Blood Sacrifice
Sacrificial-Offering in Religious Practice and Gurdjieff’s First Series
Well, God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Bob Dylan, Highway 61 revisited
Abe said, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God said, “No”, Abe said, “What?”
God said, “You can do what you want, Abe
But next time you see me coming, you better run”
Throughout the recorded history of man, one type of religious practice has been pervasive across most of the races, religions and regions of the world—the sacrificial-offering and blood sacrifice in particular. Though manifesting somewhat differently through various regions and cultures of the world, sacrificial-offering is a thread, which has bound man’s beliefs, and has represented a goodly portion of his perceived interactions with a higher power. It is odd that the practice of sacrificial-offering which seems to have been central to the religious and social structure of human beings for millennia is one that is not much studied and even less understood. Mr. Gurdjieff, while clearly disapproving of the practice, used this subject throughout his First Series All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson to reveal the underling reasons for the existence and persistence of the practice, how the skewed religious beliefs which provide the basis of sacrificial-offerings developed and why people have been psychologically disposed to its practice.
Currently, little attention is paid to the practice of sacrificial-offering as it is written off either as archaic, irrational foolishness or an activity of a particularly unsavory and even of a criminally diabolic nature. There is no consensus on why people have and still engage in this practice. Academics, have offered various theories regarding the source and meanings of sacrificial offerings, while western theologians, have of late, ignored this issue all together. It is interesting to note that much of the western world, which claims that its heritage and culture are based upon or flow from Judeo-Christian beliefs and teachings, should seemingly ignore its own heritage. As the world today is faced with an upsurge of millenarian fundamentalism and the concurrent supremacy of mans lower nature, can the widespread resurrection of this practice be far behind? This article makes no representation as to presenting a definitive view of this subject; however, there will be an attempt, by viewing relevant parts of Gurdjieff’s writing and some of the historical/religious record that relates this practice with Gurdjieff’s writing, to gain understanding of ritual blood sacrifice, particularly as Gurdjieff sees and uses the subject through out the First Series. It is to keep in mind that Beelzebub is Gurdjieff’s “mouthpiece” throughout the First Series. As the book is read there are very often reflections both of Gurdjieff’s life, as well as the time he is writing, that is mostly the mid-1920s. What do the stories of sacrificial offerings and Beelzebub’s actions tell us about Gurdjieff’s aim and what he will do to accomplish it?
Beelzebub’s Task
Gurdjieff first writes of this subject in that Beelzebub’s second decent to Earth was specifically for the purpose of ending the custom of sacrificial-offering. The timing of this decent was after the second great catastrophe (perturbation) on earth, the engulfing of the continent of Atlantis within the planet. He writes, “And this custom of theirs is based on the notion, which can be cognized only by their strange Reason alone, that if they destroy the existence of beings of other forms in honor of their gods and idols, then these imaginary gods and idols of theirs would find it very, very agreeable, and always and in everything unfailingly help and assist them in the actualization of all their fantastic and wild fancies.’” Here Gurdjieff expresses, in a rather scathing, sarcastic and typical manner what was and remains a favorite theoretical explanation of sacrificial offering, as expressed in the formula do-ut-des “I give that thou mayest give”. The gift theory of sacrificial offering remains as one of the two chief conventional explanations for its existence. The other theory is that the sacrificial offering is an act of communion wherein the god or goddess and followers eat together and are thus bound in a kind of man-god fellowship. As we will see Gurdjieff presents us an explanation not so much as what the men engaged in this act, think or believe they are doing but what in actuality is being done and the mostly unforeseen (by men) consequence of their actions.
Gurdjieff writes that Beelzebub makes this visit to Earth not out of a sentimental motive but rather because he has been “requested” to do so by Most Sacred High Individuals who are concerned about the destabilization of cosmic Harmony due to the effect on the moon’s fledgling atmosphere by the surplus radiations ascending from the ritual slaughtering taking place on Earth. This is a practical example of basic Fourth Way teaching: That organic life on Earth serves the specific purpose of receiving and transmitting energies needed to maintain a cosmic balance and required by the moon for its evolution as a young, developing planet and that organic life, inclusive of man, is unwittingly manipulated by forces unknown and unseen.
