Vegetation goddess. Northern Indian. Worshiped by the Khonds in Bengal. She was the recipient of human sacrifice to ensure good harvest, particularly of the spice turmeric, and as a protection against disease and infirmity. The sacrificial victim or meriah was youthful, often kept for years as a holy person before death and was always either the offspring of a previous sacrificial victim, or purchased from impoverished families for the purpose. He or she was generally strangled, sometimes in the fork of a tree, after days of festivities. In other instances the victim was cut up alive.
Tag: the recipient
Andrasta
Goddess of war. Romano-Celtic (British). The patron goddess of the Iceni tribe. The warrior queen Boudicca is reported to have prayed to her before battle and she was the recipient of human sacrifice. Andrasta does not appear in Celtic Gaul, though a deity called Andraste is mentioned by the Roman writer Dio Cassius. The name may also be linked to the goddess Andarta. Also Adrastea.
Anna Kuari
Local vegetation goddess. Indian. Worshiped by the Oraon tribe of Chota Nagpur. The recipient of human sacrifice in the spring months, she was believed to endow riches on the sacrificer and to ensure plentiful harvest while living in his house in the form of a child.
Witch's Well 