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    Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

    Let me preface this with the disclaimer there are more than a few open and locked threads on the site that deal with various aspects of offerings. This thread may duplicate some aspects of those threads or may be completely new aspects. So I hope people will not mind possibly repeating previously entered information or maybe expanding upon it.

    Ok, figure for me I find that while I make offerings to those gods / goddesses I am bound to my offerings tend to be different in many ways. Not different in that they are unique but perhaps different in why I am making them or why I was given the idea of using the item as an offering.

    One common offering I use is Honey. I use it from it's coloration which for me connects it to the solar aspect of the heavens. Yet it's also because of its eternal aspect and longevity aspect. Figure true honey never goes bad and is always nourishing. Granted you have to be careful as much of the honey you might purchase today in the store is sugar added so it can and does go bad after time. Yet as an offering it has always been one that I find Artemis, Hekate, Bastet, Pahket, Diana, Mafdet have all liked and also had a connection to. Hekate also in the capacity as an earthly goddess who is associated with caves when you consider some of the early bee types did make their hives in the ground or small cave openings. At Ephesus the Priestess of Artemis were commonly referred to as Bee Maidens due to the Temple's association with bee keeping and perhaps the structure of the hive itself with its queen and worker bee's in comparison to the High Priestesses and the various priestesses beneath her.

    Another offering I find they all like is coffee. Yet not specifically for the reason you might think. Bastet once told me she was a goddess of the desert and water is the greatest of offerings in the desert for it is the source of all life. I had left perfume and she sort of stated you couldn't survive on perfume and knocked it off the altar. So I used to leave water but water simply left soon turned polluted. Which got me to thinking, coffee is is both a perfumed water, is a purified water as it is heated and in a way made sacred, became a sacred drink in the aspect it refreshers, motivates and awakens us in the mornings and for many is almost symbolic in how we use it. Then you can add honey or sugar if you desire, add milk which ties into another life giving liquid and indicates transformation / transmutation. So coffee became a common offering as a scented purified water as an offering.

    Eggs are an important offering in my practice. Yet it is because of what is inside of them as a potential. It is the energy of creation. It is the potential of realization and fruition and the symbolic representation of fertility and fecundity.

    Granted there are other things I use as offerings but though i'd present these and see what conversations it might generate.
    I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

    #2
    Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

    Great post!

    I'm often conflicted by what am I offering and what am I wasting. In a funny way my compost bin has become somewhat of a sacred place. They way I see it contains all the excess bounty of the garden throughout the year, and in the spring I'll use it to provide nutrition to the soil.

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      #3
      Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

      If (and for a number of reasons, this is a large if) I start seeking a relationship where making offerings to a Power is appropriate then I'll probably be offerings deeds (either the doing of or refraining from) and/or habits (acquiring or laying aside). Physical offerings, erhmm, I may conduct one or two but at this point (and my position here is subject to change should I embark on such a path), it's easier for me to see the value in actions that would align with a Power's general goals and interests than physical offerings. If I end up on such a path and a Power expresses an alternate view then I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.
      life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

      Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

      "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

      John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

      "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

      Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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        #4
        Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

        My offering is my work. I like being paid for my offering - it strikes me as fair relationship.
        Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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          #5
          Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

          Originally posted by B. de Corbin View Post
          My offering is my work. I like being paid for my offering - it strikes me as fair relationship.
          That's actually pretty close in many ways to how I view things when it comes to Hekate and Artemis. Not so much a payment per say but an offering and dedication / commitment to them through constant research and sharing what I find.
          I'm Only Responsible For What I Say Not For What Or How You Understand!

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            #6
            Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

            Wine is my most common physical offering, mostly because wine (or mead, or other boozes) have been offerings to the gods for pretty much all of our history. I use fresh water instead for Bast. From what I've found, Bast enjoys chocolate, so I get dark chocolate for Her (the darker the better, even though I think dark chocolate past about 70% tastes like dirt). If I cook something, and I mean actually prepare a meal vs making something packaged or heating up leftovers, I give that as offering, because it's something that I put my effort into and I should offer Them the good of my labor. Because I'm in a place where leaving the offering for animals to find would attract mice or roaches to my apartment, I leave it for a time for Them to enjoy, then consume it once They're done.

            The angels don't really seem to like offerings--they want actions. Uriel especially has made it very clear that he doesn't care what things I buy for his part of my altar, or the candle holder I pick for him, or the beads I make. He wants deeds. He wants work. He wants me to move forward with the things I asked for his help on.

