I’m trying to recall the title and author of a short story I read many years ago. I’m relatively sure it appeared in Omni magazine sometime in the 1970s, but I could be wrong about that.
The basic idea is a reversal of the Christian ceremony of communion: instead of people eating God, God eats people. Astronauts travelling to some distant world create an interplanetary incident because of their inappropriate reaction when the god of this alien world eats one of them, which is supposed to be a great honor.
I can’t remember much more than that. If you can, and can point me to a book (or even better, a Web site) that has the story, I’d be very grateful.
Is this a great place, or what? The right answer in less than two hours!
Thanks, peri. That’s it. And I see from the Wiki entry that I was right about it being in Omni, which is encouraging: my mind isn’t totally useless. Yet.
It’s funny how little of the story I remembered, except for the climactic scene. As I started reading it, I really wasn’t sure that it was the one. I didn’t remember the setup at all, but as I kept reading it became more familiar.
Actually, I was thinking the OP might be talking about “A Song for Lya” by George R.R. Martin which appears to be somewhat similar. I can’t find it online though.