Offerings as Living Temples

In this episode of 'Creation's Path,' Charlie, a non-binary sci-fi/fantasy writer and practicing Druid, along with their husband Brian, delve into the topic of offerings. They explore what offerings are, their significance, and how to properly make them. Drawing from both Pagan and Christian traditions, they highlight the importance of freely given offerings as acts of gratitude and devotion, rather than transactional exchanges. Practical examples and personal anecdotes illustrate the profound impact of sincere offerings in fostering spiritual relationships.

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Transcript:

[00:00:00] Charlie- New: One of the most common questions I've gotten since I started posting stuff here is about offerings. What are they? Should we be doing them? How do we do them? If we should be doing them? Why? It's a much more complex answer that I want to get. Let's talk about it today. On Creation's Path

Intro

hello everyone. My name is Charlie. I am a non-binary scifi fantasy writer. And I'm also a practicing Druid and I'm joined today by my husband, Brian.

[00:00:44] Brian - New: Hello.

[00:00:45] Charlie- New: Today we're going to talk about. Offerings as living. Temples. I want to start there because. It's important for me to. Ground everything. In this understanding that I'm approaching this from a crystal pagan point of view. And within Christianity, one of the things that we are. Supposed to remember. Is that we are living temples. Our body is living temple. Our heart is the altar of that temple. Our lives are living in sacrifice to God.

In fact. Prayer. Is everything that you do. All of our actions, all of our deeds, our prayer, and in some respects are. Offerings. But I feel like if we're going to understand what an offering is. We have to start with. That it is something freely given.

Anything that's demanded of you. Is not an offer.

In fact in the Proverbs. We're reminded that. Giving to others. Has. A strong relationship for receiving. From others. But when somebody asks us to give and we do. We have our reward already. It is an exchange. It is an exchange.

And I think a lot of people, especially in the prosperity gospel really need to reread the Proverbs because. Saying, give to me and you will get blessings. Well, if you say, give to me and they give to you. The scripture. Says that they have already received their reward and. Having done what you asked. So. Yeah, that may be not how that works.

An offering is something that we do. To establish relationship.

This could be as simple as offering a prayer. Offering praise. Writing a poem and reciting it. Offerings can be any number of things.

The most important thing is that they are freely given. There's a difference between an offering and a sacrifice sacrifices. We're on the old schedule of on this day, we bring this to the temple and it is offered. To the gods or to the, to God or to whatever. That is a sacrifice. It is demanded of you. And something you have to do.

Offerings come from the heart.

[00:02:59] Brian - New: It's an act of gratitude. It was one of the things that helped me to understand offerings on a deeper level, especially. With so many of us operate in this exchange mindset. I do this. I get that. I give this, I get that. I write my list for the Santa's. I get these gifts and exchange. Not an offering. As an act of gratitude. That changed that whole understanding for me.

[00:03:26] Charlie- New: Offerings are kind of the other side of grace.

[00:03:28] Brian - New: Yes. Grace has given it's a gift that's given to another.

[00:03:33] Charlie- New: We receive grace from the spirits and we give offerings. To them. It's a reciprocal relationship to show that we have. Love devotion that we are. Part of this community that we are part of this relationship. And that this relationship is reciprocal. That we are not just here to take, take, take, take, take. I think this is one of the greatest misunderstandings about prayer. Is I prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed. And I got nothing.

I don't want to be that person. That's like, well, what did you offer? Because it's not a transactional relationship. that's very important to understand here. We're not saying. Give. Gifts to. God or the gods or to a spirit and you will receive. Back. That's not. How that works. We're not paying for services. That's not how this works.

When you were constantly demanding of the universe, well, the ground dries up. You can't plant the same crop every year in the same place. And not fertilize the land. Or rotate the crops around. You have to give back to the land or. Well, I hate it's going to stop growing the crops.

[00:04:39] Brian - New: Going back to the episode of the law of returning tides. There has to be. That activity. Those actions have the causal chain has to be stimulated.

[00:04:49] Charlie- New: And so sometimes we receive and then we begin to give, and sometimes we give. In hopes of attracting attention. To show our devotion. Maybe you were interested in Bridget. And so you start lighting a candle and start flame tending or any of those. Practices. In hopes of attracting her attention or to let her know. Of your devotion, maybe you begin saying a rosary. To the blessed mother. Which is also an offering.

