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Hi there,

I hope this is the right place for this.
In the past weeks I made offerings in the forest, one of milk and honey, dedicated to the spirits of the place, and one of cake, dedicated to one particular aspect of the goddess. I placed my offerings at my personal place in the woods where I meditate and perform rituals. It is a very quiet place where almost no people go, but a lot of animals live nearby, foxes, at least one badger, boars. As I came there again on the next day, the food was intact, which I found surprising because of the animals. I had expected they would eat it. Now I have read that elementals use to absorb the essence of foods, so that they physically stay there, but have no energy left. Could it be that animals aren't interested in such food? Or did they feel that this was not for them, or that the place is a special one? Or do you have some other explanation? I just can't figure out that a bowl of fresh milk stays 24 hours intact in a forest full of wildlife.

If the living essence of the food is gone then there's no reason for the animals to eat it. I've heard of animals getting sick after eating ritual offerings but I've not seen it personally. I put offerings on my Ancestral Alter and I put them outside when done. I've never seen any of it actually eaten.

Where did you read that elementals stay in one place because they ran out of energy?

Hi Rose, thank you for your answer.
Sounds like you think it's logical that animals don't eat offerings. I also understood this that way, as a sign that something really did happen with the food, because it would surely have been eaten otherwise. I guess I just needed to read that I don't just imagine this, not like "hey, foxes don't like milk anyway", ... I am not used yet to seeing practical results of my magical actions, I never performed much practical magic, and when I had results, I could never be sure that they were not just imagined or a coincidence.

You think animals would get sick from ritual offerings? I just thought about old religions which practiced animal sacrifices, like the ancient jews; the priests often ate the sacrificed meat themselves, does it mean that the ritual was inefficient? Just a thought... [wink2]

Where did you read that elementals stay in one place because they ran out of energy?

Oops, is my bad english responsible for this? I meant that the food stays there but has no energy left in it. [grin2]

You think animals would get sick from ritual offerings? I just thought about old religions which practiced animal sacrifices, like the ancient jews; the priests often ate the sacrificed meat themselves, does it mean that the ritual was inefficient? Just a thought...

You're talking about two entirely separate things here even thought they fall under the main heading of Offerings.

A food offering that has had it's essense removed from it because it was considered an acceptable offering is one thing.

Offering an animal as a sacrifice and then eating it or not is something very different.

I'm trying to remember my OT. Wasn't it just the priests that ate the sacrificed animal or was it the priests and the populace? I think it was just the priests and I don't think they ate every sacrifice. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I really don't remember and I don't feel like looking it up at the moment.

In most modern witchcraft traditions - the animal sacrifices are not eaten.

In the Classical Mediterranean world the idea of the sacrifice was to share a communal meal with the deity. So when Agamemnon, for example, would offer a hecetomb (100 bulls) parts of the animals would be burned on altars but most was eaten by the public in a Holy BBQ with Zeus, say. This is why the apostle Paul had such an issue with this; poor Christians were getting free food from the pagan temples but it was dedicated to 'idols' so some were critical of the practice.

The Levitical sacrifices in Jerusalem were usually burned completely (after the priests got their part) if they were, say, a sin offering or they were eaten by the one making the sacrifice after the blood was placed ritually on the altar, as in the Pascal sacrifice which the people ate. Most Biblical sacrifices went only to the priests and Jehovah (if my memory is correct).

It is interesting to compare the differences.

One other point, I don't think that the Devas/Gods do not care bout us. What do you understand their role in the Universe to be?

Finally, I have had branch cuttings in vases on my Kamidana (there is a picture on the Forum) that have stayed fresh for a long time.

Thanks Asurendra for sharing your knowledge... I dindn't find the time to research this exactly, now I don't have to do it anymore...

Rosered:

A food offering that has had it's essense removed from it because it was considered an acceptable offering is one thing.

Offering an animal as a sacrifice and then eating it or not is something very different.

Where do you see the difference? Does it have something to do with the energy which is set free by the killing? I would think that the purpose of sacrifices in ancient cultures was pretty much the same as what I intend with my offerings, to give something I have to gods or entities...

Blood and life force, mostly.