Beelzebub lands his spaceship in the Caspian Sea and travels up the Amu Dara River to the city of Koorkalai in the country of Tikliamish (probably Turkmenistan today). Gurdjieff tells us that on the continent of Ashark (Asia) the “custom of sacrificial-offering was at that time, as is said, at its ‘height’ “… These Sacrificial- Offerings were made not only in their own houses by private beings, but were made by whole groups, and sometimes even in public…several such special public places, where the destruction of the beings of different exterior form was carried out, then existed in the country of Tikliamish…and among them was one of the most celebrated, situated on a small mountain…“In that place, as well as in other similar places, especially at definite times of the year, they destroyed an innumerable number of beings called “oxen,’ ‘sheep,’ ‘doves,’ and so on, and even beings similar to themselves…in the latter case, the strong usually brought the less strong to be sacrificed; a father brought his son, a husband his wife, an elder brother his younger brother…” Tikliamish was one of three centers of population and culture then existing on the continent Ashark, on his third visit to earth Beelzebub visits the other two. Gurdjieff writes that Beelzebub’s efforts were indeed successful in considerably reducing the numbers of sacrificial offerings. His method was to tell and convince a priest named Abdil, who became his essence friend, the surface truth and absurdity of acts he and others were performing. He said to Abdil, “…and as all the enumerated forms of beings actualized all together the form of the process required by our CREATOR for the existence of Everything Existing, the essence of all beings are to Him equally valuable and dear. For our COMMON CREATOR all beings are only parts of the existence of a whole essence spiritualized by Him-self….One form of beings created by Him, in whose presences He has placed all His hopes and expectations for the future welfare of Everything Existing, taking advantage of their superiorities lord it over other forms and destroy their existence right and left and, what is more, they do so presumably “in His name.” The Priest Abdil took it upon himself to stop this practice by preaching against sacrificial blood offerings. Successful in his preaching, as sacrifices began to diminish, he was initially praised then shunned and eventually killed for being Beelzebub’s willing, if unsuspecting surrogate.
Though the historical time of this second decent is not known it may be close to the time and also the location that the earliest cities, which the Old Testament speaks of, were being built and historic, recorded civilization was beginning. One does not have to read very deeply into the bible before encountering the first offerings to God and the consequences issuing from them.
“And the man knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and bore Cain, and said: ‘I have gotten a man with the help of HaShem(The Lord).’ And again she bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto HaShem. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And HaShem had respect unto Abel and to his offering; but unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the HaShem said unto Cain: ‘Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shall it not be lifted up? and if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door; and unto thee is its desire, but thou mayest rule over it.’ And Cain spoke unto Abel his brother. And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.” And so we have a recorded instance which apparently, in its most simplistic reading, tells man that all offerings are not created equal and that animal sacrifice is most pleasing to HaShem while a gift of plant material is not as respected or effective in currying favor and affection. This apparently was the general interpretation, leading to the ritualistic, sacrificial slaughter of animals in manner that was in great detail described and developed in the Old Testament and practiced in more and more ritualized detail.
Of course, there were in effect two blood sacrifices in this story: Abel’s sheep and Able himself. Though not designated as a sacrifice, the slaying of Able was not an act that was completely beyond the pale. Though Cain, while exiled from his family and no longer able to till the soil, went on to marry, have an heir, found a city all the while protected by HaShem’s mark from harm. The common interpretations both practical and psychological, may be questioned. Abel’s sacrificial-offering of an animal, while pleasing to HaShem did not protect him, while Cain’s offering of his harvest was not pleasing, his sacrifice/murder of his brother was, while not acceptable, apparently of a somewhat beneficial result. It sets up a hierarchy of sacrifice in which a human being is at the top and plants are at the bottom.
