.. AND OF HEATHEN MAGIC?
The heathen sacrifice can be described theologically as a 'sacrament' (a term originally borrowed from pagan usage by Christian polemicists), that is to say, it is a symbol which effects what it symbolises, and symbolises what it effects. The sacrifice plays an important role in the cosmic conflict between the forces of order and chaos, because the symbolism of ritually offering riches or life-giving sustenance to the gods actually brings what is symbolically portrayed into effect on the spiritual plane, thereby strengthening the gods' hand in their eternal struggle against the powers of chaos. Just as the sacrifices of the battle-slain heroes, the Einheriar, add to the forces of Odin in Valhalla, so too the blood spilt, physically or figuratively, in the celebration of ritual sacrifices reinforces the power of the gods to maintain the order of Nature - and thus directly benefits human society also.
In the sense that 'magic' may be defined as a means of affecting the course of events in the natural world, or the course of human lives, through the invocation of spiritual forces, pagans, persuaded that the sacrifice is an extremely effective means of bringing about positive change in the world, and of achieving desirable ends through the workings of divine power, have always held it to be a truly magical operation, as much as an act of religious devotion and duty. Magic is not, as foolish folk argue, a means of changing the world through the exercise of the human will; it is through the exercise of divine power in co-operation with human action, that magic works.
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