Sacrifice is the movement of energy from an individual source to a more universal one. This takes place in several stages.

One of the lesser-considered modes of sacrifice exists in the death of a plant. Unlike most animal forms, a plant's death process is very slow; from the picking, or separation of it's roots from the earth, to its total desiccation. As the plant slowly dies, it gives up its pram , seen as a whitish/blue astral smoke, into the void. It is well known that fresh plants are preferable to dried ones for use in magickal spells. This is because the pram given off by the plant calls to, attracts, end becomes one with the species' deva. In "sacrificing" the plant, you have effectively called upon the species' deva, with which you may then communicate.

A personal experience of this process occurred recently when desert sage was brought back from New Mexico and left to dry in our Temple. The spirit of the sage is very powerful and benevolent. Without formal ritual, a direct experience with the well-known sacred qualities of the sage was brought about simply by linking with the energy of the sacrificed sage plant. Not all plants are benevolent, however, and it is best to keep that in mind when considering contact with these devas.

After initial desiccation is complete, there continues the sacrifice of "breakdown". This, being as slow as it is, is much reduced in energy and therefore, power. Burning is the method for speeding this process up, and hence comes incense.

It would seem that, using this line of reasoning, one could contact the species' deva of an animal spirit by sacrifice of that animal. The more powerful the animal, the more powerful its devic form.

Because animals usually (depending on the type of sacrificial methods) die quickly, this brings into play the next step in the process-the merge into universal consciousness, the All or Nothing:  Binah. Binah is the Death Mother to which all life returns; Kali, the ever-hungry. The animal is "taken" by its species' deva into the Void.

During performance of the sacrifice ritual, one empathically and psychically connects oneself to the spirit of the creature, thereby getting a free ride, as it were, by its species' deva, into the Void. This is the Death experience. For one not prepared for this, the results can be devastating. Without either prior experience with Binah, or sufficient linkage to personal Karma and one's Will in life, a slow leaking away of life force can result from this rite, over time ending in either personal death, or the necessity of turning to vampirism to sustain oneself. The current initiated by the Magickian may sweep all involved into the universal source.
 

Copyright 1988 Mishlen Linden