Offerings are a pagan practice that go back to the beginning of worshiping a greater power. The Aryans offered huge amounts of clarified butter to Agni, god of Fire, and rice balls to their ancestors. Animals, portions of harvests, precious metals, time, love, people… our ancestors saw the gods as deserving of all of these things. I hear offerings mentioned often in beginning books about paganism and wicca, but they never seem to go into much detail, which left me confused about what the heck I was supposed to do. What goes with an offering? How often should I make them? What do I give for an offering, anyway? Over time, and as I read more and got the feeling for my own practices, I started to realize how offerings fit into my own personal idea of celebrating the gods.
I think the first, most important thing to say about offerings is that they are the best way to show your appreciation for the gods and all that they give you. But I say thank you all the time!, you say. I call them into my circle and thank them for showing up, and every now and then I think about what I’m grateful for. Well, really, that’s nice, but that is not always enough. Our gods aren’t demanding (generally), so we don’t have to sacrifice a lot to them, but the important thing about offerings is the effort that you put into them. Effort is what truly shows our gratitude, so giving something that is harder for you to give is more meaningful. Makes sense, right? But little things matter, and show that you’re thinking of them, and that you care and appreciate their presence in your life.
So, what kind of stuff am I talking about? Where are my concrete examples? Here are a couple that I have either tried or read about and think would be meaningful.
– Start small, finding out what kinds of foods are associated with your deity and offering those can be a very simple way of showing gratitude, because you took the time to find that information about them. And what do you do with it? Leave it out during a ritual or prayer time. DO NOT let it go bad or get stale or sour. Throw it out in the garbage if that is your only option, or you can try and dispose of it in nature too if it isn’t poisonous or a non-native plant.
– Make something that makes you think of the deity you are making the offering to, and leave that on your altar for them. This is a personal gesture that takes a fair amount of effort, and you can use the entire process of making it as a prayer or meditation as well.
– Some deities are associated with certain animals, especially as sacrificing. Since pretty much everyone does not perform animal sacrifice anymore, this is a practice that we usually can’t do for them. Another way to still incorporate the animal into the ritual as an offering is to find a picture of the animal and either leave it on the altar, or burn it in the spirit of offering it.
– If your deity has a specific cause that may be close to their heart, make a donation to it. If you’re talking to Papa Legba, for example, make a donation to an aid organization in Haiti. If you’re giving to Kuan Yin, the Red Cross or any organization that provides humanitarian aide would be appropriate. Artemis might merit a donation to the ASPCA. Demeter or abundance deities may appreciate a donation to Heifer International. You get the idea.
– In a similar vein to donating money, if you don’t have the $20 to donate, do your best to donate time instead because as they say, time is money. The same sort of idea applies to the time.
If you plan on leaving the offering altar set up for some time, if it were a devotional altar or the like, make sure you keep it clean. Dust, get rid of burned out candles, don’t set your keys on it, and make sure that you spend some time at it. Setting out the altar is the first step, but spending time at it is the most important thing. Don’t worry too much about not being completely sure what to offer, but know that the more you do it, the more confident you will become, and the more your relationship with your deity will deepen.