            If I find coins randomly, I give them to Fortuna, because they came to me by chance. Before and after every time I speak with Kwan Yin, I put a coin in Her offering dish. When they're full, I donate them to charity. Volunteering at the animal shelter is an offering of its own--I work with the cats for Bast, and I work to make animals' lives easier, happier, and to reduce suffering as best I can, for Kwan Yin.
            Last edited by habbalah; 06 Aug 2016, 07:31.
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              #7
              Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

              My offerings are food (which I then eat, as in most pagan traditions), wine, and incense. On festival days there will be a bunch of flowers and a hymn. For some gods, I make a donation to a charity in their honour, like a hospice for Pluto and Persephone, or a wildlife fund for Artemis.

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                #8
                Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

                Great thread, MonSno I like seeing the reasons behind some of the offerings, the reasons for the type of offering but also the specific thing for a specific deity.

                I don't make physical offerings very often, aside from blood offerings for Skuld and the runespirits. The deities I work with seem to want work rather than things (and by 'things' I mean the symbolism and energy of the thing)... and so that's what I do. I try to live my life in a way that is true to my spiritual values and to the lessons taught to me. Habbalah's statement that Uriel "...wants me to move forward with the things I asked for his help on." strikes very true for me too (obviously not with Uriel, but with deities like Skuld, Barbatos and my teachers). For me that is the best offering we can make... hard work, dedication and actually using or growing from the lessons and skills we are given.

                To Barbatos I offer my work as a vet nurse, and my caring for my animal charges (both my pets and my patients). I always spontaneously burst into tears when I'm appealing to him for some specific aid... I don't know why, I just always have and I have the sense that it's the emotion and the fact that I carry my work so close to my heart that is the 'offering' he asks. Barbatos is the Goetic Demon who speaks to animals, and who can teach you the language of animals. That doesn't mean how to woof or meow appropriately, but since I've worked with him my interest in (and understanding of) canine and feline behaviour and body language, as well as low-stress and fear-free handling techniques has evolved enormously. I also seemed to develop a very strong sense of advocacy for wildlife and exotic pets... not so much an interest in exotic medicine, but the need to speak for them in terms of level of care, husbandry, and treating them with the same attitudes that we do dogs and cats. I genuinely feel that a lizard or a fish has exactly the same rights to comfort, pain relief, care, compassion and environmental enrichment as a dog. So that is my major offering to Barbatos... actively being an outspoken patient advocate, particularly for those who are not well understood, or in the face of people who don't understand the mental and emotional needs of their pets or patients (this is something that has only recently started being taught in vet school and vet tech/nurse schools... when I qualified, our 'behaviour' subjects were very clinical and based on traditional training).

                To Skuld I offer blood and allegiance. Part of my physical work is tied up with Skuld also... I act as a conduit for Wyrd by aiding my patients to heal or to pass away when it's their time, and I act as a sort of psycopomp when they do pass. I'm not sure that this is a 'offering' to Skuld in the same way that my attitude to my work is an offering to Barbatos. This is more like my function and the reason that She has claimed my service. My offering to Her is to continue doing my job rather than become one of those veterinary professionals for whom death is something to be very clinical and disconnected from. If I didn't do this job, then my usefulness to Skuld and the other Nornir would be limited. I offer Her blood because it is my life-source and carries my energy within it. It's not something that I give lightly (and I have this terrible internal struggle about whether or not to donate blood or plasma because of that) and when I do use blood for other things it's only a few drops. Skuld gets a few mls straight from my veins, clotted and thick in a little dish. Blood is an interesting thing, and I spill the blood of others in so many different little ways at work, both literally and figuratively. But spilling my own is not something that I do except for certain deities and spirits, in certain situations. Blood forms a connection between you and whatever you have used it for/with, and that's something that can be used purposefully.

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                  #9
                  Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

                  Work, mostly-the sweaty, muscle burning toil under a burning sun. The (sort of) local Pagan group does monthly beach clean ups that Phee and participate in, plus we'll be volunteering at a local state park starting next month. Since most of the deities I work with are personified in the landscape, offerings are pretty practical. We will occasionally do food offerings indoors, in conjunction with a meal, but we do not do people food offerings outdoors for a variety of reasons, starting with the wildlife it attracts.

