Do ut des — I give, that thou mayest give.
Chapter I
The oldest gesture
Every religion of the ancient world knew the altar and what was laid upon it. Grain, wine and oil; incense; the firstborn of the flock. The Romans named the bond in three words — do ut des — and the Hebrew priests poured the blood at the foot of the altar, for the life of the flesh is in the blood.
The offering is the oldest gesture between the human and the divine. It says: this call is meant. I do not come with empty hands.
Chapter II
Blood
Blood stands above every other offering because it is life itself in liquid form — the substance the Demiurge used to bind the spark to the flesh. Poured upon the sigil of the Adversary, it is returned from the prison to the one who opposes the prison.
In the rites of the Temple, blood is offered in the chalice and upon the seal, and the offering is never taken back. What is given upon the altar belongs to the night.
“Sanguis est vita — and the life is given to the night.”
Chapter III
The greater offering
Yet the greatest offering is not laid on the altar at all. It is the old self of the adept: his fear, his obedience, his place in the herd. Every rite takes a part of it, until nothing remains that the Demiurge could call his own.