#offering ideas

[thescarlettbitch]

Offering ideas

Of course, the usual, I am not saying these are the only things you can give as an offering, just some ideas if maybe you're just starting out, or if you're tired of the same old offering.

As always, feel free to leave suggestions! I don't work with every single deity, so there are some I know a significant amount more about worshipping (obviously). And read the whole post before commenting, please. (CW, discussion of blood and s/h)

General

Candles

Incense

Crystals

Images of the deity

Any and everything you associate with them

For love/beauty deities

Orgasms

Make up

Love letters

Pictures of your loved ones/you

Florals, flowers (fake are acceptable)

Menstrual blood (if you're comfortable doing so)*

A lock of your hair (from a haircut, or maybe whatever falls out)

Aphrodisiac foods (chocolate, strawberries, etc)

Wine/juice

For war deities

Knives

Vent letters

Harsh liquor (like everclear)

Peppers, hot spices

Blood (again, if you're comfortable doing so)*

Lighters/matches

For art/music/creative deities

Guitar (or violin or cello or whatever) strings (if you have them)/sheet music

Make a physical mixtape of their Playlist — using a CD, it's not hard it's just time-consuming, but I'll find a link to link if you need it

Art supplies - paints, paint brushes, canvases, colored pencils, crayons, coloring books, etc

Your artwork

Scratched cds or records that are unplayable

Art museum tickets/brochures/pamphlets

For wisdom deities

Old textbooks

Books in general

Old school notebooks/notes/workbooks

Pens and pencils

History museum tickets/pamphlets/brochures

For nature dieties

Flowers (fake or real)

Potting soil/soil from your garden/yard

Compost bin (if doable)

Pressed flowers

Leaves collected from plants in your area (flowers or trees)

Gardening books/books on identifying plants

Animal iconography

Found feathers/antlers/claws/teeth (emphasis on found, and make sure they're safe— some are illegal to have and some may carry diseases so be careful)

Maps of wildlife/topographical maps

For death deities

Pictures of the dead in your family

Graveyard dirt (respectfully sourced)

Coins

Family heirlooms

Ethically sourced animal bones (again, be safe, don't touch roadkill or anything similar if you don't know what you're doing.)

For home/hearth deities

Ash from your fireplace

Pictures of your family (found or biological)

Portion of a home-cooked meal

Cookbooks

Old housekeys that don't fit the locks anymore

For parental deities

Parenting books

Old family photo albums

Anything that gives you a sense of safety/nostalgia

For health deities

Old/empty medication bottles

Medication before you take it

Books on medicinal practices

For sea/ocean/water deities

A bottle of water

Seashells

Sand

Salt

For wind/sky/air deities

Air freshener

A fan

Pictures of the sunset/sunrise/stars that you've taken

For traveller deities

Old licenses

Worn out shoelaces

Pieces of old shoes (cleaned) (if you feel the need to)

Coins

Old ticket stubs

Travel maps

Brochures for tourist spots

For queer deities

Queer history books

Anything you associate with being queer

Pride inspired things (pronoun pins, pride flags, etc)

For inventive deities

Printouts of blueprints

Anything you create (sculptures, paintings, music, anything)

Metal puzzles

* about blood magic

I did a poll asking the community their thoughts on the use of blood in witchcraft, you can find that discussion here.

Some people believe that it is the most dangerous form of magic. Some will tell you to not do it no matter what. I am not going to tell you what to believe on this, I am going to tell you to read about the history of blood magic, read about how people currently use blood magic, read about what could be considered a closed practice and what isn't, etc. Come to your own belief. Someone on my post mentioned to be aware of how you are collecting the blood, making sure that you're not going to trigger yourself and such, and I want to bring that up here too. By no means should you be regularly harming yourself.

[tiramisuwithmascarpone]

Flowers you gave to Gods have withered away? no problemo, reuse them!

Hello guys! I believe I made a post before in which I talked about my habit of picking up flowers for Lady Aphrodite, Lord Hermes, and Lady Athena whenever I come back home. However, since they do not have dirt in which to expand their roots and absorb water, they wither away very soon. Generally, I would advise you to not leave expired food or dried-up flowers on your deity's altar. But there comes the question

,, Jelly, what do I do with them afterward?"

Well, fear not, because I've got just the solution as your fellow devotee and flower enjoyer!

1. Make homemade Potpourri!

A potpourri is basically a jar full of flowers, fruits, spices, etc. Which you leave in your room for its scent. Once your flowers get all dry, you can make one of these and place them in your room as to fill it with scents that remind you of your deities! and it is also a way more natural alternative to room freshener. I personally follow this recipe:

– Spread your flower heads and petals on a baking sheet. – Dry your flowers in an oven at 93° Celsius (200° Fahrenheit), which may take up to two hours. – Place dried flowers in an airtight container with a lid and add two or three drops of essential oils for your ideal scent. Rose, lemon, lavender, and cinnamon are among the most common fragrances for the home. – Store for six to eight weeks to allow the flowers to absorb the essential oils.

