SACRIFICE

Sacrifi ce is a universalphenomenon. In a general
andsecularsense,sacrifice maybedefinedas the
“givingup”of a thingforth e sakeof anotherthat
is higher or moreurgent. It mayal so refer to that
whichis givenupfora cause orforsomething
else.Sacrificeplaysanimportant partin therel i-
giousce remoniesof Africans.

PurposeandSignificanceof Sacrifice

Most of thetime,sacrificeis forthepurpose of
maintainingor restoring a rightrelationship of
hu ma n beingsto thesacredorder. Ge nerally, the
pu rposeof a particular typeof sacrificein Africa
is revealedby its name,as will be se en ne xt.In sev-
er al Africansocieties,sacrificeconstitu te s oneof
thecommonestactsof worship.In fac t, virtually
alltraditionalworshipanddivinationinvolveone
formof sacrificeor another.

Typesof Sacrifice

PropitiatorySacr ifice

Thissacrificeis of tenprescribedbya diviner.
Th e YorubacallitEbö ètùtù. In th is sacrifice, the
offeringbelongsentirelyto thedeity;thesacrifice
is nevershared, butburnt or buried.It is pe r-
formedduringa cri sisli keanep idemic,famine,
drought,orserious ill ness. Th is sacrificeis al so
madewhena worshipperviolatesa prohibition.
Forexample,amongtheAkans,if a manindulges

in sexualintercoursein thebush,As ase Yaa, the

Earthgoddess,hasto bepropitiated.Amongthe

MendesofSierraLeo ne,sexual intercoursein

thebushis alsore garded as a violation ofMaa-nsoo ,

theEar thgoddess.On such occasions, sacrifice

shouldbeofferedat thesacredgroves to propiti-

atetheEarth motherandtheancestors.

PreventiveSacrifice

Thissacrificeis prescribedas a precautionary

measureto prevent dangeror disaster. Forexam -

pl e, whena particularcommunitylearnsthatan

epidemic is ragingin a nearbyvillage,it mayoffer

thissacrificeto preventthescourgefromentering

the vil lage.Among the Yo ruba,the preventive

sacrifice is knownas Ogunkoja , “that which

wardsoffattacks.”AmongtheAkans,palmnuts,

rawmeat,andrawfo odareoftenplacedat the

entrance of thetownorvillageto wardoff evil

spirits.AmongtheYoruba,theanimalvictimthat

is sl ainandofferedto thedeitymaybeburiedor

exposedat theentranceto thetown, village, or

ho use.

SubstitutionarySacrifice

The substitutio nary sacrificehasanelementof

propitiationandprevention.It is offeredin placeof

the person who might havesuffered some kind

of misfortune.It mayals o be offeredto avertdanger

ormisfortuneth at mightbefallsomeone.Among

theYoruba,usuallya sheepis usedas a substitute

forthehumanbeing.Thesheepis rubbedagainst

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