Let's Make a Deal Deity Edition!

Chapter 10 addresses the idea of making offerings.  The concept of an offering to a deity is not a new concept.  I’ve seen Buddhists light incense ritually for a specific purpose.  I’ve seen Catholics light candles and pray for a specific person in need.  I’ve offered some of my cakes and ale after a ritual to the spirits.  I tend to think of all these practices under the same umbrella.  They are all ways to pay homage to metaphysical entities and attune with spiritual forces! That's right--all similar practices from different religions and philosophies.

                Unlike some misguided or misinformed concepts of offerings, Wiccans like me don’t make offerings of living beings.  That certainly does not fall under the notion of harm none.  I read an article over the holidays about a body being found in India and that the body was suspected to have been used in some sort of ancient blood sacrifice.  This kind of practice should never be done under the name of Wicca from what I can tell because I don’t think the Goddess would take very kindly to us killing something in Her name.  I even mutter or at the very least think, “thank you” when I harvest herbs and vegetables!  As for eating meat—I would love it if I could say thanks before the slaughter of an animal.  I wish I could say a blessing over the poor beastie who is on my grill, but I am not made for hunting.  At the very least I can say thanks and merry met after the fact.  I can also try to get meat from producers who use best practices like no hormone, grass fed, free range etc.  I don’t equate harming none with following a vegetarian diet because I have concluded that I am an omnivore who needs meat protein.  But I digress.

                Anyhoo-offering thanks helps maintain a thankfulness that I wish more people held sacred.  Whether you say thanks by lighting incense, putting a little food in a dish or just saying simple, “thanks” to people who do something kind I think it keeps our spirits high.  It gives us something to remember when we are feeling low.  It helps us recall all the positives in our life when we are feeling beaten and battered.  At work when I am feeling utterly hopeless or useless, it helps me to send positive notes.  Saying thank you and praising the people at work helps me remember how wonderful they are and how important my role is in their lives and vice versa.  I LOVE writing thank you notes.  I think this is fast becoming a lost practice.  I am finding more and more people who think a thank you note is unimportant or unnecessary as long as you say thanks next time you see the person.  Well, if you see the person regularly, maybe.  But if he or she lives states or even countries away, you can make their day by taking that time and it just might make you feel warm and fuzzy too.  Clearly there are a myriad of ways to be thankful and if you’re not into thanking a God, at least be thankful in your attitude.

By the way, I appreciate every one of my readers.  Thank you and BB.