Her Last Night as a Virgin

Her Last Night as a Virgin (2005)

Here's a fairly new image.

Assuming one is not hunting with Dick Cheney, what's the point of human sacrifices -- and why would a virgin be preferable?

From "Human Sacrifice of Virgins as It Relates to Art Subjects":

Human sacrifice of a virgin is an act of violence. It is no different from an act of war in this respect. Rene Gerard has the insight that the purpose of the sacrifice is to prevent events such as wars which have the potential to harm the persons performing the sacrifice. The reason such a sacrifice may be a good idea is that it diverts violence. If someone acts in such a way that a war seems a reasonable response then a sacrifice, if effective in diverting the violence, will result in much less loss of life. Though a sacrifice cannot be considered good for the victim it could be considered good for the larger community if it prevents a larger loss of life.

The choice of a virgin as a victim results from the desire to select a suitable victim. First a suitable victim must be easily restrained and controlled. Second, a suitable victim must be free of familial connections so the relatives of the victim will not seek vengeance. Lastly, a suitable victim must be expendable. Of all the members of a society a virgin girl most easily meets these criterion. It should be noted that the person most likely to cause a sacrifice to be considered is a community leader such as a king. But kings are hardly ever expendable. Warriors may also cause threats to the community through their actions. But they, too, are hardly ever expendable, and they usually have friends who are bound to defend them. Wives have the advantage of having several families that would be willing to seek vengeance. So a virgin is the best victim.

It should be noted that the choice of a virgin has nothing to do with her sexual innocence or knowledge. It has to do with the fact that she is unmarried and unattached. Only later do the concepts of innocence and purity matter. Originally the virgin was merely a suitable victim.

Hmmm. This hooha sounds more utilitarian than anything out of John Stuart Mill. I always thought ravenous volcanoes just preferred virgins. Personally, I'd be more appeased in my divine lava domain with a diet of folks like Enron top execs or Abramoff suck-ups. But, no, both history and Hollywood seem to prefer this model:

Since I'm the only one with my shirt still on, I must be the virgin...

[Poster for Virgin Sacrifice (1959) seen at de Lijst]

Apparently, and fortunately, the whole virgin sacrifice thing is now just a historical curiosity...

...unless you're part of the wave-of-the-future brain trust wunderkids at MIT. From A Land of Dreams and Fire:

I mentioned in my previous entry that a little over a week ago on 5th East we had one of our big annual parties, Reawakening. I also might have mentioned that the premise of Reawakening is that our hall has its own dark god, Krotus. Krotus is painted in the lounge, and in many other places on the hall, and he feeds on our suffering. Hey, it's MIT, you need something to feed on your suffering. During the summer, he sleeps, because we're not taking classes, so there's not enough suffering for him to feed on. Once term starts, he reawakens -- hence the name of the party. We help him reawaken by staging a virgin sacrifice. And I have pictures!

And now I have them, too:

Volcanoes are out, princess. You're being pitched into an experimental fusion reactor.

Who says cutting edge technological innovation and ancient purification blood rituals are mutually exclusive? Hell, both are probably safer than hunting with the Prince of Darkness.