Sometimes we were doing this to just acknowledge. We are here for you. Hopefully you will be there for us.

It is. About establishing a relationship.

I know I'm harping on this a bit, but we have such a transactional understanding of the universe. That discussing. Offerings. Becomes tricky. So many people. Tend to either teach the idea of an offering. Or practice their offerings. With this mindset of, I give this gift in order to receive.

That's not how the universe works. It's not an offering. It's a payment. It's a payment. It's a bride. Yeah. And you can't bribe the gods. You can't bribe the spirits. You can't bribe. Life. That's not how any of this works.

[00:06:01] Charlie- New: Putting fertilizer in the ground is not bribing the soil to give you a crop. It's nourishing the soil. It's feeding the soil. It's.

Granting it. It's participating in. A reciprocated relationship with the soil that I planted this crop. That pulled these nutrients out of you. So I am going to offer these nutrients back.

Like with everything we've been talking about this month, it is relation.

[00:06:25] Brian - New: To be Buddhist for a minute. When you're looking at the causal chain. Of all of it. So many. Start in the middle link. They start with either where they're presently at or after. They forget to look at the links before the causes before, for instance, with the planting of the crop, fertilizer the ground. Odds are something was already grown there. Something was already taken out.

You've already received. The grace. So then you're giving an offering in gratitude for that grace. And many of us, myself included for the longest time. I struggled with this topic. And Strode with gratitude. And truly understanding what it is.

[00:07:07] Brian - New: Recognizing that causal chain goes. Way before. Way before. And it probably involves many, many, many more people before me. Helped me to understand that better.

[00:07:19] Charlie- New: Part of my devotions to Bridgette for example, is to offer. A professional light.

Because of where I live in. The fact that I have a lot of animals in my house. I don't actually light a flaming candle. Because what if a cat were there at the table or try to jump up there and knock it off. What if we had a storm. Many reasons I. Do not feel comfortable having a live fire. Going 24 7. 365 in my house.

I still offer light.

I have a wonderful electric candle, an led candle. And I chose a very. Specific. Crystal. That I put on top of it that takes that light and shines it out into the room.

This is the offering. That candle is always on. I always has power to it. And this is the offering that I made.

When I see it, I say a little prayer. Every morning when I see it, I say a little prayer every night before I go to bed, I say a little prayer. And it is a constant reminder and a beacon. And if my relationship with her.

I don't have to do this. This is where I think people misunderstand offerings. Again, if I had to do it, it would be a sacrifice. It would be demanded.

It's part of the relationship that I have. She. Shares the light of her forge with me.

And I have. This wonderful gift of creativity. The poetry that I write, the words that I write, the images that I made. All of this. Comes from the light. From the fires on her forge. And so to me, it is only fitting to offer light. And gratitude and Thanksgiving.

It's not just this little led candle. Let's. Glowing over there. In front of a picture of her.

It's also those little prayers. Every day. More and more prayers get added to the slide.

Every night more and more prayers could add it to this. And together they are this ever streaming fountain. Of offering. Of gratitude. Of Thanksgiving. Of devotion.

That show. And that's the important thing here. Remember we've said a million times that actions, right. Faith without works is dead. It's our actions that show our faith. It's our actions that show what we truly believe and who we truly are. Maya Angelou said. When somebody shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

It's our actions, not our words. That show who we are.

It is important for us to do. Offerings to take time. For offerings. When I was very active in the Catholic church, one of the offerings that I did regularly. Was, I would go to Eucharistic adoration. And would have continued doing that when we moved here, but the local church doesn't do that. Which I have questions about. Um, that it's a whole other topic for a different day. But that was the offer and I'm giving my time. I'm doing my devotion. I'm literally going there before the blessed sacrament in prayer. And then devotion.

Offering. Part of my time, part of my week. I would often go, especially when I was living in Frederick, I would go and do this with the nuns. And. Be there for hours. And then prayer and meditation before the blessed sacrament. Same thing when I lived in Pennsylvania.

That is an offer. That is as much an offering as lighting the candle.

Which by the way, in many Catholic churches, if we still do. And you light a tree and you light a candle. When you were saying a prayer. It is a votive offering.