Today the idea of a human as the object of a sacrificial-offering is one that is particularly repugnant and conventional wisdom tells us that this practice was limited to pagan religions and regions and yet this is a not a completely settled question. In early Biblical times, there is a much-disputed sentence in the bible that at least opens the door to the possibility of this practice. “Thou shalt not delay to offer of the fulness of thy harvest, and of the outflow of thy presses. The first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto Me. Likewise shalt thou do with thine oxen, and with thy sheep; seven days it shall be with its dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it Me” While it is an open question as to if the early Hebrews engaged in this practice, the more often discussed passage in Genesis where Abraham is commanded to sacrifice Isaac shows that it was not unthinkable and placed human sacrifice at the pinacol of sacrificial acts believed to be most beneficial and in Abraham’s case most reverential.
“And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: ‘By Myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast hearkened to My voice.’ Abraham was stopped at the last moment from ritually killing his son as an offering to God (a sheep was substituted) and was given for his obedience the great gift of having his descendents populate the Earth. As both Jews, Muslims and to some extent Christians all see Abraham as their forefather, apparently this God given promise was good.
There are other passages in the bible that mitigate or specifically prohibit the practice of human sacrifice. That the practice was engaged in if not by the Hebrews at God’s command then by others is clear in another passage, “ …because they have forsaken Me, and have estranged this place, and have offered in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah; and have filled this place with the blood of innocents; and have built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons in the fire for burnt-offerings unto Baal; which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Topheth, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter.”
Next stop Maralpleicie
Gurdjieff then writes that Beelzebub’s third visit to Earth took place not long after his second visit. This visit is again for the purpose of, “…the uprooting among these strange three-centered beings of their terrifying custom of doing as if it were Devine work, by destroying the existence of beings of other brain-systems.” Here he seems to limit his efforts to animal sacrifice, no further mention is made of human sacrifice. This visit also occurred in the period between the second and third catastrophes. Indeed, many of the areas he visits on these journeys will be buried under sands generated by the third catastrophe.
Beelzebub first visits the country then called Maralpleicie, the city of Gob. This is again central Asia though further East than his first visit, an area that is to become the Gobi Desert and its environs. He notes that sacrificial offerings though quite common, were not being proffered on the same scale as in Tikliamish. Beelzebub determines to use the prevailing Havatvernoni (religion) to achieve his goal. The religion which was flourishing in Maralplecie was an invention of a long dead supposedly wise and definitely cunning King, named Konuzion. Note the name does accurately represent the King’s modus operandi. Konuzion who invented this religion in order to end the habit of “chewing the seed of a plant…. the ordinary beings simply call it the ‘poppy’”, which was severely disrupting the society he ruled.
This religion, as it is elaborated bears a doctrinal resemblance to Islam, even though the events take place long before the birth of the Prophet Mohammad. This religion founded by King Konuzion speaks of an Islamic flavored paradise and hell. That spirits in ‘caps of invisibility’ record our every deed in preparation for a decision as to the dispensation of the soul (the recording angels of Islam) on the ‘Day-of-Judgment’. Beelzebub tweaks this religion with the additional information of just what these spirits in ‘caps of invisibility’ are. He elaborates, “Just then I invented that those spirits in ‘caps of invisibility’ who, as it was said in that great religion, watch our deeds and thoughts, in order to report them later to our Mister God, are none other then just the beings of other forms, which exist among us…”. These ideas spread quickly, virtually ending the practice of sacrificial offering. They also result in absurd manifestations as men keep building on this doctrine to the point they are prostrating and begin praying at the braying of donkeys. Again, this brings into our minds a picture of this “call to prayer” having an Islamic flavor and it certainly is a general comment on the suggestibility of man, that we will believe any old thing. That man can be manipulated very, very easily; first by King Konuzion, then by Beelzebub, then by the imaginations of men themselves. Gurdjieff has here critiqued aspects of Islamic doctrine in a very opaque manner, perhaps knowing or foreseeing the reactions of modern followers of the Prophet, reactions that Salman Rushdie, Danish cartoonists and many others have been less cognizant.
