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Bocksweihe

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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in Lithuanian religion, was a festival of atonement, which was celebrated long after the introduction of Christianity. The inhabitants of a village would assemble in the most spacious barn of the same; during the kneading of the dough of the cake for the festival by the women, the priest held a black goat by the horns, and the men laid their right hands on his back and confessed their sins aloud, whereupon each of the penitents was hit by the priest, pulled by the hair, or punished in one or another way. Then the priest would slay the goat, sprinkle the blood over the men to atone for them, and take the meat home to sacrifice it to the deities, as he said. Then beer and wine were drunk, and the priest related heroic deeds of the forefathers until from drunkenness he could speak no more.