It's surprising how common the practice of blood drinking was over the world really; from Vikings to Aztec's I'd hazard to say that more cultures believed in blood drinking and even cannibalism as a means to either gain the power of their enemy or to shame them than not. At least historically, I don't think any modern cultures or religions believe that any longer. (Maybe in very small highly isolated pockets... I think there might be a S.American cannibal tribe and maybe an African tribe, but even that's questionable as my memory of video is sketchy.) Ah well and satanists maybe?
Trivia: The symbolic eating of flesh and drinking of blood began with Christianity. The bible teachings I received as a youth are long out of present memory, however, I seem to recall that Jesus told his disciples something to the effect that they should eat the bread for that was his flesh and the wine was his blood. Over the centuries, the practice of "sin-eating" came to be. The family of a deceased sinner would hire a sin-eater who would come to the decedent's home and would be fed food and drink as part of a small ceremony to "take-in" the sins of the decedent. The practice is rare but still exists in some rural pockets of England.
