Oh, while I'm remarking on symbolic mysticism tonight. It was common for many ancient cultures, the Greeks and Romans being easy examples for my own western mind to point to, to try to appease the natural forces of the world with sacrifices and offerings. It is very easy, and incorrect, to laugh at these people for drawing an epistemologically soggy line between burning some grapes on an altar, and your wine fermenting correctly and safety (harder than you'd think without modern sanitation and such! High stakes if it's a lot of your income!).

There are two things to point out. First, that these rituals were often about addressing a feeling of helplessness, and second, that the pain of sacrifice was an important ingredient for the gods (and humans) to take them seriously.

I think about that when I hear about carbon credits or gimmicky eco projects as the planet burns. If Poppy is to be believed, and Gaia says our time is up, these sacrifices are a desperate, symbolic apology to a deaf goddess.