Beelzebub leaves the city of Gob and eventually, after travel by boat and caravan, visits the third group living on the continent Ashark and arrives in Pearl-land (Hindustan or India prior to its partition into Pakistan and India). It is probable that he is on the Arabian Sea, in the area of the Indus River, the present-day Narmada River or the vanished Saraswati River, which was the site of the Indus Valley civilization and at a later date the Vedic civilization. While little is known of the Indus Valley civilization’s, (3300-1300 b.c.e.), practice of sacrificial-offering, there is much documentation regarding the Vedic civilization’s (1500-500 b.c.e.) practice of sacrifice-offering. The practice was very wide spread and an essential part of religious and cultural life. The Yayur Veda, one of the four Vedas, is essentially a manual of sacrifice.
“I grasp thee. Offering to the gods, I seize thee with the noose of sacred order. Fear not men. For the waters thee, for the plants thee, I sprinkle. Thou art a drinker of the waters. Ye divine waters, make it palatable, a very palatable offering for the gods. Let thy breath be united with the wind, thy limbs with the sacrificial, the lord of the sacrifice with his prayer. Anointed with ghee, do the beast. Ye wealthy ones, do ye kindly I resort to the lord of the sacrifice. O broad atmosphere, in unison with the god wind, sacrifice with the life of this offering; be united with its body; extending more broadly, make the sacrifice of the lord of the sacrifice most successful. Guard from contact with earth. Homage to thee, O extended one. Come forward, irresistible, along the stream of ghee, with offspring, with increase of wealth. O ye waters, goddesses, purifying and pure, do ye bring the gods; may we, pure and served (by you), be servers upon you.”
Again, Beelzebub determines to use Havatvernoni or religion, to achieve his aim of stopping blood sacrifice. Though several different religions are being followed in Pearl-land he determines to use the one “….. Founded on the teaching of a genuine Messenger of our COMMON ENDLESS CREATOR, afterwards called Saint Buddha….” Beelzebub makes an investigation as to the teachings of Buddha and he determines that though the Buddha’s teachings were correct that, “ …the first succeeding generation of the contemporaries of this genuine Messenger from Above, Saint Buddha, also began, owing once again to that same particularity of their psyche, namely, of wiseacring-which until now is one of the chief results of the conditions of ordinary being- existence abnormally established there-to wiseacre with all His indications and counsels, and this time to ‘superwiseacre’ so thoroughly that there reached the beings of the third and fourth generations nothing else but what our honorable Mullah Nassr Edin defines by the words: ‘Only-information-about-its-specific-smell.’” Beelzebub eventually determines to use the Buddhist teaching of “Holy Prana” as his vehicle and to insert a change into what was a already distorted understanding. “ You, three-centered beings of the planet Earth, having the possibility of acquiring in yourselves both chief fundamental, universal, sacred laws, have the full possibility also of coating yourselves with this most sacred part of the Great All-embracing of everything existing and of perfecting it by the required Divine Reason.“ ‘And this Great All-embracing of all that is embraced, is called ‘Holy Prana.’ ”
“This quite definite explanation of Saint Buddha was well understood by his contemporaries and many of them began, as I have already said, to strive with eagerness, first to absorb and to coat in their presences the particle of this Most Great Greatness and afterwards to ‘make-inherent’ to it Divine Objective Reason.
“But when the second and third generations of the contemporaries of Saint Buddha began wiseacring with His explanations of cosmic truths, they just wiseacred with their peculiar Reason and fixed-for its transmission-a very definite notion to the effect that that same ‘Mister Prana’ already begins to be in them immediately upon their arising.”
