wickedlittlecritta
Full Member
A tempest in a teacup
Posts: 169
Pronouns: she/her
Religion: Gaelic polytheist
|
Post by wickedlittlecritta on Feb 15, 2015 11:03:33 GMT -6
I'm curious to see how other people dispose of food offerings. I haven't really done any since disposal is kind of a problem--the only method I know of is burying, and with several feet of snow and/or frozen ground for a good six months of the year, that's pretty impractical. My only other thought was adding it to our manure/compost pile, but there are always birds snooping through that (and occasionally my naughty dog), so I'm not sure how good an idea that is.
So how do you guys deal with it, if you do food offerings?
|
|
Ciar Lionheart
Junior Member
And I love you like a mountain.
Posts: 89
Pronouns: Ey/Em or He/Him
Religion: Irish Polytheist
|
Post by Ciar Lionheart on Feb 15, 2015 14:36:20 GMT -6
I normally do the burying thing too, or at least, I do this in theory, I have the same six-months-of-snow-or-frozen-dirt problem too. I tend to collect up the stuff that I'm going to be disposing of in a bowl and deal with a bunch of it at once. I've buried them in the snow before—the usual methods are burning, burial, or drowning, and I figure burying something in snow counts as either burying or drowning or both.
Putting offerings in your compost pile sounds like a great idea to me tbh, it's not like birds and animals wouldn't be snooping through whatever you bury in regular dirt too.
|
|
aondeug
Full Member
Posts: 141
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers, He/Him/His
Religion: Thai Theravada, Irish polytheism
|
Post by aondeug on Feb 15, 2015 14:59:09 GMT -6
I tend to bury mine. I have drowned some before, but I live rather far from things like rivers and oceans and what not. So that was a special thing specific to an ocean trip. I would like to burn them, but alas I can't. Even burning candles isn't really a thing I can do because my grandmother has a very reasonable fear of fire (her house almost burned down as a kid). So burying it is.
|
|
|
|
Post by brimstonne on Feb 15, 2015 15:19:00 GMT -6
I tend to put my offerings outside, and let nature do what it wants with it. To me burying/burning/drowning seems...wasteful? (for lack of a better word?) For granted it might also be because Ive had to make do with no fires (my mom is convinced I will burn the house down) or rivers or anything, and if I bury it my dogs will get it anyways? So I usually put it under a tree or something similar, as a way of taking care of nature. Ive never gotten the 'DONT DO THAT THATS DISRESPECTFUL" vibe afterwards (and it may just be because again, not really able to do the other things)
I think adding it to your compost pile is a good idea, because its kind of the same as burying it? Honestly this is one of the things where I feel like you should do what feels right to you, follow your gut on it. If the compost pile feels right, do that. If it doesnt feel right, or doesnt feel respectful to you then dont.
|
|
|
|
Post by saintfelicity on Feb 15, 2015 15:50:27 GMT -6
Well just now I jigged out to the back porch and chucked today's cocoa and cookies in to a bush because it's well below zero with windchill - but normally I put them in my little compost pile, or bury them in the snow above where the pile is.
|
|
wickedlittlecritta
Full Member
A tempest in a teacup
Posts: 169
Pronouns: she/her
Religion: Gaelic polytheist
|
Post by wickedlittlecritta on Feb 15, 2015 16:32:30 GMT -6
Putting offerings in your compost pile sounds like a great idea to me tbh, it's not like birds and animals wouldn't be snooping through whatever you bury in regular dirt too. True. XD Really the only thing about the compost pile that was giving me pause was the animals getting into it, but I suppose I can try burying it in there and seeing how it goes. (Burning sounds dangerous let's not do that.) |
|
|
|
Post by Allec on Feb 15, 2015 17:10:13 GMT -6
I am limited in both my agoraphobia and that I live in an apartment complex...But I mostly try to put the offerings off the side of my balcony into a bush below (thus I stay safe within my "apartment" but can still put offerings outside.) Otherwise, I have been burning things inside on/off but my fiance has a phobia of fires so I try to be reasonable haha. I would like to do bigger bonfires someday, especially if/when I get a house with a private yard  |
|
Ciar Lionheart
Junior Member
And I love you like a mountain.
