ok now what? offerings type and schedule question:

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[spoOk]

you set up a permanent alter in an appropriate place ,just for that diety. you've filled it with symbols colours and offering items that are appropriate. all of them things that can stay there indefinitely and not go bad or dry out etc.
so then what do you offer that might be able to be replenished each new time you go to make the offering for them on the schedule they require?

I know some dietys like fresh food and flowers or incense or candles burnt,but how bout the ones who like offerings that could possibly not go bad? like alcohol?
should it be arranged that it is periodically poured out in an appropriate out door space/ location or left in an open container so it will NEED to be replaced periodically?

[Juniperberry]

you set up a permanent alter in an appropriate place ,just for that diety. you've filled it with symbols colours and offering items that are appropriate. all of them things that can stay there indefinitely and not go bad or dry out etc.
so then what do you offer that might be able to be replenished each new time you go to make the offering for them on the schedule they require?

I know some dietys like fresh food and flowers or incense or candles burnt,but how bout the ones who like offerings that could possibly not go bad? like alcohol?
should it be arranged that it is periodically poured out in an appropriate out door space/ location or left in an open container so it will NEED to be replaced periodically?

I usually don't leave anything out longer than 12 hours, less if it's perishable. After that I take the offering outside and share with the landwights. To someone else these could be land spirits, collective nature, etc.

[veggiewolf]

...
so then what do you offer that might be able to be replenished each new time you go to make the offering for them on the schedule they require?

It depends on your path, honestly.  I offer food and drink to my deities, which I consume once they've had their share.  I also offer kyphi and flame (candles). 

On the top of my shrine cabinet, I have an AeroGarden in which I grow live plants.  When I grow flowers, I care for them until they have spent their life cycle, at which point I replant.  When I grow edibles (herbs, lettuces, etc.) I cut them, offer the harvested food, and then eat it.  For example, my last run of plants were basil.  Each time I harvested I offered them to Sekhmet, then took them downstairs for my husband to turn into pesto.  This time I am growing lettuces for Neb.y - when I cut them for salad I will first offer them to Him before eating.

I know some dietys like fresh food and flowers or incense or candles burnt,but how bout the ones who like offerings that could possibly not go bad? like alcohol?
should it be arranged that it is periodically poured out in an appropriate out door space/ location or left in an open container so it will NEED to be replaced periodically?

Again, it depends.  When I offer edibles they are consumed afterward.  Some on other paths choose to pour it out after a period of time.

Are you working with deities that require specific offerings?  What are they asking you do to?

[Nehet]

On the top of my shrine cabinet, I have an AeroGarden in which I grow live plants. 

I wish I could do that.  I'm sure Ausir would love some plants on his shrine.

Unfortunately my cats eat any and all plants.   I don't know where I could keep them same except for inside the shrine.  I think they only thing green that will grow in the dark is fungus. 

Somehow fungus doesn't seem like an appropriate offering 

[spoOk]

Are you working with deities that require specific offerings?  What are they asking you do to?

I'm beginning to work with eshu and his offerings could keep indefinitely on his shrine I have set up.....candy and a little bottle of alcohol. but during ritual I am going to try using cigar smoke( not going to inhale it myself). but the info I read says his days are Sunday Monday so I was hoping there was some offering I could do weekly on those days on his shrine.
right now I feel like I'm stealing if I remove the original candy and want to put new candy,so I haven't. I'm trying to wait till I've got it right,I don't want a grumpy eshu.
other things he likes are palm oil and coconuts so I'm going to try going out to buy palm oil and use that maybe. but in a pinch I DO have a lot of candy in my house,do you think it would be wrong to remove/replace the candy? I can't let it become a giant pile?can I?

[veggiewolf]

I wish I could do that.  I'm sure Ausir would love some plants on his shrine.

Unfortunately my cats eat any and all plants.   I don't know where I could keep them same except for inside the shrine.  I think they only thing green that will grow in the dark is fungus. 

Somehow fungus doesn't seem like an appropriate offering 

Mine used to eat plants until Moe got a bellyful of chives.  They all give the AeroGarden a wide berth now.

You can also get wall garden shelf mounts for them, like this one: 1-Shelf Wall Garden.  That way, you could mount it near the shrine without cat interference.

 

[Heliocoptero]

On the top of my shrine cabinet, I have an AeroGarden in which I grow live plants.  When I grow flowers, I care for them until they have spent their life cycle, at which point I replant.  When I grow edibles (herbs, lettuces, etc.) I cut them, offer the harvested food, and then eat it.  For example, my last run of plants were basil.  Each time I harvested I offered them to Sekhmet, then took them downstairs for my husband to turn into pesto.  This time I am growing lettuces for Neb.y - when I cut them for salad I will first offer them to Him before eating.

I adore this! Will have to get something of the sort for Frey!

It depends on your path, honestly.  I offer food and drink to my deities, which I consume once they've had their share.  I also offer kyphi and flame (candles).

 

I have a doubt on Kemetic practices: after you offered the food and drink, are there any ritual gestures that signal the taking of the offerings for consumption by the devotee? Do you make a henu, utter a prayer? I assume how long one waits before eating what's on the shrine is a very relative thing.

Helio

[veggiewolf]

I'm beginning to work with eshu and his offerings could keep indefinitely on his shrine I have set up.....candy and a little bottle of alcohol. but during ritual I am going to try using cigar smoke( not going to inhale it myself). but the info I read says his days are Sunday Monday so I was hoping there was some offering I could do weekly on those days on his shrine.  right now I feel like I'm stealing if I remove the original candy and want to put new candy,so I haven't. I'm trying to wait till I've got it right,I don't want a grumpy eshu.

