"At a later period the conception is found current that any food which
two men partake of together, so that the same substance enters into
their flesh and blood, is enough to establish some sacred unity of
life between them; but in ancient times this significance seems to be
always attached to participation in the flesh of a sacrosanct victim,
and the solemn mystery of its death is justified by the consideration
that only in this way can the sacred cement be procured which creates
or keeps alive a living bond of union between the worshippers and
their god. This cement is nothing less than the actual life of the
sacred and kindred animal, which is conceived as residing in its flesh,
but especially in its blood, and so, in the sacred meal, is actually
distributed among all the participants, each of whom incorporated a
particle of it with his own individual life." [362]