ABSTRACT
Modern forgiveness can take a multitude of forms, from the public request of a world leader for centuries of mistreatment, to a redemptive experience of self-forgiveness, to a private interpersonal intimacy that can be granted or refused in a quiet glance. This chapter explores the question of the ego-personality's access to true forgiveness and examines the phenomenon of forgiving in relation to consciousness at large, or what C. G. Jung called the "soul". Sacrifice was typically practiced as a rite of purification and atonement and a means of removing evil, sin, and guilt. The removal of sin and guilt achieved by sacrifice paved the way for restored relations with the offended deity. Forgiveness has a fundamental relationship with the past, as its object is an occurrence or state that has already happened or demonstrated itself. The gods' indelible mark often finds its expression in the literal transformation of the offender, so that it cannot be forgotten.
