92 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
92 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
BLOOD SACRIFICE
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by Althea Whitebirch
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We have all moved through periods of crisis in our lives; things
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ranging from the sublime to the rediculous, from the death of someone
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close to us to final exams. Events which are extremely stressful--which
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threaten our lives, home, future or security--would seem to call for
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strong measures of assistance. There have been many times that I have
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felt that the course of events required swift and strong intervention of
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a deity. Blood sacrifice is, to my mind, one of the more powerful magics
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one could perform, and so seemed particularly suitable for this. But
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it's rather ethically sticky.
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I may feel that the kind of energy contained in the outpouring of
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blood would be most efficacious in a serious situation, but I'm dead-set
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against the use of an unwilling victim for the purpose. So, in the past
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I've spilled my own blood with an athame, at the same time offering up
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prayers; it just didn't seem to work as well as I thought it would.
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Perhaps, I thought, one needs lots of blood to generate any appreciable
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amount of energy.
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Then a friend suggested what seemed the perfect solution--blood
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donation! I'd been giving blood for several years and the thought just
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never had occured to me before. So the next time I went in to donate, I
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approached it as ritual sacrifice for a particular purpose, and both the
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process and results seemed to be much improved. Since then I've gone to
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donate blood many times, each time with a prayer for healing for the
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recipient of my bood, and a request for aid from the deity that seemed
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most appropriate.
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For those of you who've never donated blood before, I can provide a
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few details of the process. It's not very frightening, and it can be a
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very spiritually moving experience, I'll tell you! As well, remember
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that you don't sell blood (at least not in Puget Sound), you donates it.
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You can sell plasma--the straw-coloured fluid that makes up the bulk of
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your blood--but not blood itself.
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The first time you go in you'll fill out a medical questionnaire:
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the Puget Sound Blood Bank doesn't want your blood if you're ill right
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then (or just getting over something), taking certain medications, ever
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had hepatitis or malaria, or are in a high-risk category for contracting
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AIDS (Haitian, homosexual, needle-using drug user or prostitute). If
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you have any questions, they'll be happy to answer them.
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After you fill out the questionnaire, they'll take your blood
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pressure and a blood sample (like sticking your finger with a pin) to
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test your hemocrit (% of hemoglobin) as well as determining what type
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your blood is. If your hemocrit count isn't high enough they'll send
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you home. Nowadays, all blood is sent to a lab to be tested for
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presence of AIDS anti-bodies as well; if you test positive they'll
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notify you by mail. You'll be asked if you've eaten in the last four
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hours, and if not, sent to the canteen for cookies and juice.
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Then comes the fun part--you go lie down on a table where a phlebo-
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tomist (who draws the blood) asks you some questions, verifies your
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name, and then sets you up to donate. They tie a rubber hose around your
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arm, so the vein will stand out and be easy to find. They use cold
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liquid ethyl chloride on your arm, to numb it where the needle goes in.
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I won't say that it doesn't hurt when the needle is inserted--it does
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but it's tolerable--when it's in place though, you'll hardly know it's
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there. (You may get the idea from all this that I'm a stoic--hardly!
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I'm a wimp when it comes to pain, but this I can handle.) At this time
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they'll leave you there for up to five minutes while you clench and
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relax your hand (to keep the blood from clotting) and the blood flows
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into a little plastic bag. It's warm and red, and rather reasurring,
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really. At this time you can get into some really serious prayer, or
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hum a little healing chant for the person your blood's going to. (I
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once was doing this and got a flash image of a little boy, a burn
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victim. I always wondered who got my blood that day.) I wouldn't
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recommend getting too spaced-out though; remember you've got to be able
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to return to yourself when you want to, and the physical effects of
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giving blood can make some people light-headed or slightly woozie. When
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they ask you how you're feeling, be honest, not macho. You don't want
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to embarrass yourself by fainting.
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Afterwards they'll ask you to have some juice and cookies. By all
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means, do! For one thing, you've earned them; for another it's impor-
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tant to replace the fluid and blood sugar you just gave up. Working
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magic really takes it out of you, too (at least it does me).
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In my experience, there are several good reasons to use this parti-
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cular method of blood sacrifice: a) It doesn't require the death of one
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of the Gods' children. b) It is giving of yourself--for the good of
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others as well as your own. c) It is safe--the Blood Bank uses sterile
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instruments and never re-uses needles, so you can't catch anything. d)
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You have the added benefit of being able to see the blood as it's being
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given (somehow that adds to my experience), and a pint is a lot more
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than I've ever been able to get with a knife! Next time you want to get
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the Gods' attention, try it!
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