I am aware that different traditions will have different things to do. Like for me if I was giving say Coffee as an offering I would do a spell to "send the energy of the offering" to the spirit, then I would pour it into earth as a representing of it being sent. You going through the earth and all that, but I have someone who is giving an offering to a spirit, they are not able to practice openly so say living something on a make-shift altar would not work. And how the spirit would traditionally want the offering given can not be done as this person leaves no where near the locations that the offerings to this spirit would be traditionally given. What could they do for an alterative? This spirit is going to assist them though it wants an offering of wine/ some kind of alcohol, which this person is able to get as they are of the drinking age. Any suggestions?
Re: Do you drink the offering By: Spirit76 / Novice
Post # 3 Nov 23, 2023
Hmm... figured out on your end, but a worthy question to ponder nevertheless.
Drinking/eating the offering might be a viable option for certain situations, though in very limited cases. There are some practices where a person might 'share a meal' with the entity they communicate with, for example. Choosing to invite the deity to join them for the meal and share the experience. Perhaps going as in-depth as to mindfully taking a bite of the offering while defining the elves as being that deity in-body for that moment. Allowing the entity to 'eat' through you.
Another option might be to give away the sacrifice to someone as a gift, to your deity glory/in their name. Something that brings the attention of a new person to your deity name and presence. Tricky, and would ry on social acumen to be sure the person would accept the gift while recognizing where it came from. But willfully taking that risk and effort for your deity would effectively embody the offering you are making.
My third thought would be to si.ply dispose of the offering after it has been made. Consciously recognize you are giving up the value of the offering and dedicating the time and effort spent in acquiring and presenting it. Once offered it is no longer yours. You do not own it any more, so be rid of it.
Bear in mind that what makes an offering, well, an offering has very little to do with the itemitself (Beyond what the entity finds appealing). It has to do with the energy and effort you expended in presenting it. You are denying yourself of the value of something you have made, bought or earned and dedicating that value to something else. This is why traditional offerings (which might seem easy to get nowadays) we're of things that had value or took time and effort to make. Beer/ale was important for survival because boiled water that has alcohol in it resists bacteria- well water was a notorious source for sickness. Most farmers brewed their own from their own crops to sustain their families. Finer alcohols were expensive luxuries. Fresh food, especially fruits and meat, were items of survival that were not always available but still had a portion given away even under threat of going without as a result. Bread was hand made at home, from literal scratch right down to grinding the wheat into flower yourself- an hours long, very physically demanding effort on it's own. And also a basic supporting staple of most diets so they were important things to have to give up.
Consider the word sacrifice and where the emphasis is placed. It means 'to give something up'; you are denying yourself something. Not to 'give something to someone else'- that would be a gift.
