ure the approval of the deity in whose name and in whose interest the
taboo had been imposed.

+1034+. Sacrifices might be individual or communal, occasional or
periodical. The early organization of society into clans made the
communal sacrifice the more prominent[1867]--the clan was the social
unit, the interests of the individual were identical with those of the
clan, and there was rarely occasion for a man to make a special demand
on the deity for his individual benefit. Such occasions did, however,
arise, and there was no difficulty in an individual's making a request
of the tribal god provided it was not contrary to the interests of the
tribe. If the petitioner went to some god or supernatural Power other
than the tribal god, this was an offense against tribal life.

+1035+. The great communal sacrifices were periodical. They were
determined by great turning-points in the seasons or by agricultural
interests. Sowing time; when the crops became ripe; harvest time;
midsummer and midwinter--such events were naturally occasions for the
common approach of the members of the tribe to the tribal deity. The
same thing is true of military expeditions, which were held to be of
high importance for the life of the tribe. War was, as W. R. Smith calls
it, a "holy function,"[1868] and its success was supposed (and is now
often supposed) to depend on the supernatural aid of the deity. The
particular method of conducting the ceremonies in such cases varied with
the place and time, but the purpose of the worshiper and the general
methods of proceeding are the same among all peoples and at all times.
Occasions connected with the individual, such as birth, initiation,
marriage, death, and burial, are also affairs of the family or clan, and
the same rule applies to sacrifices on such occasions as to the great
communal periodical offerings.

+1036+. It was inevitable that the ritual, that is, the specific mode of
procedure, should receive a great development in the course of history.
As colleges of priests were established, ceremonial elaborateness would
become natural, and precise methods of proceeding would be handed down
from generation to generation. Thus in many cases the worshiper had to
be prepared by purificatory and other ceremonies, and the priest had to
submit to certain rules before he could undertake the sacrifice. The
victim was selected according to certain prescriptions: it had to be of
a certain age or sex, of a cert