On Offerings

This morning, as I was making pancakes, I began to think about offerings. Every Sunday, I make pancakes for the family, and one of them goes into the offering bowl for our house-wight.

Yesterday, on G+, an atheist I have circled posted a link to an article about Richard Dawkins. It excerpted parts of a letter he had written to his (then) ten year old daughter on the importance of critical thinking, and of having evidence for all things, rather than blind belief in them. Now, normally I very intensely dislike Dawkins, as his whole approach to atheism tends to be "I'm right, and you're an idiot." But the excerpts in this article were very good, and very well written. They made me think.

So, back to where I started: Offerings. In light of teaching critical thinking skills to my offspring, why should I teach her to make offerings to a house spirit that many would argue doesn't exist? Adherance to tradition? Honestly, that's really not a good answer. Belief? I hate that word, as it has become one of the most loaded terms in our modern lexicon (but I'll save that rant for another entry).

But there are other good reasons to make offerings, whether to a house wight, or to gods, ancestors, or landwights. Reciprocity. Generosity. Thankfulness.

Reciprocity is doing something for someone who has done something for you. It should usually be in equal measure or value to what you recieved, to the best of your ability. It naturally goes hand in hand with thankfulness, because it recognizes the value of what you recieved.
These are things that can be debated in light of one's opinion of the reality of these beings (wight just means "being" or "entity", btw), but if one behaves as though they are real and have an effect on the world, then teaching this attitude of reciprocity, of thankfulness to them is good - and useful when dealing with other people. If we get in the habit of saying thank you for favours done, of sharing a drink, or giving a gift, then we increase our worth as citizens. So long as we don't become trapped in the thought that we only do this for gods/ancestors/wights and not for people, we ourselves become better people.

Generosity also reflects this. In making offerings, we should always be generous - though not so generous as to bring harm to ourselves. Don't be stingy. Share. Again, a useful attitude to cultivate in society, whether to human or other wights. Giving generously when you are able increases the chances that others will be generous with you. We don't necessarily *need* to give a pancake to our house-wight. But we do, because doing so makes it more likely that favours will be done for us, perhaps something we thought lost will be found, or perhaps we will have fewer troubles with all the little things that seem to go wrong in a house.

These actions cultivate a culture of charity, that only benefits the world as a whole. If we teach these things early, then their value is learned and ingrained, even if the child grows up deciding that theism and spirits are a lot of hooey.

A Prayer to the Dawn

This morning as I was headed to the bus stop to begin my hour-and-a-half journey to work, I saw the most beautiful sunrise over the mountains to the (duh!) East. The sky was clear except for some light clouds which were tinged with pink and orange. Around the mountains they were a little misty, but there were two streamers of cloud a little further out. I was inspired, and came up with this:

Hail to the Queen of the Morning
Hail to the Lady of the Dawn
With your orange and pink ribbons fluttering across the sky
As you usher and guide the sun,
Glory of Elves,
As it begins it's journey across the heavens.
Hail Beautiful Morning Lady
Hail Daughter of the Sky
Hail Eostre!

A Ramble

Okay, so as a bit of background, I am a polytheist. Most commonly I refer to myself as either a pagan or a heathen, though I am a member of two of the largest Druid organizations in the world, as well as being the current Guildmaster for the Ritual and Lore Guild of the Heathen Freehold Society of British Columbia.

In short, I believe that the old gods are real, manifest beings, as worthy of worship today as they ever were historically. Most of the gods I choose to worship are those of my Anglo-Saxon or my Irish ancestors. The two I pay most attention to are Brigid of the Irish, and Thunor (Thor) of the Anglo-Saxon.

Last week, we went to my in-laws on Vancouver Island to celebrate Christmas with them, the same as we do every year. The journey went well, though we missed our ferry reservation going over by about seven minutes. Fortunately, the wait was short - only one sailing. On tha way back, it was similar - we missed getting on the first boat (no reservation this time) literally by one car. The car directly in front of us was the very last one to be let on that boat. But that was okay, because we got on the very next sailing.

Normally before bed, I pour out my daily offering of coffee to Brigid, stand outside with my Hammer and say good night to Seaxneat, Tiw, and Dagda Mor. Then I say good night to Woden and his wife Frigga. Lastly I say good night to Thunor, before heading inside and to bed. When I get inside, I lock the door and say a small prayer of thanks to Syn, one of Frigga's handmaidens, she who guards the door to Frigga's hall.

Last night, as I was doing my usual good nights to the gods, I decided to lay out some offerings in thanks. It had, after all, beena pretty good trip, overall. So I took out a small packet of oatmeal for Thunor, and one of those 'Icy Squares' chocolates. I love those, they're my favourite chocolates. First I lay out the chocolate, with a small word of thanks - to no one in particular - than the oatmeal, specifically for Thunor. In the back of my head, though, I could 'hear' Frigga very firmly laying claim to the chocolate. I almost laughed out loud.

My relationship with her has been a bit of an odd one. I suspect that she has a very strong interest in me, in being a patron (not a matron) goddess, but she doesn't like Brigid much. It's almost as though she's jealous. Which is funny, really, because Brigid and I aren't all that close, not the way she is with some worshippers. But she does have a very close eye on my daughter, Stardancer.

Anyway, that's my rambling story for the day. Hope you enjoyed it. :-)