Leaving Offerings
Picture from Kate’s Magik
Hello there! We’re back to Monday’s! Let’s chat a little about Offerings and all the ways we can do them. Whether you are leaving them for a God/Goddess/Deity or an Ancestor makes no difference objectively.
Why? Offerings are not only an act of support, acknowledgement, and appreciation. It is also how you give a bit of energy to those already doing their best to show up and make a way for you. Think of it like this, you have a preformance of some sort during intermission there’s water and fruit before your next call. This grants you the energy needed to continue to give it your all as well as showing you that the community/industry values and cares about the effort and labor it takes for you to be there giving it your best, it’s a small act of consideration. It’s inherently easier to do more for someone when you can tell they care as well as them helping you, help them! Divinity may not be tied to Earth the way we are, but they still want to feel considered.
What can be an offering? Literally anything. Some common one’s we hear of are abstinence (either for a duration or life long), prayer, food, water, and alcohol (there’s a reason liquor stores are called Spirits). Regardless there is no wrong way to necessarily give an offering. You can write, you can sing, you can dance, you can offer an act of devotion, tobacco, candy, exercise, etc.
Use Consideration. As I mentioned, there isn’t necessarily a wrong or right way to give an offering. What you should do though, is be intentional and consider what offerings may be well received to whoever you’re giving it to. For example, most religions have the concept of “love thy neighbor”. Let’s say you feel victimized by the church for some reason, an offering could look like volunteer work once a week or finding a way to be of service to others. Let’s say the deity of your choice has an association with creativity, your offering could look like leaving them or creating poetry or art in dedication to them. Let’s say you have an aunt who loved getting her hair done and always knew a guy to help with something, as she became an ancestor she has brought you aid through community or networking. You also had a grandfather who often was great with money and his cup of coffee was almost apart of his personality. As an ancestor he’s always helped you keep your finances up by swinging you opportunities. You may leave coffee grounds or a cup of coffee out for your grandfather and notice it’s well received. That does not mean your aunt would want that same thing, you may notice her cup of coffee looks untouched while your grandfather’s cup is empty. Coffee does not matter or hold importance to her, essentially you gave a football player an art kit for Christmas. It’s a gift, just not a considerate or intentional one. Instead you may go get your hair done or use a comb similar to what your aunt had to leave on her altar instead. Maintaining your hair may be more important to her as it was something she loved to do when she was alive. This is what I mean by being considerate of what your offering and to whom.
When? If you are asking a quick favor from Divinity then usually they prefer their offerings before they help, I would suggest you do some research about what they enjoy to offer appropriately. If you want to foster a long lasting connection with this being of divinity then you may still need to do the research, but now you may not always need to place the offering with an ask. Your mom feeds you whether you did her a favor or not, right? Though you don’t necessarily have to offering something daily or come up with grandoise offering either. More often than not, they understand what limitations we’re experiencing. Offer something you feel like you can genuinely maintain. Daily prayer, your skincare routine, studying a new skill monthly, perishables weekly (fruit, coffee, a shot, a home cooked meal, etc). Divinity tends to love intention and consistency which are the two main factors making something ritualistic. They may even have certain time periods they prefer (morning/night, a day of the week, etc) you’ll find a way when you do the research to help cultivate a ritual for long term practice.
Discarding Offerings. Some offerings don’t need to be discarded like prayer, dance, or art work. They just may want you to set the scene or decorate the space, you can clean up when you’re done because divinity does appreciate a clean space. Because of that, things like food offerings you will need to keep an eye on. We live on earth and of course left out perishables can attract unwanted ‘guests’. In the space that I am in (an apartment) I prefer to do a weekly candle (tea light) every Sunday which I sometimes dress and dispose of at the end of the night or a shot glass of either water or a liquor, weekly. Now I personally believe that you need to be attentive to your offerings in the same way of being attentive to the signs spirit gives you to understand whether they like them or not. Those signals may be different for each individual. If the glass becomes empty I know this is a sign they enjoyed and appreciated the offering. I have had a moment where they have changed the color of a drink (originally a white wine kind of light yellow to a sky blue) overnight which I took as a “HELL NO — Don’t like it” lol. Other times if food you may notice the food looking untouched or it is stuck to the plate — usually a good sign while if you see molding (regardless of practical points, like I said blue wine overnight) it’s an overt no and should be replaced. Toss them with a word of gratitude and tidy up the space or item, then if it’s in your practice refresh them.
The more you show up the more you’ll be aware of the when and what’s. I think this is a good place to stop but of course if you were ever still curious or had more questions, Witch Talk is available! Also Happy Labor Day everyone!