Posts: 89
Pronouns: Ey/Em or He/Him
Religion: Irish Polytheist
|
Post by Ciar Lionheart on Feb 15, 2015 23:08:06 GMT -6
I live right near a river (I love my river, it's the lifeblood of my city, it's very important to me) so one of these days in decent weather when the river isn't completely frozen over—so, not until April probably—I'm going to wander down there with a pile of things to get rid of and drop them all in. Disposing of an offering to my deities and making an offering to my city all in one. <3
|
|
Echtrai
Newbie
Away indefinitely (I'll probably be back, I always come back) - feel free to leave me a message
Posts: 26
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Religion: Gaelic Polytheism
|
Post by Echtrai on Feb 16, 2015 1:09:28 GMT -6
When I lived in Montana I ALSO had the problem with frozen ground and I just sat out there and hacked at it with a trowel until I made a divot and then covered it with a rock haha, it's NOT a method I recommend. But I was limited in tools and location (apartment complex near a park). I had a river near me though and I often went out and gave offerings to/in it when it wasn't frozen (and once when it was). Now, I'm actually semi-closeted living with my mother-in-law and most of my offerings are small or not-physical. The few food offerings I've been able to give I've been burying. Having a yard makes it much easier. I was excited about getting our own house and being able to burn things, but there are really strict fire restrictions in the city I'm in because of pollution. Fires have to be for cooking only and extinguished as soon as they're no longer being used and such. So I'll have to figure out something I can cook every week or something that required an open fire, haha. The thing about leaving offerings where animals can get into them is the belief that the gods, spirits and ancestors remove the "toradh" or spiritual substance from the food and so consuming it yourself afterward would be detrimental to your health. So to some it's best not to let animals into it either for the same reason. The citation for that all is Evans-Wentz's The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries: But I mean when you bury something, or do anything with it that ISN'T burning, bugs are going to get into it at the very least, let alone birds and squirrels and whatever else. I've read things that specifically make the point that domestic animals shouldn't be allowed to get into the offerings, and that's the rule I kinda stick by as they're part of the household. |
|
|
|
Post by TheModernSouthernPolytheist on Feb 17, 2015 0:43:35 GMT -6
When I offer something like cream, I pour it at the base of a tree in my front yard. Not true burial, per se, but there's a hole in the base of the tree and then what runs out absorbs into the ground. If I leave something solid, I often try to leave it inside the tree as a form of burial. Some mornings, however, I don't have cream or something's gone haywire and I actually offer a little cologne (totes trad, btw) by spritzing it into the fire of the candle I light while saying prayers. Offerings are supposed to be something valuable and cologne is one of the few true luxury items I allow myself, so it seems very fitting to me. Not to mention, it's technically being burned, soooo....
|
|
seamu5
Junior Member
Posts: 55 
Pronouns: Barbarian
Religion: Gaelic Polytheism
|
Post by seamu5 on Feb 17, 2015 6:36:11 GMT -6
I burn alcohol and non food offerings. While I'll leave the food out for animals.
|
|
Jace
Newbie
finding nonbinary S.O. names is dreadfully difficult.
Posts: 43
Pronouns: They/them
Religion: Gaelic Polytheist
|
Post by Jace on Feb 21, 2015 22:10:41 GMT -6
I tend to leave most of my offerings out near running water in some manner. During the winter I walk it out onto ice and leave it in the cracks, during warmer weather I'll leave it where the water can take it away but not somewhere that it immediately disappears from sight. Usually, I refrain from the use of alcohol directly into running water, though, to prevent the potential poisoning of animals in the immediate vicinity. Despite that not being a problem for any of the party boats I've seen.
|
|
veritywhitethorn
Junior Member
Posts: 60
Pronouns: She/her
Religion: Celtic polytheist
|
Post by veritywhitethorn on Feb 22, 2015 2:54:04 GMT -6
I often just pour things—mead, wine, tea—out onto the ground outside our back door (it's paved, but we own the house, and it's old anyway); milk or cream I will pour into a pot plant or more directly onto the garden proper (so it doesn't stink in the heat). I used to just chuck out the bread and things into the garden too but then my husband said he saw a rat one time, and it's not like the possums really need much further encouragement to visit my garden and get tempted by my plants, so, I stopped doing that so often.  Composting things is a great idea though. Mind you most of my offerings are in the form of candles and incense, so they kind of dispose of themselves. |
|
Windy
Newbie
Posts: 31 
Pronouns: She/Her
Religion: irish polytheism
|
Post by Windy on Feb 23, 2015 8:02:27 GMT -6
I remember reading that in many native American traditions it was taboo to pour alcohol into the earth because it poisoned the land. Native American religions are closed, of course, but I think it's important, for those of us in the USA, to respect the traditions of those who worship the spirits of this land, so maybe the best way to dispose of alcoholic offerings is to let them evaporate or burn them.
Edit: here's the quote from paganachd.com/faqs/ritual.html
"The offering of alcoholic drinks is somewhat controversial. It is clear from Celtic lore that many deities and spirits may appreciate offerings of mead and ale. However, those of us living in the Americas are conscious of the fact that many First Nations people feel it is taboo to pour alcohol on the earth, as it is seen as poison."
|
|
veritywhitethorn
Junior Member
Posts: 60
Pronouns: She/her
Religion: Celtic polytheist
|
Post by veritywhitethorn on Feb 23, 2015 17:48:11 GMT -6
Hmm, interesting. I live in Australia; I'm not sure what the indigenous/First Peoples' view is about this. I'll have to look into it, it's something I hadn't considered before!
|
|
Composting things is a great idea though. Mind you most of my offerings are in the form of candles and incense, so they kind of dispose of themselves. 