Beelzebub reasons that since the followers of Saint Buddha already had the distorted idea that Man is born with a particle of Holy Pranna, rather than working to transform the ‘second being food’ in order to receive it and he therefore ‘Invents a-detailed addition’ to the religious teaching. “I began to spread there in Pearl-land that that ‘Most-Sacred-Prana’ about which our Divine Teacher Saint Buddha had explained, is already present not only in people, but also in all the other beings that arise and exist on our planet Earth.”
“A particle of that fundamental Most Great Great All-embracing, namely, the ‘Most-Sacred-Prana’, has already from the very beginning settled in every form of being of every scale, breeding on the surface of the planet, in the water, and also in the atmosphere.”
Beelzebub’s ideas once again spread rapidly and people of Pearl-land abandoned the practice of sacrificial-offerings. Unfortunately, they also ‘wiseacred’ extrapolated and expanded protection to ‘beings of other forms’ in absurd and comical ways. People walked on stilts to avoid crushing other beings, they would only drink water fresly taken from lakes or streams for fear that little creatures might get into the water and be destroyed, people wore veils to avoid breathing in little beings. Gurdjieff is again giving examples of our general suggestibility and of how small changes can evolve into entire religious teachings and ways of ordinary being existence based on the distortions of true teachings. In the very late Vedic period Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism all existed and these religions all bore a very strong resemblance to one another, one great exception being the rejection of blood sacrifice in Jainism and Buddhism. Eventually, Hinduism also began to back away from blood sacrifice. The Bhagavad-Gita’s date of writing is disputed but it was almost certainly written after the four Vedas, has no mention of Blood sacrifice. “Whoever offers Me a leaf, a flower, a fruit, and water with devotion, that offer brought from the heart by a soul of good habits I accept”.
This visit to Pearl-land occurring before the third catastrophe should be in time frame of 2500 b.c.e. or earlier. Gautama Buddha is said to have lived from 563 b.c.e. and 483 b.c.e. so again Gurdjieff is by conventional time measurement presenting a religious teaching out of sync with the time events occurred as they have become known or estimated by modern science, or is he? As the Gautama Buddha said “There have been many Buddhas before me and will be many Buddhas in the future”
The practice of sacrificial offerings within the pre-Christian religions of the world that have survived to the present seems to begin to meet resistance from about 800 b.c.e. Sacrificial offerings in Judaism had become institutionalized with the development of a priestly class and the place of sacrifice slowly consolidated from many alters to a single location, the temple in Jerusalem. The Temple of Solomon was destroyed in 586 b.c.e. and effectively ended sacrifice among the Jews until they returned from exile in Babylon and rebuilt the temple in 515 b.c.e. Yet, even prior to the temples destruction voices were raised in questioning blood sacrifice as by the prophet Mica in the 7th century b.c.e.
‘Wherewith shall I come before Hashem (The Lord), and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old?
Will HaShem be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’ It hath been told thee, O man, what is good, and what HaShem doth require of thee: only to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God.’
Animal sacrifice was finally ended among the Jews in 70 c.e., when the Romans destroyed the second temple. In 312 c.e. the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity which was followed in 380 c.e. by the installation of Christianity as the official state religion of the Roman Empire by the Emperor Theodosius. Though Roman Paganism persisted for some time, sacrifice was eventually ended by the adoption and spread of Christianity though out the Roman Empire and the nation states that eventually replaced the disintegrated Empire.
Though there has never been an officially sanctioned practice of blood sacrifice within Christianity, there have been and still are culturally distinct instances of blood sacrifice that have persisted and have been tied to and at times incorporated into Christian worship. These practices are of a relatively minor nature within the scope of the Christianized world and generally occur where Christianity has been introduced into isolated non-westernized cultures that wish to retain parts of their pre-Christian religious practices. That said, generally the place of blood sacrifice in the Christian religion has been replaced by the “sacrifice” of Jesus, related doctrine, and in some branches of Christianity, by the ceremony of Eucharist.
