rececevant offrande ou prière ?

an idea the alternative being that
"destinataire" could mean here a divinity you "turn to" (or "call upon" or better you "address" ) this being opposed in some mythologies to gods you merely have to worship unless they take it badly as it were !through set rites and no "direct address" to them

Maybe this could help?

cjohnstone is on the right track here, it seems to me.

The word is the *adjective* _destinaire_ (not found in any dictionary I have consulted, including Le Robert & the Tresor L.F., btw), NOT the *noun* _destinataire_ (or destinateur).

So, the sense comes from "destin" [English Destiny], and doesn't have anything having to do with "destination" or the reception of anything (prayers, offerings etc., in this case).

Peter's plea for more context is a no-brainer. (And, why post such a question without *some* context ?)

Failing that, I'm thinking that we're dealing here with a diety who has power over a certian aspect of a human being's *destiny.*

Venus, for example, could be said to be a "controling diety" in matters relating to "love" (more precisely and less anachronisitcally, "procreation"), and, as such, may be revered/honored for her power over these mattters.

The same sort of thing survived into Christian times with the concept of "patron saints" --of various trades and professions, diseases, etc.

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Note added at 2003-02-06 17:13:52 (GMT)
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Oh, God.

I\'ve misread \"destinataire.\"

I *hate* it when that happens.

It\'s all cjohnstone\'s fault.

Well, the guy *should* have written \"divinité destinaire.\"

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Note added at 2003-02-07 19:14:12 (GMT) Post-grading
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Yolanda\'s got the right answer, clearly.

The diety is the \"receiver\" of the sacrifice, in addition to being \"worshiped and revered.\"

This is part of a rather technical, academic paper and precision of language is always important in such a context.

The god(dess) who is the target/beneficiary of the cult. This is a *semiotics*-based usage of "destinataire." For a discussion of these terms, see (warning: it's dense stuff!):

La sémiotique narrative et discursive -
... Carré sémiotique: description synthétique de la structure ... actantiel: destinateur --> objet --> destinataire adjuvant --> sujet <-- opposant sujet ... home.ican.net/~galandor/littera/syn_cou1.htm -

and:

Dictionnaire International de Terminologie Littéraire
... Départ, Détermination, Destinataire, Destinateur, Destination ... Semiology and semiotics, Sender, Sense, Signal ... Structuralism, Stylistics, Subject, Support, Syntax ... www.ditl.info/test/definition.php?term=1472
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Here's another example of "divinité destinataire":

Le Temple étrusque de Punta della Vipera
... Des inscriptions gravées sur des bases de bucchero, ainsi que des statuettes de la déesse fournissent le nom de la divinité destinataire du culte (Menerva ...
www.comune.santamarinella.rm.it/ museo/html/francese/a3113.html

maybe this might help

(turned around a bit, but it's the idea, I think)