We give a daily offering to the house spirits. That are in the house. I had a thought one day of how much I love the ginger teas. That we have each day. In most cultures, it's traditional to offer a beverage. Two. The house spirits. And so I thought, why don't we offer. The first poor. From. The ginger tea every day. to the house spirits. And we did. And there was this lightness that came into the house. This is joy. we could feel it, this tangible joy. They came into the house, this gratitude. That we felt returned. And at the time we were having a lot of bug problems in the house.

We live in a swamp. it happens. Yes. Happens to everyone here. ants were getting in. Like every time it rains, all the insects that would be outside, we just rushed into the house.

We noticed some going away. We didn't ask. For that. We didn't ask for the ease that we had with a lot of other things that started happening around the house.

It was just, we wanted to show our gratitude to the spirits of the land. Particularly to those in our house.

[00:11:49] Brian - New: That's one of the other things with offerings that I found very profound. When I. started getting a deeper understanding of what it is. A lot of times it's a moment where you're recognizing the greases you've already received, whether you are aware of them or not, but through the act you can become aware. Both like for instance, with the house spirits, there was a lot of times something would be missing and then you'd look over and it was right there in the middle of the table. Like just suddenly, like the table was clear, there was nothing on the table.

And then it's just right there. And it's like, wow. thanks. Like, you know what I mean? It's like a thanks, but it wasn't like, like with the offerings it started to help both of us to realize and appreciate more, how much was being done in. An unseen levels. In the environment that was helping the whole environment be better. I know for myself, every morning I do an offering of coffee. to the dogda. And. I make the coffee anyhow. The coffee is there, but. Through this. Practice through this offering. Through this act of gratitude. I also became more aware. Of how much the Dogda. Had helped me out was involved in my life. Was. They're helping that coffee to even be a thing in the first place to have that coffee. There was this. Awareness that kind of came along with that, but it started as an act of gratitude I felt like I was being a jerk because I was making a coffee for two of us. And leaving the third one out. It's just general hospitality. Let's be thankful and offer the coffee. It was also thank you for the comradery, for the jokes for the. The minor, mischifs that we get up to, the fun dishes we cooked together. But it was this gratitude, also this awareness. Later that came through this.

[00:13:38] Charlie- New: One of the greatest offerings that you can do is to find a beverage, to share with the spirits that are important to you in your life. Whether that's the very traditional communion. That you would have in a Christian Church with. Christ.

Or having a glass of milk. With Bridget. I think a glass of beer with Bridget.

She is also associated with breweries.

I noticed when I put honey in my tea. And say a little prayer and have a moment of. Offering and sharing of the T.

There's that connection there as well. . It helps us to remember. Like you were saying. The many blessings that we get. The presence of these beings in our life. But it also helps us to remember. The work that we. Should art and are doing.

There's a real power in offerings. In that. When you do them well, And sincerely.

You're not giving something up.

I mean, yes. There's the. The T that we offer to our house spirits in the coffee that we offered to the Dogda. It's not a sacrifice as I came to think of it.

[00:14:48] Brian - New: You're just sharing some of the abundance. Yes. You're offering some of the abundance. You already have plenty. When I make the coffee, there's always a little extra. When I make the tea, there's always a bit extra. Anyhow. I was throwing it away. I was wasting it before.

And. It was ungrateful. Then realizing, oh wait. I should be grateful for this.

[00:15:08] Charlie- New: We offer. Nuts to the spirits of the land. On various holidays and special events.

We call on these. Spirits all the time in our lives. In hopes that they will bring us blessings and whatnot.

But it's important for us to realize that if you don't have that relationship, Why would they answer?

That's really where offerings. Come in. And that, like I said, it's as simple as a prayer. Taking some devotional time and reading poetry studying. The stories related to the individual in question. Right. There are a lot of different ways that you can do this. It's not always with a physical offering. But if you're not building that relationship, With the spirits.

If you're not building. It relationship at all. With any of the forces that we're trying to have relationships with. And you're living in this delusion that by force of my will, I can demand the spirits to bow to me and do what I have to do, or they will see me as so pathetic. The table. Take care of me. Out of pity or something. which is often. How I feel a lot of people interact with the spirits of just. What was me, he take pity on me.

Which is not the relationship that we're called to. , Jesus said that we were here to be friends with God.

Alright. Paul said that we are not slaves. Of God, we are. Friends. But that's the relationship that we were. Here to develop, to grow. Yet. We still often. And many of our churches act as if we're slaves.

We're servants. We still use that language, even though our own scriptures. Tell us not to.

