The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

§ 3. Human Sacrifices for the Crops. 281seen that the ancient Mexicans also sacrificed human beings atall the various stages in the growth of the maize, the age of the [238]victims corresponding to the age of the corn; for they sacrificednew-born babes at sowing, older children when the grain hadsprouted, and so on till it was fully ripe, when they sacrificed oldmen. 731 No doubt the correspondence between the ages of thevictims and the state of the corn was supposed to enhance theefficacy of the sacrifice.The Pawnees annually sacrificed a human victim in spring Human sacrificesfor the crops amongwhen they sowed their fields. The sacrifice was believed to havethe Pawnees.been enjoined on them by the Morning Star, or by a certain birdwhich the Morning Star had sent to them as its messenger. Thebird was stuffed and preserved as a powerful talisman. Theythought that an omission of this sacrifice would be followed bythe total failure of the crops of maize, beans, and pumpkins. Thevictim was a captive of either sex. He was clad in the gayestand most costly attire, was fattened on the choicest food, andcarefully kept in ignorance of his doom. When he was fat enough,they bound him to a cross in the presence of the multitude, danceda solemn dance, then cleft his head with a tomahawk and shothim with arrows. According to one trader, the squaws then cutpieces of flesh from the victim's body, with which they greasedtheir hoes; but this was denied by another trader who had beenpresent at the ceremony. Immediately after the sacrifice thepeople proceeded to plant their fields. A particular account hasbeen preserved of the sacrifice of a Sioux girl by the Pawnees inApril 1837 or 1838. The girl was fourteen or fifteen years old andhad been kept for six months and well treated. Two days beforethe sacrifice she was led from wigwam to wigwam, accompaniedby the whole council of chiefs and warriors. At each lodge shereceived a small billet of wood and a little paint, which sheIVème Série, xiii. (1857) pp. 278 sq.731 Herrera, quoted by A. Bastian, Die Culturländer des alten Amerika (Berlin,1878), ii. 379 sq. See Adonis, Attis, Osiris, Second Edition, pp. 338 sq.