You Cannot Eat Theory

I just read an amazing quote that sums up my feelings on so much: “You cannot eat theory.”

This goes for leftists, polytheists, environmentalists, for damned near anything. You cannot FUCKING eat theory. If your response to someone struggling is to say ‘read theory x’ or ‘read this book/book list’ you are lost.

A popular saying in polytheist circles, especially Heathen ones, is that ‘we are people of the library’. What this has increasingly come to mean to me is ‘I am going to make information as intentionally hard as possible to find and integrate into others’ lives.’ Folks who trot this line out often miss the point of what a library is: it is an open access point for information and education for all age levels, all experience levels, and all people. If we truly are a people of the library then where are the accessible resources for Heathens?

The predominant attitude in polytheist circles still tends to be that you should have your head buried in a mound of books at any given point in time as opposed to living the religion. Mercifully, community expectations in Heathenry and other polytheist religions are changing. It is a slow change, though. I have watched no small amount of people throw their hands up in frustration as so many resources are out of reach, whether by price point or education. I have invested no small amount of money myself in books, both written by academics and fellow polytheists. I am deeply grateful for open, free-at-access projects such as TheLongship.net for existing -and we deeply need more.

Reading theory is not going to impart or teach polytheist religion. Nor will it teach a living leftist philosophy, a living animist/polytheist worldview, or a living relationship with Jörð. It can intellectually bolster a person, but without the lived component those books and those theories are empty air and a waste of time. You cannot teach mutual aid merely by talking about it. You have to do it. You cannot teach polytheism merely by talking about it. You have to do it.

You cannot feed a person in body, mind, or soul merely with theory.

What this does not mean is that theory is useless. Armchair theories, inapplicable and without access? Those are. Pieces of cloth are not joined without the sewing, knitting, crocheting, nalbinding. There are many ways of joining cloth and what they all share in common is that each requires you to apply the theory of their craft. You do not need to understand all the ins and outs, all the history, or all the whys even, though these are fine and good things to know. What you need to know is if this stitch or bind will work for the cloth at hand, and then to do it.

I can go on at length about the beauty of regenerative agriculture or the wonderful things that can be done with permaculture -or I can show it to you in action. I can literally eat the results of the work I have done with my fellows at Crossing Hedgerows Sanctuary and Farm. So many people who talk a good game about solidarity and community cannot eat or share their results because there is nothing to eat and nothing to share. The food I have put into my mouth at potlucks was because of the hard work started and sustained by the Cavanaugh family. This was work that they allow me, and others they invite to Crossing Hedgerows, to do. Living reciprocity.

If our polytheist communities are going to live, let alone thrive, we have to take the steps necessary so that they are nourishing communities to be in. This means we do need to have standards of behavior, work, and study -especially for spiritual specialists and leaders- and that we also need our resources to be accessible for a range of education and experience levels. For this to happen there needs to be a serious reckoning with reciprocity in polytheist communities for this be done.

It should not be an expectation that community leaders, administrators, writers, spiritual specialists, supporters, and others who are integral to getting polytheist communities started and continuing to function should give away their labor without reciprocity. “You should write a book on it!” is a refrain I have seen more than a few times in regards to my own work and that of others. So, will the community support me so I can do that? Will the community give me and other writers, presenters, etc the resources so it is worth writing the books they want in the first place?

There is no doubt that there are efforts where resources being free at the point of access is needed. The community needs to support that necessary work being done. Whether it is a larger community pillar like a library, community garden, or smaller, such as one’s personal Kindred or other group, without community support each will fail and shut its doors. Likewise, if the needed resources to help folks learn and grow are exclusively kept behind paywalls then that harms the community in kind. Our communities, then, need to be places where our theories, values, ideas, and work are living, vibrant, and engaged with. They need to be lived spaces where reciprocity is not something we talk about, it must be something we do.

We cannot eat theory. What we can do is eat the results of that theory put into practice. What we sorely need in both leftist and polytheist communities are folks who are living examples of good Gebo with one another, who do the necessary work so that theories can be developed and put into action. The beauty of this course of action is that it is immediately accessible to everyone. Whether you are looking locally or online, see what you can do right now for the folks in your community. See in turn what your community can do for you. Talk with those in your community, and make concerted effort to making the bonds of reciprocity in your community better for everyone in them.

Tasting Dionysus

I taste you in my wine press

Your body splits as the vice presses

Your flesh flows as it crushes

Your blood falls into my thirsty barrel

Each grape its own, each grape a taste of You

Faces of Dionysos

Ivy-climbed hands lift

The swollen fruit high

Laughter peals across the vineyard

 

Hooves shake Earth

The neck bends back

Blood swells from the cloven throat

 

Practiced hands lower

The mask cover over

Gods descend among the theater

 

Teeth rend flesh

The sacrifice is taken

Bite by bite from death to life

 

 

E is for Eating: Pagan Blog Project

Seeing as how I’m not quite sure when I’ll get a zap of inspiration to write on this topic, I thought I would start now.

