The Sacrificial Dagger is a manuscript that was located in a secret chamber in Derceto's Library. It describes the Vagabond creature located in the library and how to defeat it.
Inscription
- The Sacrificial Dagger.
- ****
- Otto Stern.
- ****
- Lumina Books.
The importance placed on ritual
sacrifice is constant in religious
cult practice. Propitiating the gods
is a theme common to many
religions; the Old Testament
affords many examples.
Primitive polytheistic belief
systems integrate sacrifice in their
rituals as part of the recurrent
process of reaffirmation and,
naturally enough, group cohesion.
- The members of the social and
religious community come together
in an act of purification and
atonement.
It would be erroneous to imagine
the act of human sacrifice, linking
priest, offering and god (cf
Manzetti, “Stone Cults”), as
anything less than a vital focussing
of the group’s faith.
- The act also ensures the
continuing appeasement of the god,
but only if practised by a recognized
officiating priest using the
appropriate instrument.
- Studies made concerning
primitive religious groups bear
witness to the central role of
sacrifice in living ritual.
My own work in the field of
ethno-psychology brought me into
contact with a sorcerer living in the
region of Arkham. He introduced
me to the “rite of steel”, linked to a
ceremony known as “Adoring the
Black Goat of the Woods with a
thousand youngs.” The god being
adored is known as the Vagabond.
- Here, the dagger’s role, which
allows the life-breath to pass from
one dimension to another, is
essential.
The Vagabond is a frightening
figure, being able to move where he
wants and to kill those who have
displeased the goat-god for whom he
acts as go-between. The goat is
clearly a fertility god. The priest,
having spoken the invocation, must
choose the appropriate dagger for
the sacrifice.
The knife with the sinusoidal
blade that must be dipped seven
times, on nights when the moon is
full, in water that has been
distilled a hundred times, will be
laid aside, since it would send the
Vagabond back into his own
dimension (see illustration).
The priest will rather choose the
dagger with the curved blade that is
more appropriate for slitting of the
lamb’s throat. This act
transfigures the sorcerer-priest
and plunges the assembled
worshippers into a divine trance.
