Witchvox Article

Author: Rose Welsh
Posted: November 24th. 2005
Times Viewed: 1,427

"Everything we do and do not do will have an impact on the world, which is Goddess/God's body. Everything we do and do not do will also have an impact on the inner life or feelings of Goddess/God"
- Carol Christ, She Who Changes

On November 24th almost every American will be celebrating Thanksgiving. They will stuff themselves with turkey and dressing, pumpkin pie and ice-cream, potatoes and gravy ad nauseam. They will plunk themselves in front of the TV for hours, watching the garbage the “entertainment” industry spews out. In other words, act like nearly every single American does every day, only they get the day off and there is football. This type of eating behavior will continue through New Years when a token New Year’s resolution to eat right and exercise will be announced and then promptly forgotten (with lots of guilt) the next day when the leftovers from last night’s party peep back at them from the fridge.

A significant portion of Americans have more food than they need. The general public has been taught to eat twice as much food as their bodies require by the media and food industry. Even the size of dinner plates have increased in the last 10 years to accommodate our inflated idea of what a portion is according to Lisa Young, PhD in Portion Teller. The most popular restaurants in town are the ones that give you more for your buck – which makes buffets really popular. Most Americans have been programmed to think that if you personally don’t get enough food to feed two or three people then you are getting ripped off. We believe this when in fact, we are being ripped off by the food manufacturers.

Restaurants, in their bid to get our buck, try to out super-size each other. Food is so cheap that this doesn’t financially damage restaurants according to Marion Nestle, PhD in Food Politics. No matter how it’s sliced, the food industry benefits from the subtle programming done via restaurant advertising. Slowly, ever so slowly, our portions at home go up as we spend more and more on groceries. The medical industry grows richer along with the dieting industry as our health fails. On the same note, big business convinces us we need bigger cars and closer parking lots; cities are designed for cars and not people, so not only are we polluting more, we are getting out of shape doing it. Corporate America has got us by our throats and we don’t realize that their teeth and jaws are an illusion.

Even quite a few American Pagans, anti-establishment as we are, have bought into this lie. Even some of the vegans and vegetarians, those more conscious of what they put in their bodies, have taken the bait. How can we disengage from the nonsense and the lies?

Change our consciousness at will:

Where do we get the food we eat and drink? From plants and animals that have fed on other plants and animals. Where did these plants get their food from so that they could grow and become our dinner? From the minerals and elements in the soil; from the energy in the sun. Every time we eat anything we are eating reformed/recreated, minute pieces of the body of the Goddess. If this is so then we too are part of the web that is the body of the Goddess: We are Goddess. Unlike some, we take communion every time we feed ourselves. Each day, several times a day, we take in the body of Goddess and create ourselves anew in Her image. Do you really want your communion to consist of processed junk food? Do you want your communion to be filled with the energy of the underpaid workers who made your meal and put it in a box or a bag; or the energy of poorly treated animals and crops? Or would it make more sense to commune with Goddess via fresh, organic produce or a lovingly and thoughtfully prepared bowl of oatmeal?

The Goddess has given us food to eat, medicines to cure and sooth, and pure water to drink. She has given us our creative minds so that we can make fabulous meals and miraculous cures out of Her gifts. She is abundant and nurturing when She can be. She is a beauty to behold even in Her most barren looking and frightening states giving us joy and awe and humility. She gives us life. She gives us Life. She provides us with everything we would ever need or want. Why would we steal from Her or poison Her or toss Her in the backyard and ignore Her?

Every time we eat more food than our bodies require we steal from the Goddess; we desecrate Her body and disrespect Her gifts. Every time we eat additives and artificial flavors, colors and sweeteners we poison the body of the Goddess by poisoning ourselves. Every time we consume anything without focusing on the gift, like watching TV while eating, we tell Her we do not value Her or love Her. As Alice Walker said in The Color Purple through Shug, “It pisses God off when you walk by the color purple and don’t notice.” I know I don’t want Goddess pissed off at me, how about you? I try and notice all Her wonderful gifts including the food She provides for me, even if it’s just a quick snack. I wonder if the way Goddess is showing people She’s pissed off at us for ignoring Her gifts is to assist us in creating the American epidemic of obesity.

I offer that as part of your worship as a Pagan you could become aware of what you need and take no more: take no more food than your body requires to live comfortably; take no more water than you need to live and in doing so make this act a daily prayer, a daily ritual to the Goddess. Furthermore, other actions that you can take could be to pay attention to Her gifts: turn off the TV and computer when you eat; learn to use cooking time as meditation time or quiet family time. Make an altar in your kitchen to your Goddess and your ancestors and light a candle and invite them to participate in the process of cooking with you.

Finally, I propose that you include food that hasn’t been processed to death. All the nutrition is taken out of food by corporations and then put back in artificially, then the nastiness is artificially covered up with more chemicals. Some might classify what corporations do to what you put in your body as poison. Even if you are trying to lose weight and want to eat fewer calories, do not skimp on real food for the “low or no fat” substitutes. Just eat less of the high quality stuff while paying attention to every bite: you’ll be more satisfied in the end.

Start this way of worship on this Thanksgiving if you can and continue it through the holy days as a way to thank the Goddess for all She gives you. Show Her that you are not going to steal from Her, poison Her or treat Her with disrespect any longer. Show your family what it means to worship the Goddess and tell them why. Most of all “wake up” from the “world that has been pulled over our eyes” and live, eat, breathe, and speak from the worshipful, praiseful and conscious space within yourself: your heart, your soul.

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Rose Welsh

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