I have always been intrigued by human sacrifice. Let me state from the start that I have always found gore movies to be disgusting and serial killers to be vile and deserving a cruel death. So why do I find human sacrifice so aesthetic, when I see a meaningless murder as so offensive. I remember when I was younger, when a movie or TV show depicted a monstrous villain that kills because it is in this villain's nature; I hoped that this villain would meet his just demise. But when a human sacrifice was the scene, there was something mysterious and sublime. I am reminded of two such scenes. One is an episode of Friday the 13th the series in which a Satanic witch has this “good witch” on the altar ready for the sacrifice, and the "good witch" that is ready to be sacrificed cries out, "but you made a pact". She then responded, "but I made a higher pact", and then proceeded to stab him in the heart. I am basing this all on memory, so the exact words might not be right, but even in a partially incorrect representation of the abovementioned scene; I still have presented what I believe to be a paradigm case of human sacrifice. I also remember a scene in the Highlander series when a Viking called Kanwulf is ready to perform the Blood Eagle on a victim. This character had a piety to Odin that spoke of passion, devotion, and heroic action.
This is the key to these sacrifice scenes. There is a sense of piety and sublimity that speaks of a transcendent realm. The sacrifice seems to connect us to the more primal principles of our cosmos. The sacrifice seems to open the door to something greater. What I am reminded of here is Kierkegaard’s interpretation of the biblical story of Abraham and Isaac, when Abraham is ready to sacrifice Isaac on the altar. According to Kierkegaard, Abraham will be committing a murder. From the ethical sphere, he is in the wrong, and what his deity asks him to do is wrong. Though from the religious sphere, Abraham is a knight of faith. He suspends his ethical obligation not to murder, but for a higher act of faith. This activity is named by Kierkegaard as the teleological suspension of the ethical.
This brings up a question of metaethics. What is right and wrong based upon the convention of society has its uses, but the ethical codes that have practical value for a functioning society, do not necessarily correspond to the inner workings of the universe. There is the belief that the universe came into being through sacrifice, and the performing of sacrifices maintain and preserve our universe. These sacrifices are dealing with a different set of standards that transcend common moral dictates. Therefore when I watch the sacrifice scenes of Apocalypto, it is not horror and disgust that fill my soul, but a sense of mystery and fascination. Please click on this link for a visual of what I mean. http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/mf/frame?theme=minfo&lid=wmv-56-p.1528961-179912,wmv-100-p.1528962-179912,wmv-300-p.1528963-179912,wmv-700-p.1528965-179912,wmv-1000-p.1528966-179912,wmv-28-p.1528961-179912&id=1809249345&f=1809249345&mspid=1809798308&type=c&a=0,15
2 comments:
I suppose the only real question is how do we know the messages we are receiving are of some "divine" or universal sort, or just the affects of delusion?
You'll be interested to know that I'll be spending some time in Central America, observing ancient Mayan ruins, including sacrificial temples.
This is a very good question, especially when dealing with the sacrifice of Isaac. Since the deity transcends this spatiotemporal reality, and the epistemic ground for knowledge is this spatiotemporal reality, how do we know what is the source of these “messages”. That being said, I do believe that value and meaning is indicative of a transcendent realm. In this sense, the experience of the numinous can be interpreted in a phenomenological sense as the appearance of a god. There is also the view that the cosmos is all intertwined, and that one part of the cosmos can influence or reveal other parts. This is probably the justification for the practice of haruspicy. It seems that the person who is aware of this has a sense of cosmic sympatheia. Since I cannot give a definite epistemology as to the nature of the source of the “message”, I determine the meaningful nature of the sacrifice when certain conditions are at play. It is when the numinous shines forth with wonder, when this cosmic sympatheia is starting to reveal itself from all around, when the ghostis principle between man and god is understood, and when through the Xartus the chaos is being structured into order, the sacrifice seems to have that quality that I find magical. Also, the above example is not meant to list a set of parameters, but to give a heuristic as to the nature of the sacrifice that I am trying to portray.
Also, I hope you have fun on your trip. Make sure to take pictures of their observatory and the Temple of Kukulkan. The Mayan’s had both a very advanced astronomy and an interesting religion. I wonder if you will experience that cosmic sympatheia that I speak of, when you are on the Temple of Kukulkan.
Post a Comment