Eating is sacred.  Something, whether plant or animal, is consumed by me so that I can continue to live.  There are different debates we could have on whether this is a ‘sacrifice’ the animal or plant gives willingly.  For now, I’m going to sidestep that.  We consume life in some variety or another so that we live.

I, and many Pagans, do not separate the holy from the body.  So, that, to me, follows that eating is a sacred act.  You are taking in the body of something that once lived, whose spirit may still be in the food you are eating.  Think about that: if I am eating a chicken, I am taking the outward representation of its Being into me.  The same goes for broccoli or carrots.

This is not some abstract concept; something lived, was killed, and is becoming part of me, so that I may live.  So how do I honor that life, whether it is a chicken, a cow, broccoli, or a carrot?

I would say the first thing is mindfulness.  Understanding that you are eating another Being, where it comes from; how it got from a field, farm, or crate to your plate.  Understanding how much suffering that animal or plant may have gone through to come from the farmer, rancher, or producer, and the journey the food made to get to you from those people.  Understanding that your food may or may not be grown or made in an ethical, humane way for either the food or the producer.  Many people suffer indignities and trials just to be able to grow many of the foods we eat, not to mention endure working conditions that many of us could or would not endure.  As the recent post here exposes, people in logistics, getting the food from the farmer/rancher/producer to your table, can be treated quite poorly.

The next would be thankfulness.  Acknowledging that, willingly or no, the sacrifice of their life allows you to live.  That they may have undergone suffering and travel to arrive at your plate.  To be thankful not just for their sacrifice, but for the hard work of all those, from the farmer, rancher, or producer, through the logistics that allow you to pick up that bag of chicken or carrots at your local market.  To be thankful that others killed an animal or plant in your place.  To be thankful that you have food at all.  To be thankful that the Gods are in your life, that They, your Ancestors, spirit allies, and the spirits of these animals and/or plants would share in this meal with you.

Finally, it is showing appreciation.  This, to me, differs from thankfulness in that thankfulness can be “Thank you” or a prayer, something that says we have gratitude.  Showing appreciation, to me, is doing things to show that gratitude.  It can be an offering to the spirits.  I think that the offering can be more than an offered prayer or some mead poured out.  While I find expressing appreciation like this holy and good, an offering can be something that is more concrete, affecting change on a lot of levels such as a change in attitude towards your food, a change in eating habits (i.e. eating locally sourced foods or humanely-killed animals), or even growing/raising your own food.

I first got turned onto this whole notion by Lupa.  Sometimes I pray to the overarching spirit of whichever food animal I am eating, but I try to make a special point of thanking the specific animal whose body I am consuming.  Now that I think about it, I should do the same for the other Beings that make up my plate.  Mushrooms have sacrificed no less than pigs for being on my pizza; they’ve both given their lives.  Will the pig suffer less for being on the pizza?  No, but I can reduce inhumane treatment to hir brethren by being mindful of where I get my food, how much I eat, and so on.  Just to be clear, I am not in any way, shape, or form starving myself nor would I expect this post to be taken as espousing that.  There are other ways to being mindful and making choices about eating habits.  Some may simply not be able to make the choices we would like because of our economic situation.  So, make change where you can and don’t bury yourself in guilt.  I’m not a purist; I don’t have this all down pat.  I do what I can where I can, and honor the spirits whose bodies I consume as best I can.

I think, though, that by having a better relationship with our food, how we eat, we encourage better relationships over all.  As a diabetic, I have to be especially careful of the foods I let into my life.  My relationship with sugary foods, for instance, was bad for me, and if I indulge too much may ruin my kidneys or screw me up in other ways.  So by having a healthier relationship with food, I have a healthier relationship with my body.  This ripples out into my life at large.  By letting in more fruits and especially vegetables into my food relationships, I gained a better body balance, and my sugars calmed the down.

Our relationships with eating can be very positive for our lives.  We might have the one special recipe that reminds us of home, or loved ones.  Eating a family recipe may be just one more link back to our Ancestors.  Eating cakes and ale during a Wiccan ritual may be another way of connecting to the Goddess and God.  Sharing a meal with the Gods may be the most intimate way we can thank Them for the blessings in our lives, or invite Them in deeper.  For me, nothing quite brings the Ancestors and I together like sharing a meal.  I don’t think there’s anything quite like eating a meal with good friends, especially when they’ve made it themselves.

Eating can bring us to a place of receptivity.  Eating can bring us joy, comfort, even ecstasy.  Eating can bring us blessings, contentment, and balance.  Eating can be just one more way we can connect to ourselves, our Ancestors, our spirits, and our Gods.

So eat, drink, be merry, and be blessed.