In New Zealand "the chief was an _atua_
[god], but there were powerful and powerless gods; each naturally
sought to make himself one of the former; the plan therefore adopted
was to incorporate the spirits of others with their own; thus, when
a warrior slew a chief, he immediately gouged out his eyes and
swallowed them, the _atua tonga,_ or divinity, being supposed to
reside in that organ; thus he not only killed the body, but also
possessed himself of the soul of his enemy, and consequently the
more chiefs he slew the greater did his divinity become."
It is now easy to understand why a savage should desire to partake
of the flesh of an animal or man whom he regards as divine. By
eating the body of the god he shares in the god's attributes and
powers. And when the god is a corn-god, the corn is his proper body;
when he is a vine-god, the juice of the grape is his blood; and so
by eating the bread and drinking the wine the worshipper partakes of
the real body and blood of his god. Thus the drinking of wine in the
rites of a vine-god like Dionysus is not an act of revelry, it is a
solemn sacrament.
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