The Rigveda - The Horse Sacrifice

The oldest of the Vedas is the Rigveda, dating from around 1200 BC. It contains a description of the horse sacrifice which includes instructions aimed at the priest. This was a ritual that could only be carried out by a king with the assistance of priests who were not just skilled intermediaries to the gods, but also handy with a knife. Animals, dairy products and most famously a hallucinogenic plant called soma were sacrificed by being offered into flames. The texts draw systematic parallels between the parts of human or animal bodies and the parts of the universe.