk of which was crushed between stones, and the The Jfeshts ..r Va-t-. a parr of the Khorda-Avesta narcotic- juice, mixed with hut ler. w a- left to ferment.
1 1 — r \\.-m , consist of prayers and praises addressed to particular objects ol veneration, as to Mithras,Ve- rethragna or Behraro, and the .-ouls of the good. In tin- early religion ■•! India the three tir-t V. da- are chiefly Liturgical. The Rig-Veda contains about a thousand hymns in ten books, the first seven of which consist ..f hymns addressed to Agni, the fire-god, to In. Ira. and others. In the ninth book are classed hymns
intended to he sung while the Soma offering is in prep- aration. The Sama-Yeda takes mosl of its materials from the Rig, and adapt- them to the purposes of
This mixture was supposed to n< .uri-h. strengthen, and even intoxicate the gods. The most absurd supersti- tions were connected with this sacred substance : it was originally in heaven, and came down with the rain to i lie earth; ii was something that a man might oiler to the higher -."'Is only, ami could feel that he had ren- dered a favor by it. and had a right to a return. Final- ly the Soma I. .came identified with the moon-god as the cause of fruitfulness. An offering called by a cor- responding name in Iran, the Haoma, and obtained from I he same or similar plants, played a great part in the
chanting, ["he Yajur-Veda consists of formulas proper services of the old religion of thai country. Similar
mpany the various actions of religious worship, notions that the divine powers partook of and enjoyed
■ a time wh.u the worship had become sacrifices which were offered to them may he found
ci i ih.- importance of the priesl had in- elsewhere in many religions, but probably none so ex-
' Romans were in their early days a de-
reverential, bul also a formal p. ople. The
travagant.
Sacrifices of victims, or bloody offerings, were sooner ii precedent which l.uilt up their ,,r later almosl universal. What victim should he se- ll 1 1. 1 depended on a variety of consideral ions, Some- times it was an animal that injured the -ills presented to a god, or injured (hat which he protected, as a -oat. the destroyer of the vine, was offered to Dionysus, and a swine. which n... i.d in the -round. toDemeter. Some- times It was an animal under the god's protection. Sometimes, again, there was a symbolism in the sacri- fice, as when a I. la.k-coloied animal was offered to the