No, what was it that God said? I believe it was Ezekiel I do not want your sacrifice, but I want your walls. I want your Chesed, I want you here. Compassion. what do I ask if you are mortal, but that you love kindness, do justice and walk humbly with your God.

These are the things that we are asked. This is how you build a relationship.

I think the middle ages. Have corrupted us in ways that we still haven't grappled with, even though they were so long ago.

We don't have fealty to God as a Bannerman to a liege lord. That's not how this works. This isn't. Some kind of divine feudalism.

And in fact, none of our faith, no matter what faith that you practice, unless it literally came into being in the middle agents. And I can't off the top of my head. Maybe the Sabbatean, technically, if they even still exist. And I can't think of a novel religious movement. That started in the middle ages. That is still alive today.

If it didn't start then. Then that feudal relationship didn't exist.

All right, we see the word king. In the Tanakh . It's doesn't mean the same thing as like when king Charles, the third calls himself king Charles.

That word king it's the same word, but it means something different because that's a post reconstruction of what it meant under feudalism. King David. Didn't exist under feudalism. There was no feudalism under king David. That idea didn't exist yet.

And so we're still applying. These ideas from the past, these misremembered ideas from the past.

Like when we talked about the queenship of Mary in a previous episode, I don't look at this as, my leisure lady. Mary. It's a statement of her power or strength or dominion. It's a statement of her privilege at her place. In the kingdom of God to call her queen.

It's not for me at least. Trapped in this medieval baggage. Because. All Mary lived. Hundreds of years before the middle-aged has started hundreds of years before. This kind of feudal relationship ever got started.

So to me, it's odd to even apply any of that.

With our offerings, I often feel like. Some people. Treat an offering. As if it's like the tax you pay. To that leisure Lord.

Like I worked on my fields. Here's my tax. And that's a tithe. Not an offering.

We may want to tie. And we want to give a portion of what we have. But that's not an offering. That's a tithe.

[00:19:24] Brian - New: one starts to look into what is a tithe. It was that you take 10%. Of. What you have brought in. And you're supposed to give that. To God. Well, you can't. So you can't just walk up into him at the God. Really the point of that was, was more of that reminder to make sure you're offering your first fruits. You're offering that you're supposed to be giving that out as an offering.

It's up to you to delegate. How that is distributed. The operational part of the tithe is actually up to the individual, how they wish to do that. But for it to be an offering of tithe. It's still given not as an exchange.

[00:20:01] Charlie- New: I think the word that you're dancing around here in Judaism, this is your Zedakah. This is the money that you give to righteous causes.

Yeah. Yeah.

But it's important for us to remember, especially those of us coming at this from a crystal pagan. Place.

That. Our bodies, our templates.

Our hardest. It's an alternate.

Our prayers, our lives are living sacrifice. All of that is true already.

So in giving our offerings. We don't need a special place. Or a special time. It's nice to have alters. I think you should have an altar. I'm sitting in a room right now that has. For alters in it. Five, technically I can see a fifth one from where I'm sitting. We're not opposed to having altars.

. But none of that's required. Wherever you are. If you want to give an offering of prayer, give an offering of prayer. You have an offering of Thanksgiving.

And give it to where you feel it should go. When you were. Out in the valley and you see this beautiful landscapes for count in front of you. And you're receiving this overwhelming flow of grace. And all and wonder from it. Sometimes you want to just offer something back. And maybe that is an offering to God, maybe that is an offering to the spirit of the valley. Maybe that's an offering to the trees to the earth itself. To the river flowing down at the bottom of it, whatever it is just, you don't need to build an altar there.

[00:21:24] Brian - New: It could be even as simple as just appreciating. Yeah. And giving. Thanks.

[00:21:29] Charlie- New: Offerings that their heart is like, we've been saying. This beginning of, in continuance of a reciprocal relationship.

I have. A glass of milk with with Bridget. Brian has a cup of coffee with the Dogda. Like, I would. Go out and have coffee with a friend.

It's about furthering that relationship. It's not, oh, we die off of the most holy of coffees.

And it doesn't have to have all of that show. All of that pomp, all that circumstance. Because it is about establishing a firm and solid relationship.

So hopefully that answers the question because I've been asked this a lot. What my feelings are about offerings.

Should we be doing them out? Should we be doing them? And why? Yes often. Yes. Often all the time. As an act of gratitude. To as many things as we feel called to do them.

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