O is for Offerings

This post will focus mainly on how I leave offerings.  There are, of course, a variety of ways of leaving offerings, but if you’re a kitchen witch, what do you do?  No one wants to just leave a bunch of food lying around on the altar, right?  It can spoil quickly, and who wants to offer spoiled food to the Divine?  It can also attract all sorts of unsavory creatures like fruit flies. 

Now, at Samhain, I will leave some food out for the spirits of the departed, but usually only while we eat.  What do you do with the leftovers, then?  You can either bury them or compost them, depending on the food items offered.   The dead feast upon the essence of the food rather than the physical ‘vittles’, anyway.

For a kitchen altar, I have made miniature food items out of polymer clay.  Pictures or other artificial food items can be used to represent the earth’s bounty. 

The way that I tend to send offerings to the Divine and to the spirits of loved ones is by burning representations of those objects.  I may write a letter or draw a picture or cut out pictures of food or flowers or whatever fits the purpose at the time.   To me, burning offerings is an excellent way of sending their essences to where they need to go.  I believe that the intent and message is sent through the smoke via the wind.  I have a little cast iron pot (my cauldron) that I use especially for burning offerings.

The next time you want to offer something but do not want to set out actual food or objects that might be stolen, try burning.  If you don’t have a pot, use a coffee can with some sand or dirt in the bottom, or go out in the driveway.