Chapter IX. How the Worship of the Gods by Sacrifice is Prescribed by Apollo

[PORPHYRY] ‘Next in order after what has been said concerning piety we shall record the responses given by them concerning their worship, part of which by anticipation we have set forth in the statements concerning piety. Now this is the response of Apollo, containing at the same time an orderly classification of the gods.

“Friend, who hast entered on this heaven-taught path, Heed well thy work; nor to the blessed gods Forget to slay thine offerings in due form, Whether to gods of earth, or gods of heaven, Kings of the sky and liquid paths of air And sea, and all who dwell beneath the earth; For in their nature’s fullness all is bound. How to devote things living in due form My verse shall tell, thou in thy tablets write. For gods of earth and gods of heaven each three: For heavenly gods pure white; for gods of earth Cattle of kindred hue divide in three And on the altar lay thy sacrifice. For gods infernal bury deep, and cast The blood into a trench! For gentle Nymphs Honey and gifts of Dionysus pour. For such as flit for ever o’er the earth Fill all the blazing altar’s trench with blood, And cast the feathered fowl into the fire. Then honey mix’d with meal, and frankincense, And grains of barley sprinkle over all. But when thou comest to the sandy shore, Pour green sea-water on the victim’s head, And cast the body whole into the deep. Then, all things rightly done, return at last To the great company of heavenly gods. For all the powers that in pure ether dwell, And in the stars, let blood in fullest stream Flow from the throat o’er all the sacrifice: Make of the limbs a banquet for the gods, And give them to the fire; feast on the rest, Filling with savours sweet the liquid air. Breathe forth, when all is done, thy solemn vows.”’

Then a few words later he explains this response, interpreting it as follows:

‘Now this is the method of the sacrifices, which are rendered according to the aforesaid classification of the gods. For whereas there are gods beneath the earth, and on the earth, and those beneath the earth are called also infernal gods, and those on the earth terrestrial, for all these in common he enjoins the sacrifice of black four-footed victims. But with regard to the manner of the sacrifice he makes a difference: for to terrestrial gods he commands the victims to be slain upon altars, but to the infernal gods over trenches, and moreover after the offering to bury the bodies therein.

‘For that the four-footed beasts are common to these deities, the god himself added when questioned:

“For gods of earth and Erebus alone Four-footed must their common victims be; For gods of earth soft limbs of newborn lambs.”

‘But to the gods of the air he bids men sacrifice birds as whole burnt-offerings, and let the blood run round upon the altars: birds also to the gods of the sea, of a black colour, but to cast them alive into the waves. For he says:

“Birds for the gods, but for the sea-gods black.”

‘He names birds for all the gods save the Chthonian, but black for the sea-gods only, and therefore white for the others.

‘But to the gods of the heaven and the ether he bids thee consecrate the limbs of the victims, which are to be white, and eat the other parts: for of these only must thou eat, and not of the others. But those whom in his classification he called gods of heaven, these he here calls gods of the stars.

‘Will it then be necessary to explain the symbolic meanings of the sacrifices, manifest as they are to the intelligent? For there are four-footed land animals for the gods of the earth, because like rejoices in like. And the sheep is of the earth and therefore dear to Demeter, and in heaven the Ram, with the help of the sun, brings forth out of the earth its display of fruits. They must be black, for of such colour is the earth, being naturally dark: and three, for three is the symbol of the corporeal and earthly.

‘To the gods of earth then one must offer high upon altars, for these pass to and fro upon the earth; but to the gods beneath the earth, in a trench and in a grave, where they abide. To the other gods we must offer birds, because all things are in swift motion. For the water of the sea also is in perpetual motion, and dark, and therefore victims of this kind are suitable. But white victims for the gods of the air: for the air itself is filled with light, being of a translucent nature. For the gods of heaven and of the ether, the parts of the animals which are lighter, and these are the extremities; and with these gods we must participate in the sacrifice: for these are givers of good things, but the others are averters of evil.’

Such are the wonderful theosophist’s statements taken from The Philosophy to be derived from Oracles.