Pagan Feasts

By Anna Franklin and Sue Philips

'Another excellent publication...carefully researched' Beltane Fire

Foods have always played an important part in rituals and the worship of the gods. Without food we would not live at all, and its production was one of the central themes of ancient religions. Mysteriously, the small seed planted beneath the dark earth would shoot and grow into something that would provide a sustaining meal. It was as though by placing it in the womb of Mother Earth she would nourish and sustain it, magically transforming it, just as a woman would nurture the seed in her womb to produce a child.

The dedication of the cakes and wine is one of the central points of any Craft ritual. It is the partaking of the sacrificed God of the corn and the body of the Goddess as Mother Earth, from whom all life stems. The fact that Christians also do this points to the fact that Christ was original a sacrificed fertility god, but that’s another story. Christians believe that the bread and wine is the transubstantiated flesh and blood of God. Looking at it this way we can understand that the cakes and wine are magically changed during the ritual of consecration, and partake of the power of the Gods. The cup is the equivalent of the cauldron or grail, which contained wisdom and inspiration. During the consecration the priest and priestess may perform the act together, or they may simply be blessed by one or the other, recalling that we owe our Divine Parents for our lives and sustenance.

 PAGAN FEASTS contains instructions for making beer, wine, preserves, drinks, teas, incense as well as festival food and rituals for the Eight Sabbats, Esbats and Handfastings, with hundreds of recipes and explanations on the nature of the festivals, and food and herbs associated with them.