In India, in the early days, the young noblemen trained on wet clay, till they were sure that they could behead an ox in one stroke – anything else would be a disaster for the family and spoil the feast, being a bad omen.
In Nepal, many years ago, I have seen an offering, where the priest cut the throad of the birds, sprinkeled some blood on the alter, and gave the animal back to the ovner to take home to eat - after he had gotten paid, of course.
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