The belief of Jesus’ death by crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, the paschal mystery, is said to be the sacrifice of God’s only son for the redemption of all Men from (original) sin or at least the redemption of all who believe in the divinity Jesus. This sacrifice most Christians believe to have been the ultimate and final act of expiation and therefore, further acts of animal sacrifice at the temple or elsewhere were and are no longer needed. Ceremonially, the Eucharist in Catholicism and the transformation of wine and bread into the body and blood of Jesus is celebrated in order to allow “…the assembly to become more fully transformed into the ecclesial body of Christ…to be taken up more completely into the totally free, totally loving and totally self-communicating, mutual love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”
Gurdjieff had a very different and unique view of the Last Supper, both of what actually occurred and why it occurred and therefore by extension the meaning of Eucharist. “Christ knew that he must die…He knew it and his disciples knew it … They wanted to establish a permanent link with Christ. And for this purpose he gave them his blood to drink and his flesh to eat. It was not wine and bread at all, but real flesh and real blood.
“The Last Supper was a magical ceremony similar to the ‘blood-brotherhood’ for establishing a connection between ‘astral bodies’.” This is an esoteric Christian explanation, of which the various conventional Christian sects have no apparent knowledge. The blood and flesh of physical body’s when blended create a link to the hanbledzion, the blood of the astral body or as Gurdjieff calls it in the First Series, the body Kesdjan. This connection allows communication, for a period of time, between the physically living and physically dead assuming the connection is created prior to death.
War what is it good for
Gurdjieff writes next of blood sacrifice in reference to a society called, “The-Earth-Is- Equally-Free-For-all” which was formed in the city of Mosulopolis perhaps around 1400 C. E.for the purpose of ending, or at least lessening the scourge of wars and civil wars then plaguing the continent of Asia. This society was having an effect on the problem by beginning to incorporate a common religion, language and government when the then “very famous” Kurdish Philosopher Atarnakh upended this program. Atarnakh had previously come into the possession of an ancient Sumerian manuscript which stated:
“ ‘ In all probability there exists in the World some law of the reciprocal maintenance of everything existing.
“ ‘Obviously our lives serve also for maintaining something great or small in the World.’
Beelzebub goes on to say, “This idea expressed in the ancient manuscript so captivated the philosopher Atarnakh that thereafter he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the study of only this aspect of the question which had interested him.
This idea served as the basis for his whole further plausible theory, which, after minute researches during several years and elaborate experimental verifications of his own conclusions, he expounded in his chief work under the name ‘Why Do Wars Occur on the Earth?’…In this theory of the philosopher Atarnakh it was very definitely proved that there exists in the world, without any doubt, a law of the ‘reciprocal-maintenance-of-everything-that-exists’ and that for this reciprocal maintenance certain chemical substances also serve, with the help of which the process of the spiritualization of beings, that is to say ‘Life,’ is carried out, and these chemical substances serve for the maintenance of all that exists only after the given life ceases, that is, when a being dies.
“With the help of very many elucidatory logical confrontations it was also fully proved in the theory of Atarnakh that at certain periods there must infallibly proceed on the Earth such a definite quantity of deaths as in their totality will yield vibrations of a ‘definite degree of power.’ In other words, war or other catastrophic events resulting in mass deaths were inevitable regardless of what social and political changes men may make.
Eventually Atarnakh, just as the society “The- Earth- Is- Equally- Free- For- all” was about to dissolve in deep despair brought on by acceptance of his chief work ‘Why Do Wars Occur on the Earth?’, came to a solution: “ ‘And so, wise colleagues elected from the whole Earth, I wish to share with you the final conclusion to which these deliberations of mine have brought me. “ ‘If the universal laws I have discovered are opposed to the means you expected might bring a certain happiness to mankind, then, however strange it may seem to you first glance, if only these same laws be employed otherwise, they might serve for the attainment of this aim we have set for ourselves.“
‘Now listen to what we must do to attain this aim. The results of all my researches clearly prove that Nature requires that at certain periods a certain number of deaths should take place on the Earth; and at the same time I have succeeded in making clear that for the needs of Nature it is indifferent which deaths these are, whether deaths of people themselves or deaths of the lives of other forms of beings.
