Author Topic: Tears instead of blood? (Read 1181 times)

Miu · « **on:** December 30, 2012, 08:31:32 pm »

I am thinking about offerings. Now, I have some history of self harm in the past, and while blood is a powerful and meaningful thing for offerings and such, it would probably not be a good idea for me to use it, because it would likely devolve into an excuse to harm myself.

HOWEVER. I do tend to cry a lot. Would tears be a sufficient substitute/offering? I am not thinking of any deity in particular, just in general.

Sage · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2012, 08:36:16 pm »

Quote from: Miu;88124

I am thinking about offerings. Now, I have some history of self harm in the past, and while blood is a powerful and meaningful thing for offerings and such, it would probably not be a good idea for me to use it, because it would likely devolve into an excuse to harm myself.

HOWEVER. I do tend to cry a lot. Would tears be a sufficient substitute/offering? I am not thinking of any deity in particular, just in general.

Listen, offering blood in a modern Pagan context is exceedingly rare and mostly worked out on a case-by-case basis between a practitioner and their deities. There's no reason "offerings" needs to equate with "blood" 99.9% of the time. There are countless other things that can be given as well - food, water, alcohol, flowers, time, money, and love.

Shine · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:09:19 pm »

Quote from: Miu;88124

I am thinking about offerings. Now, I have some history of self harm in the past, and while blood is a powerful and meaningful thing for offerings and such, it would probably not be a good idea for me to use it, because it would likely devolve into an excuse to harm myself.

HOWEVER. I do tend to cry a lot. Would tears be a sufficient substitute/offering? I am not thinking of any deity in particular, just in general.

What deity/spirit/etc are you offering to? Some of them want blood--no substitutions, no excuses. Others don't mind blood, but are perfectly okay with other things, whether they're "blood substitutes" or not. Yet others would rather you keep your blood in your body, thankyouverymuch.

If you have issues with self harm, then (a) don't offer blood and (b) don't deal with deities/spirits/etc who want it. Sage gave a terrific list of different kinds of offerings. I'd add music, dance, and singing to the list.

As for tears instead of blood, that would have to be between you and the deity/spirit/etc in question.

RandallS · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:11:12 pm »

Quote from: Sage;88126

There are countless other things that can be given as well - food, water, alcohol, flowers, time, money, and love.

Many deities don't really want blood sacrifices. Some probably would even find a blood sacrifice offensive. It's best to do a bit of research on any deity to see what types of offerrings they find most pleasing before making any offering.

Fier · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:15:21 pm »

Quote from: Miu;88124

Would tears be a sufficient substitute/offering?.

I don't know that tears would be an acceptable sacrifice instead of blood. Of course, like Shine said, it would be up to the deity. However, blood offerings are really not all that common for many deities. If you're offering to no one in particular but 'whoever will listen', incense or a candle flame would be a fine place to start.

Shine · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:31:32 pm »

Quote from: FierFlye;88150

If you're offering to no one in particular but 'whoever will listen', incense or a candle flame would be a fine place to start.

And if you're offering to "whoever will listen", I'm not sure if a blood offering would send the message you intend. . . .

A little bread and water may serve for those who feel like incense and flame aren't enough.

Faemon · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:38:20 pm »

Quote from: Miu;88124

I am not thinking of any deity in particular, just in general.

In general, I think the intent behind it plays some part as well. If there's a part of you that's just shedding blood to satisfy your own compulsions, then it's not really offered to someone else, is it? Not even if it's actually on the altar. When you do it for you, then the spirit of the thing is kept to yourself. Likewise, I only offer tears to my gods when they're tears of happiness. Otherwise it's more a prayer like, "Please take this pain away" -- a favor they're doing for me, not I for them. At a stretch, "Here's the energy from this catharsis. Let me keep the wisdom." If They liked the taste of tears of misery, then... well... I'd tread carefully. They might be motivated to keep me miserable, just for the tears. I might be motivated to remain miserable, just to have tears to offer Them.

Jabberwock · « **Reply #7 on:** December 30, 2012, 09:56:11 pm »

Quote from: triple_entendre;88156

In general, I think the intent behind it plays some part as well. If there's a part of you that's just shedding blood to satisfy your own compulsions, then it's not really offered to someone else, is it? Not even if it's actually on the altar. When you do it for you, then the spirit of the thing is kept to yourself. Likewise, I only offer tears to my gods when they're tears of happiness. Otherwise it's more a prayer like, "Please take this pain away" -- a favor they're doing for me, not I for them. At a stretch, "Here's the energy from this catharsis. Let me keep the wisdom." If They liked the taste of tears of misery, then... well... I'd tread carefully. They might be motivated to keep me miserable, just for the tears. I might be motivated to remain miserable, just to have tears to offer Them.

Wow, This is a fascinating post that I just found in the New Posts. I'll keep this in mind for the future. Interesting! I've never thought of it this way, offering for yourself, and offering for Them, that there is a huge difference.

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Author Topic: Tears instead of blood? (Read 1181 times)

Miu

Tears instead of blood?

Sage

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Shine

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RandallS

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Fier

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Shine

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