PS: Can also be a good freshener for your altar!

2. Homemade dried flower body scrub!

I actually only found out abut this today. But, apparently, if you mix up dried flower petals with Epsom salt, sea salt, baking soda, and essential oils you can basically create a scrub! I dunno if I would recommend it to people with sensitive skin tho...

3.Scented room spray

Mix together essential oils, alcohol, and dried flowers, and BOOM natural room spray! poof a little on your altar every morning!

4. If they are roses, make rosaries out of them!

Even though rosaries can be found a lot in Catholicism, many other religions use them. Buddhists, Muslims, and so much more! and, they actually used to be made out of actual roses. @jekraftbooks has a very good tutorial on TikTok about this, but basically, you need to:

1.Take your dried roses and throw them in a blender

2.Cook them down for several days at a low temperature. Only simmering, never boil.

3.When it begins to form like a clay ball, it is ready to go! Get a cheese cloth and squeeze all the water you can out of the clay. (Keep it for later)

4.Roll them into balls. Put a needle through them to make the hole, then leave them on cardboard for a few days to dry.

5. Once they dry, they will be rough, but we need them to have a smooth texture. Use the water from step 3, then rub some oil on them to give them some shine and protection from water ✨

6.Your beads are done! congrats! make necklaces, earrings, bracelets, any type of jewelry you wish for with them! You can also dedicate them to a deity as devotional jewelry or use them for prayer. Let your creativity go wild!!

[ithacasintuition]

Hand Crafting Ideas for Offerings/Devotional Acts

I wanted to make a list of ideas for those who don't feel like drawing or painting, but still wanted to create on behalf of their Gods!

•Make fake flowers for them out of paper/tissue paper

•Cross stitch/Embroider them something they're associated with. Im embroidering a teapot for Hestia!

•Needle felt their sacred animal

•Devotional Jewlery Making (necklaces, bracelets, earings, prayer beads, ect.)

•Sculpt clay figures of your Gods/animals

•Make a polymer clay keychain/coin that reminds you of them so you can have them with you everywhere you go

•Making little trinkets/offering plates/dishes out of resin

•Wood carve their sacred animal

•Woodburn an offering plate or a pendulum board. You could also woodburn a box to keep their offerings in

•Make candles/wax melts for your Gods with scents curated to them!

•Make incense cones! They're surprisingly easy!

•Make bath bombs to take a devotional bath

•Make a specific soap to wash before prayer

•Make a diorama for their altar. I use foam/cardboard/and plastic trash for dioramas!

•Crochet/Knit an altar cloth! For more advanced, make a stuffed animal, veil, or devotional clothing

•Printing pictures/find magazines and make a physical collage of your God/their symbols/things you associate with them

•Build a mini temple for you Gods out of popsicle sticks or legos

•Take pictures of things you associate with, whether it be part of nature, animals, cozy places in your home, bodies of water, sunsets, ect.

•Start a little scrapbook of your deities

I was super inspired to make this because of the ask @khaire-traveler received the other day where they suggested origami for Apollo!

[wannablegendary]

Lemons and oranges symbolize the sun and bring a bright energy to your space. Try including them in your food or drinks as a small offering to Apollo.

[amberlin1]

Two things I found out/confirmed in like..... 5 years of having an altar to eros and aphrodite.

- aphrodite does indeed like cars.

- eros likes enamel pins.

[wine-and-madness]

Anyone know those, uh, greedy cups? Where if you fill it over a certain line, it empties?

Well what if you used one of those for giving offerings to Dionysus? Like okay hear me out.

You've got your cup set up to drain into a fire. An offering for Dionysus, god of indulgence and hedonism. You fill his cup, more, more, until it comes spilling out into the fire, all of it drank up by him. An empty cup, waiting for more.

Oh! You could even make an evening of it, a ritual. Wine provided to the group without limit, and whoever wants to give some of their own cup's wine to the offering cup can do so, until finally it breaks the tension and the offering is complete. Rinse and repeat all night long.

..... Like those slowly-filling buckets at splash pads, haha

OOG bonus points if it goes over a structure of some sort first, a waterfall-fountain type thing. Both for presentation, and because you don't want to douse the fire you've got going.

Man this makes me wish I lived in a city with other Dionysians 💜

[freyjaaltar]

things I've offered Freyja recently

a pink sands candle

an apple

a piece of rose quartz

a piece of see's chocolate

a mouse I crocheted for her cats