                  We feed an outdoor cat that Phee befriended "for Bast, mommy" (though they named her Purrsephone) and she mostly lives on our porch...it seems to have cut down on the number of dead bats, lizards, and shrews we've found (she was here before we got here). Phee and Scott almost have her to the point that I think we might be able to take her to the vet without trapping her (they can pick her up and she trots over to them when she sees them like a dog...she's even let Collin pet her and the dog sniff her). We'd try to transition her to indoors, but we are already (with permission) 2 pets over the pet limit AND she doesn't like the other cats.
                  Last edited by thalassa; 10 Aug 2016, 01:15.
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                    #10
                    Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

                    Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                    Work, mostly-the sweaty, muscle burning toil under a burning sun. The (sort of) local Pagan group does monthly beach clean ups that Phee and participate in, plus we'll be volunteering at a local state park starting next month. Since most of the deities I work with are personified in the landscape, offerings are pretty practical. We will occasionally do food offerings indoors, in conjunction with a meal, but we do not do people food offerings outdoors for a variety of reasons, starting with the wildlife it attracts.

                    We feed an outdoor cat that Phee befriended "for Bast, mommy" (though they named her Purrsephone) and she mostly lives on our porch...it seems to have cut down on the number of dead bats, lizards, and shrews we've found (she was here before we got here). Phee and Scott almost have her to the point that I think we might be able to take her to the vet without trapping her (they can pick her up and she trots over to them when she sees them like a dog...she's even let Collin pet her and the dog sniff her). We'd try to transition her to indoors, but we are already (with permission) 2 pets over the pet limit AND she doesn't like the other cats.
                    With your efforts in "befriending" the outdoor cat,it takes a lot of patience. it took me almost 4 months to get an outdoor cat(that also had kittens) to allow me to even pet her. After about 5 months I got to pick her and her kittens up. I found a person to take the kittens,and was able to put the mother in a carrier for my daughter to take her home. it took my daughter almost 2 months at home where the cat did not run and hide,but after about 2 1/2 months the cat came to her seeking attention(daughter feed her personally) My daughter and the cat are now almost inseparable. The cat comes and sits on her lap while she is on the computer. Cats choose you,not the other way around,as all true cat people know..
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                      #11
                      Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

                      Some people consider Hindus pagans, even one Hindu I know does, so I'll jump in here. Especially since I still have one foot in Heathenry with Thor.

                      When I offer to Thor, it is usually beer or mead. When I find a better place to make his shrine a little roomier, I'll probably offer some food items like meat. That is disposed of without consuming.

                      For the Hindu deities, in a completely separate shrine, I offer several items. I do my puja (worship ritual) in Sanskrit. When offering, the format I use is om sri krishna [item] samarpayaami. Literally "Sri Krishna [item] I offer" (all mantras or offerings usually being with om), along with prayers:
                      • The lighting of an oil lamp [deepam];
                      • Incense or camphor [dhoopam or karpooram];
                      • Water [achamaniyam];
                      • Fruit [phalam, p-halam not falam];
                      • Flower(s) [pushpam];
                      • Milk or curd (yogurt/cottage cheese) [ksheera or ksheerasaaram];
                      • A small bit of freshly cooked vegetarian food [naivedyam];
                      • Uncooked rice colored with turmeric [akshatam, which is an offering that is the greatest offering, and can be used when no other is available].
                      • Apologies, ask for forgiveness [kshamapanam].

                      It can actually be as simple as offering the light, incense, and devotion [bhaktim]. Some pujas are what I consider "out of control", with up to 27 items offered. But Krishna says "If one offers me with devotion a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water, I will accept it". He's not demanding at all (none of the gods are, loving them is enough ).

                      The food items are consumed as prasad, blessed food.
                      śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
                      śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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                        #12
                        Re: Things we use as offerings and perhaps why we use them as a personal choice

                        Originally posted by anunitu View Post
                        With your efforts in "befriending" the outdoor cat,it takes a lot of patience. it took me almost 4 months to get an outdoor cat(that also had kittens) to allow me to even pet her. After about 5 months I got to pick her and her kittens up. I found a person to take the kittens,and was able to put the mother in a carrier for my daughter to take her home. it took my daughter almost 2 months at home where the cat did not run and hide,but after about 2 1/2 months the cat came to her seeking attention(daughter feed her personally) My daughter and the cat are now almost inseparable. The cat comes and sits on her lap while she is on the computer. Cats choose you,not the other way around,as all true cat people know..
                        Yup, people are similar. Emotional damage may make them attach to people more easily out of desperation, or less easily out of lack of trust, but betrayal has a far greater impact on cats than, say, dogs who will (unfortunately) take a lot of crap before saying 'no more'.

                        I've always been a cat person, as in I'm picky about cats but prefer them, whilst most cats seem to like me, and I know when I rescue a kitten that it will be one that chooses me!
                        I'm not one to ever pray for mercy
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                        And I thought of you only
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