Is it the practitioner that drives the spell or is it the spell itself? How in control is the user when dabbling with dark forces? Depending on who you talk to, it can go either way. However, there is one solid conclusion that most circles can agree upon: symbolism within rituals can help to focus the user’s attention and serve to empower the spell.

Religion of any sort is riddled with symbolism, usually having to do with sacrifice. Many black magic workings are a result of rituals, mostly having to do with sacrifice of some kind. The symbol of a sacrifice can lend power to a practitioner’s intent, strengthening their beliefs and thus the potency of their spells.

Some conclude that the term “offering” is the same as “ritual killing.” This is incorrect. While one can imply the other, the two are indeed mutually exclusive. Ritual killings are a form of sacrifice more closely related to black magic, while offerings are part of a more religious affiliation that serves to include all forms of worship. An offering could be some as simple as a bowl of cold cereal.

The roots of more than a few black magic spells rest within the confines of a ritual sacrifice. This can be traced back as far as to the Greeks in ancient mythology, when they would commonly slaughter animals as a way to invoke the powers of their gods. Other societies, such as the Egyptians and Romans had similar practices.

The thought process was that the owner of the sacrificed object or animal was forgoing something of value in order to be placed in another’s good graces. Whether that be a god, a spirit, or something more metaphysical, the intent was the same. With a black magic ritual killing the purpose of this sacrifice was to encourage the other party to perform an act in your favor.

Various ancient cultures practiced human sacrifice, not limiting themselves to slaughtering innocent animals. Mesoamerica, before Columbus sailed his famous voyage and wrought the cultures there with his diseases, was widely known to have performed human sacrifices for a variety of reasons. The Aztecs would sacrifice a human daily to their sun god, a prime example of how widespread such an act of what we consider to be arcane black magic actually was in the ancient world.

In modern Christianity, there is only one obvious human sacrifice of note: Jesus Christ. This selfless act cannot be associated with black magic for a number of reasons, the most important of which is that Jesus proclaimed everything having to do with the craft was against his ruling.

Often in the ancient world, ritual sacrifice, specifically human sacrifice, was used to honor a deity and request something for the society as a whole. Whether it was for decent weather for the crops, or to rid themselves of a certain plague, the sacrifice in question was a prime example of black magic in action that served a noble purpose. Technically speaking the sacrifice was for selfish reasons that would also benefit others.