Laziness and the Gods.

[Devo]

Where would you find high quality fake food? (It really, really, really feels weird to ask this and mean it. XD)

 
Guess it depends on what kind of fake food you want. You could get some commissioned- I see it all the time on deviantart. Japanese seem to have a thing for fake food- which might be an idea for a place to start. It might not be smiled upon, but they do make erasers that are pretty damned realistic looking. My local Asian markets carry them.


Soooo.... there are a few ideas I can think of. Depends on what types of materials you're wanting to use. I don't care what it's made out of, so long as it looks good. Others might have a different approach.

-Devo

[HeartShadow]

Google?

I'd probably pick wax or wood as materials, because those are from living sources, and then search for things that seemed appropriate.

 
There's also some really good knit patterns for "food" - I've seen vegetables, sushi .. all kinds of weird things.  Crochet too.  So if you're crafty you can "make your own" to share.

[drekfletch]

For me, the logistics of making offerings is really the stumbling block. Aesthetically, I love the idea of offering herbs or incense or pouring a libation as a daily offering... but I always run up against questions like, "What do I do with the offerings once they've started to accumulate?" and "How do I afford enough incense to light a whole stick/charcoal burner every day?" Several times I've tried setting up an offering bowl on my altar where I can pour water libations during my morning meditation... but inevitably I start to notice that I'm filling up the bowl faster than it's evaporating, so I use that as an excuse to skip a day here and there, until before you know it, I've stopped altogether.

 
I use a sponge, which rises above the level of the water.  I tried to use cotton balls for aesthetics, but they didn't absorb the water enough.  The libation I pour out in the mornings isn't very large, about an ounce of water.  The idea is that the sponge stands in for the ground.  As the water is soaked up into the sponge, it evaporates faster.  I've replaced the sponge twice in the 5ish years I've done this.

A suggestion for the incense.  I started to use the japanese stick incense, until I noticed the smoke contaminated the water.  (Smoke flavored water wasn't a good thing.)  I planned to use half a stick at a time, so a box of 50 would last a season.

[drekfletch]

I was just wondering how this affects others and their connection with their gods. I mean, are you lazy? Do you put off your offerings? Did you kick the laziness's ass right out of your system? If so, how did you do it?

 
In this case, I'm blessed by not being one of the god-bothered.  I've tailored my offerings around my laziness.  I started small.  I pour offering into various cups in the evening, and they revert or are libated in the morning.  Takes about 15 seconds each.

Every now and then I feel like I should have some sort of prayer/ ritual speech to accompany the actions.  But I never get around to it, and thats acceptable.  Not ideal, but acceptable.

[Etheric1]

My own laziness has proven to me that I don't have what it takes to be any sort of priest figure in that I cannot muster up the motivation to partake in daily ritual. Just yesterday I planned to do a proper ritual to Anpu and I failed yet again (for the third week in a row!) because I gave my attention to other things. Today, I lit a candle and incense to "make up for it." I feel like that's really all I can manage.

Try not to be too hard on yourself.  I have the same problem with being lazy at times, and I've found that beating myself up about it only makes it worse.  I think Anpu knows how you are programmed and likely knows you just as well as you know yourself.  Getting started on something is often the hardest part, at least for me anyways.  If you are doing something out of guilt that's not the best way to motivate yourself.  It might work the first few times, but then I think putting a more positive reason for doing something works a lot better.

Plus, I've found one of the most important things to fuel a mediation/prayer/ritual is the intensity level of the emotions felt.  If it's not there, it's harder to feel like it's going to be successful.  There is something to be said for being disciplined but not everything has to be a huge major to-do.  Sometimes something low key and minor can yield powerful results.  I suspect it's because that would be being true to yourself about what you can honestly manage to give.

[SkySamuelle]

I just do it.

When I'm doing daily ritual (which I've been on hiatus for a while now), I go through phases where I wake up and OMGIWANTTODORITUALRIGHTNOW. And then, the pendulum will swing, and I'll have periods of omgitotallydon'twanttobedoingthisrightnow. I think it's normal. What keeps me coming back is two things.

1. Set asked me to do it. Or required/demanded. Something. I feel an obligation to him.
2. I feel like crap after a while of not doing it.

First one makes sense. Deity says "I want you to pay attn to me" and so you do it. It's probably the second aspect that really keeps me coming back for more. If I quit performing daily rites, after a while, I just start to feel like somethin is missing. And it drives me NUTS. The more I ignore it, the more it bothers me. And I think that feeling is what constantly pushes me through my blah days. Because I know that if I stop, it's only a matter of time before I'm back there.

-Devo

 
THIS. EVERY WORD.

In an ideal word, i would do daily meditation and prayer, if anything else because it feels good and I feel shitty when i neglect my spiritual practice. Unfortunately, laziness, absorbing college studies and struggling to write a book don't exactly spur me on.

Sometimes, until last year, I had even weeks off (months, if i had to stay over my parents house for the summer) the 'serious stuff' and I would go back to my practice with a ridiculiys sense of neediness.

I berated myself so much, because reaquiring the usual ease with energy work after my 'off times' was uselessly hard - a difficulty i could have spared myself easily.

Now this last problem seems to have vanished completely, but... I feel worse, off-center if i don't at least keep up the devotional work. Hekate herself finds usually a way to let me know she is waiting to be aknowdledged again and that i have exceeded my 'vacation time limit'.

Whether I am formal about my prayers or not, I still talk to her inside my head every day, and I think it's what keeps the connection alive even when life gets ectic and stressful.

Still if you ask me whst gets me back to tranceworkings and meditation, even when distracted or busy... it's the feeling of homesickness i get when those practices are gone from my life for a time.