“ ‘From this it follows that if the number of deaths required by Nature is made up by the deaths of other forms of lives of the Earth, then obviously the need for the number of deaths of men themselves will thus be of itself correspondingly reduced.
“ ‘And it will be quite possible to attain to this if all the members of our society continue to work with the same intensity, only not with the aim of realizing our former program, but of reviving upon the Earth on a larger scale then before the ancient custom among men of offering sacrifices to their gods and saints by destroying the lives of other forms.’”
Therefore, the practice of animal sacrifice was brought back to Asia as a widespread custom and a new society was formed, for its promotion, called, “The-Earth-Only-For Men.” The resurrected practice of blood sacrifice was spread by the religion based on the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed which was then dominate through out much of Asia with the following results: “…afterward when thanks to the strenuous efforts of the members of the society ‘The-Earth-Only-for- Men’ there had again been implanted in three-brained beings there such an abnormality, then these terrible processes[war] of theirs began indeed to proceed there less often and on a smaller scale, and though this the sporadic, relatively great, what is called ‘mortality’ was diminished, yet the general ‘mortality’ of the three-brained beings was not only not reduced by this but even increased, since owing to the continued progressive deterioration of their being-existence and in consequence owing to the deterioration of the quality of the radiative vibrations of their presences in the process of their existence required from them by Nature, the length of their existence on the one hand was still further diminished, and on the other hand their what is called ‘birth rate’ was increased.”
Islam today is the only major religion that still officially practices animal sacrifice (Quarbani) on a large, though not continuous basis. Blood sacrifice is primarily practiced on the holiday of sacrifice, Eid-ul-Adha. This holiday is at the end of the Hajj (annual pilgrimage to Mecca) and commemorates the near sacrifice by Ibrahim (Abraham) of his son Ishmael, whom Muslims believe was Abraham’s true son and the source of their lineage as opposed to Jews who believe that it was Isaac, who was nearly sacrificed. While animal sacrifice, in Islam, is not one of the pillars of the religion, non-the-less it is said that a million sheep are imported each year into Saudi Arabia for this holiday and the sacrifice is also performed by Muslims in many other countries as well. This surely represents the widest practice of blood sacrifice extant on the Earth today.
The detailed descriptions of animal sacrifice found in the Old Testament are no where to be found in the Qur’an. The part of the Qur’an cited most often as the basis of animal sacrifice within the Islamic tradition is Al-Kauther (Abundance, Plenty) Verse 2 in particular
“To thee have We granted the Fount, (of abundance)
Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.
For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from Future Hope)”
This lack of detailed direction in the Qur’an lends credence to the possibility that animal sacrifice was an “add on” to Islamic worship.
Gurdjieff lastly writes of animal sacrifice regarding the teachings of a certain Persian dervish. “The dervish Assadulla Ibrahim Ogly began his activities there only some thirty or forty terrestrial years ago. “Being simply only a fanatic of the Mohammedan religion without that serious and deeply learned knowledge possessed by the Kurd Atarnakh, he perceived in the custom of sacrificial offerings only horrible injustice on the part of the people toward beings of other forms, and he set as the aim of his existence to obtain, at whatever cost, the destruction on the Earth of this, in his opinion, antireligious custom…….
“This ingenious and energetic Persian dervish Assadulla Ibrahim Ogly, here, there, and everywhere, very cleverly persuaded these other dervishes of the ‘truth’ of his idea, and these in their turn now everywhere persuaded the ordinary beings of the continent Asia that the destruction of the existence of beings of other forms is not only not pleasing to God, but that the destroyers would even be obliged to bear ‘in another world’ in hell, a double punishment, one for their own what are called ‘sins’ and one for the ‘sins’ of the beings destroyed by them, and so on.