So, here's a question: are you providing offerings to be consumed by Eshu, or collected?

If for consumption, there's no reason to keep used offerings on His altar - you can wait a period of time and then dispose of them in some fashion.  It isn't stealing to remove offerings that have been accepted and used.

If for collection, you might want to think about more permanent items than food/drink.  For example, Sekhmet wears a hematite bracelet I gave Her.  It is meant to remain with Her physically and spiritually, whereas the food/drink I give my deities are meant to nourish Their ka and then be consumed by me.

[Nehet]

I have a doubt on Kemetic practices: after you offered the food and drink, are there any ritual gestures that signal the taking of the offerings for consumption by the devotee? Do you make a henu, utter a prayer? I assume how long one waits before eating what's on the shrine is a very relative thing.

Yes, there are prayers exactly for this.  For example "These your Divine offerings revert.  They revert to your servants for life". 
In my daily ritual, I usually just say the "Peret er Kheru" utterance which means "May offerings of every kind come forth like offerings which come forth from the mouth of the God".  To me that says "I give to you.  You give to me.  Time to nom."  This is all in "Eternal Egypt" by Richard Reidy.  These prayers aknowledge the reciporacal relationship between humans and the Netjeru. 

The usual protocol on reverting offerings is that they're consumed immediately after the ritual.  In practice, this doesn't always happen with me.  Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I offer too much food.   

[Heliocoptero]

Yes, there are prayers exactly for this.  For example "These your Divine offerings revert.  They revert to your servants for life". 
In my daily ritual, I usually just say the "Peret er Kheru" utterance which means "May offerings of every kind come forth like offerings which come forth from the mouth of the God".  To me that says "I give to you.  You give to me.  Time to nom."  This is all in "Eternal Egypt" by Richard Reidy.  These prayers aknowledge the reciporacal relationship between humans and the Netjeru. 

*Helio adds Reidy's book to his wish list at Amazon*

Thank you for the tips, Nehet. I'm a fan of orthopraxy to the extent that, when worshipping gods from pantheons other than my "primary" one, I want to do it according to Their native traditions, so it's important for me to know these details. I want to give Khnum and Anpu nice and Egyptian-based rituals.

The usual protocol on reverting offerings is that they're consumed immediately after the ritual.  In practice, this doesn't always happen with me.  Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I offer too much food.   

Ah! Divine left-overs 

[spoOk]

So, here's a question: are you providing offerings to be consumed by Eshu, or collected?

If for consumption, there's no reason to keep used offerings on His altar - you can wait a period of time and then dispose of them in some fashion.  It isn't stealing to remove offerings that have been accepted and used.

If for collection, you might want to think about more permanent items than food/drink.  For example, Sekhmet wears a hematite bracelet I gave Her.  It is meant to remain with Her physically and spiritually, whereas the food/drink I give my deities are meant to nourish Their ka and then be consumed by me.

that's the thing, the items I've got so far,can be left indefinitely. they won't need to be replaced,so what do I do for the weekly honourings/offerings? do I find items that will purposely need to be replaced?
they're not for me therefor him. truthfully I've only ever delt with food and drink offerings that are offered during ritual and I leave them till they aren't looking so good then I remove them and do fresh offerings next time around. the idea of simply doing small offerings every Monday is new to me. within ritual the approach I've seen for eshu is smoke blown onto his stone figurine and alcohol sprayed onto the stone too,while saying phrases I've yet to decipher.

I've asked several people in several places and searched the Internet and no one can seem to answer for me how the Monday offerings work outside calling him up in ritual.

I did get a partial answer in my other thread from oyumaya? the person who had experience in that deity,but further questions have gone unanswered.

I do have a shrine alter in the appropriate location for Eshu with permanent offers and symbo
ism,black and red colours,groups of three,toys,candy even a toy plastic black female goat figurine.
should I just light a candle for him on Mondays?
O.o
I'm still looking for palm oil.

[Gillyflower]

so then what do you offer that might be able to be replenished each new time you go to make the offering for them on the schedule they require?

I offer Hecate blood at the dark of the moon. I dress the candle with it before lighting it. It's usually menstrual blood (I'm like clockwork there), but if that timing is off, a prick on the finger does the trick.

[stardancer]

I offer Hecate blood at the dark of the moon. I dress the candle with it before lighting it. It's usually menstrual blood (I'm like clockwork there), but if that timing is off, a prick on the finger does the trick.

I offer olive oil to Athena in the mornings - just an egg cup full sitting on my kitchen counter, and then use it in the cooking in the evening.

[spoOk]

I offer olive oil to Athena in the mornings - just an egg cup full sitting on my kitchen counter, and then use it in the cooking in the evening.

I've done some more digging and some more questioning and gotten some more answers.
a lot of what I have gotten back were other peoples experiences with eshu,legba,elegua and a lot of them from non initiates dealing with him. apparently he's pretty happy with whatever you come up with to say to him,so long as you get the offerings right and the offerings can be apparently simply a brisk splash/rinse of water on his head(stone) in the morning. as an example.

thanks for all your answers.

[Satsekhem]

The usual protocol on reverting offerings is that they're consumed immediately after the ritual.  In practice, this doesn't always happen with me.  Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my stomach and I offer too much food.   

I'm not a big breakfast person, which is how I came to the decision about what to offer in the AM. Each of my deities gets a single piece of a breakfast item (Sekhmet tends to get bread, for toast, and Hwt-Hrw tends to get a Special K bar, since we both like losing weight). That way, I don't have to worry about not consuming what I've given.

Of course, I feel like I don't give enough, so...

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