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    how do you dispose of offerings?

    A conversation in another thread sparked my curiousity, for those who do offerings : what do you do with them when you're done? Why do you do that?
    I remember after my first offering, not really being sure how to proceed
    Most of my offerings are in the form of song or poetry now, but there's a bread or an apple for Freyr once in a while. I figured the best thing to do with it would be giving it back to nature, but digging a hole in the garden would, I suspect, amuse my 80 neighbours with whom I share it. Now I use things that can safely be fed to the birds afterwards.
    What do you do?
    You remind me of the babe
    What babe?
    The babe with the power
    What power?
    The Power of voodoo
    Who do?
    You do!
    Do what?
    Remind me of the babe!

    Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

    #2
    Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

    It depends on the offering and who I do it for. Candles I just throw away once they've burned out. With wine offerings, I pour them out down the sink, because I don't think it will be good for the soil (I'm not sure, but better safe than sorry). I had read that with Kemetic deities, offerings must be consumed (if I'm wrong, someone please correct me). So, when I do offerings to Bast, I drink the water and eat the dark chocolate that I've offered to Her.
    Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

    Honorary Nord.

    Habbalah Vlogs

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      #3
      Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

      Generally I leave them out for however long they last without going bad then consume them. Candle wax I tend to keep in case I need it at some point or discard. With water I some times use to water plants. It depends. I'm not sure if it's just me, but food and drink that's been used as an offering has a peculiar flavor. It's not staleness. I've tasted staleness before. There's just something not there. The physical substance has not disappeared, but something is simply not there.

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        #4
        Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

        I chuck them in the bin. Well... when I use offerings that need disposing of, that is. Most of my offerings don't require disposal - blood, tears, artwork, spinning and stitching. But if I offer something else, it goes in the bin or down the sink afterwards. I see offerings as the energy of the substance. Once the deity has accepted the energy of the bread (for example) then the bread that's left is just an empty husk and it doesn't really matter what you do with it. If I offer something consumable to my deities, it's generally alcohol or milk, so it's not something that I can really consume after having left it out for 24 hours.

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          #5
          śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
          śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ

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            #6
            Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

            I offer incense, wine, and fruit every day. The wine poured into the libation bowl I take downstairs and pour onto the soil; the rest of the wine and the fruit I have for dinner. On festivals, I may add flowers: when they begin to fade I just bin them, as we don't have a compost heap. Eating what you offer is standard in China and, I believe, India, and was usual in ancient Egypt. In Greek temples, sacrifices were burnt / eaten on the spot / sold to the butchers, depending on the festival. Pouring libations on the soil is pretty common around the world. To me it always seems rude to pour them down the sink, but if you don't have any soil, that would have to do.

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              #7
              Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

              Recycled or thrown-away (I'd compost if I could), if it is a material offering that is not completely used up. I don't put food outdoors for an offering (or after), pretty much ever...and I don't use alcohol for offerings outdoors (maybe I would if I didn't live in the US, but its pretty disrespectful to the land here) where they would be poured on the ground.

              I have a friend that buys a bag (or can) of cat food and puts it on her altar (unopened) for Bast, and then donates it afterwards to an animal shelter. Usually though, my offering is in the form of work, not stuff...but if it was going to be material, I'd try to find something like this. Art supplies for a god of the arts, toys for a goddess of children, etc...and then donate it. Perhaps untraditional, but useful IRL too.
              Last edited by thalassa; 01 Dec 2015, 10:30.
              Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                #8
                Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

                Originally posted by iris View Post
                A conversation in another thread sparked my curiosity, for those who do offerings : what do you do with them when you're done? Why do you do that?
                If it's burnt offerings, I collect the ashes and remains in a small container. At the new moon, I dedicate the offscourings to Hekate and go and bury them at a crossroads. Libations are poured onto the ground at some point--whether directly, or after being poured into a dish during a ritual. Votive offerings, like a chunk of bread or meat that isn't burned, I usually place somewhere outside where it will decompose on its own.

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                  #9
                  Re: how do you dispose of offerings?

                  Originally posted by Louisvillian View Post
                  If it's burnt offerings, I collect the ashes and remains in a small container. At the new moon, I dedicate the offscourings to Hekate and go and bury them at a crossroads. Libations are poured onto the ground at some point--whether directly, or after being poured into a dish during a ritual. Votive offerings, like a chunk of bread or meat that isn't burned, I usually place somewhere outside where it will decompose on its own.
                  I've been meaning to ask, what counts as a crossroads these days? An intersection of some kind? I know these paths began with the ways of people who lived before modern urban environments, cars, and mass transit and having to connect with the earth more is something I desire, but it can be quite a hassle to find good old fashioned crossroads around here.

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