“And thanks to preaching of this kind about the ‘other world’ by dervishes, considered great authorities on such questions, the beings of Asia did indeed year by year diminish their sacrificial offerings. “In short, the result of all the activity of this ‘good’ Persian dervish was precisely the latest great process of reciprocal destruction, or, as your favorites call it, ‘The Great World War.’ ”
The interesting point Gurdjieff is making is that blood sacrifice is not a custom without some foundation, in a sense, it works. But it works by way of a mechanism not understood or even imagined by those engaged in this practice. Firstly, as individuals and groups slaughter animals any proposed benefits do not accrue to those committing these acts. As Gurdjieff would say, “Mr. God” is not going to make your harvest better because you sacrificed 100 sheep in his name. And secondly the macro results of mass sacrifice releasing some form of askokin are unpredictable while there might be some discernable positive change this will be offset by other less than desirable changes as Great Nature brings organic life into balance, for nature’s needs. Man’s meddling will be leveled as nature sees fit.
And so, it has been and so it is, that the practice of blood sacrifice has been an intimate part of, as well as a result of, what Gurdjieff calls ‘the abnormal external conditions of ordinary being-existence established on Earth’. Gurdjieff has here put forth the idea that by using either incorrect, incomplete knowledge or by being directed by a subjective, sentimental emotional sense what is just and right is to proceed on a wrong and or concocted basis. The manipulation of energies needs to occur outside the field of influence of Kundabuffer, the egotism manifested through man’s pervasive self love, vanity as well as man’s suggestibility—with a real and complete knowledge. Without these conditions, there is little possibility of obtaining desirable results either on a large scale or for the individual. The requirements of nature for world maintenance are a given and they will be satisfied either unconsciously and mechanically as has been the case for most of human existence or by what Gurdjieff calls ‘being-Partkdolg-duty’, that is through a work of conscious labor and intentional suffering and therefore in a non-mechanical, conscious manner. The Fourth Way teaching brought by Gurdjieff to the West does provide a way to meet these needs consciously and for the development of the individual potential of a human being, the choice is ours.
—Richard Myers— http://www.growingchoongary.com
Notes
1 and this custom of theirs G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.182
2 The terms “soul” and sacrifice Gerardus van der Leeuw Religion in Essence and Manifestation: A study in Phenomenology p.350
3 Before telling you more G.I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p. 188
4 And as all the G.I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p 196
5 Genisis 4.1- 4.8 Jewish Publication Society 1917
6 Exodus 22:28-29 Jewish Publication Society 1917
7 Genisis 22:1-22 Jewish Publication society 1917
8 Jeremiah 19:4-6 Jewish Publication society 1917
9 Having disposed of G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.207
10 After long observations G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.213.
11 Just then I invented G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’sTtales to His Grandson p.220.
12 Yayur Veda Kanda 1 Prapathakah 3.8
13 In view of this G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson p.233.
14 But to the grief G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.239.
15 You three centered beings G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s tales to his Grandson p.245
16 There in Pearl-land G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.247.
17 Bhagavad-Gita 9:26
18 Mica 6:6-8 Jewish Publication Society 1917
19 When we ask Robert J. Daly “Sacrifice the Way to Enter the Paschal Mystery” America: The National Catholic Weekly May 12, 2003 Vol.188 No.16
20 Christ knew that P. D. Ouspensky In Search of the Miraculous p. 97.
21 Hanbledzoin is G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson p.568.
22 In all Probability G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s aTles to His Grandson p.1094.
23 And so wise colleagues G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.1099.
24 In this way G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.1102.
25 Quar’an Al-Kauther 108.001-003
26 The dervish Assadulla G. I. Gurdjieff All and Everything Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson p.1103.
Open to Openness 