Sacrifice, not necessarily bloody after all? (The Aroma of Righteousness)

 Sacrifice, not necessarily bloody after all? (The Aroma of Righteousness)

Calliope Mills 

Personally, the associations I have with incense are related to late nights in rooms where the amount of tapestries on the walls is a fire hazard two times over, and the smokey, spicy, and multifaceted aroma of thinly coated burning wood is working overtime to mask the smell of freshly blazed “mary jane”. 

It is also connected to small corner stores that sell gold-plated trinkets and scrolls covered with Tibetan prayers. I also have memories of it in my home, where my mother would light a stick while she was reading in the late evenings, on nights when my dad was off on his own adventure, as his deeply asthmatic lungs cannot cope with the light haze it cast over the downstairs area. 

Before encountering the words of Deborah Green or taking part in this class, I would not have put such peaceful and slow images in the same frame as the word “sacrifice”. 

This word for me has much more violent, jarring, and bloody associations; I can’t help but think of knives seeking purchase in the innocent–from virgins to farm animals–or the making of martyrs as
they meet an untimely and cruel demise for “the greater good”. 

However, I have since expanded my word-thought association. It was interesting to learn that the completion of a sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible can be translated as “soothing oder”, this was because “...the acceptance of that sacrifice occurs through God’s smelling it.” (68). 

Additionally, it was thought that the sacrifice of incense served two purposes: “the incense sacrifice is used twice daily to get God’s attention, wherever he may be, by way of creating a pleasant and calm environment for him, and it serves as protection for the priests from god’s holiness or wrath.” (76). 

This connection of “sacrifice” to act or item not often thought of as sacrificial was a bit eye-opening for me–as it presents itself as a gateway into the larger scale offerings one might submit. The thing that came to mind as the next step along the way was the offering of food as a sacrifice to the Gods–in particular, a scene from the Percy Jackson, books/movie/series, where all the demigod children have to share the first portion of every meal into a canteen-side fire pit, as a way to honor and communicate with their God parent.

(link to full clip)

To me, this act of respect and small-scale sacrifice completely reflects the two ideas around incense and sacrifice I mentioned above; not only does the burning of the goods produce an aroma once the food has become Olympus-bound, but it is also attention-seeking and wrath-preventing. 

Additionally, this concept in the Percy Jackson story relates to the practice of incense burning as many of these godly offspring have never, and will never meet their divine parents, they just sacrifice part of their meal in good faith, and hope of their existence and well-being, as Rabbis also practice with incense burning–I imagine it would be a very rare occurrence of them to interact to whom which they pray. It is a ceremonial act of belief and commitment to something that is larger than oneself–which is a mindset arguably quite sacrificial in nature.