From: ciaran@county.lmt.mn.org (Ciaran Benson)
Subject: Ritual Sacrifice (coffee)
Reply-To: ciaran@county.lmt.mn.org (Ciaran Benson)
Organization: LaserMaster Technologies, Minneapolis, MN
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 92 01:11:44 GMT

  Hi everyone!

  Some folks have kindly mailed me asking that I post the ritual I mentioned
during the tree thing.

  Maybe saying "tree thing" is belittling, but we're still working on cutting
up the downed trees, and so it's still kinda not completely scabbed over.
My household calls things that hurt too much to talk about "things".
Fortunately, we don't have too many things.

  ANYWAY ... I swear that I will try to get to the point ...

  So, I asked earlier if it was ok to post rituals on alt.pagan, and several
folks have mailed me asking for the ritual, and I haven't seen anyone say
that rituals shouldn't be posted on alt.pagan, and I don't see an
alt.pagan.ritual, so I'll assume that it's ok to post rituals here.

  Disclaimers mode off.

  Ok, one more disclaimer -- when I say "we", I'm talking about my family.
Rememeber as I describe this that I'm talking about my particular religious
viewpoint and am not even attempting to describe how other people might
feel about this.  This is not meant in any way to imply that all Pagans,
or indeed, any other Pagan on the face of the planet (or off, assuming such),
believes any thing even remotely similar to what I believe.

  Your milage may vary.

  Disclaimers mode really off.

  Most of the rituals that we do around the house as a part of daily life
are based on a first-fruits attitude towards the farm, and so there's lots of
little rituals surrounding harvest and cooking and eating.

  All of these kinda fall into the catagory of ritual sacrifice, since we're
ritually giving to the Goddess and God the first of anything we plant,
harvest, or buy.  I know that ritual sacrifice is a hot button for a lot of
people, so I thought I'd start with something farily tame.  Like coffee.

  When I get up in the morning and decide to have coffee, the sacrifice bowl
in the kitchen gets an unground bean, a piece of unground cinnimon (where'
that dictionary?) bark, and a dab of water.  We have a special bowl for this,
since much of the rest of the first-fruits from the kitchen goes straight
into the compost.

  I don't have a chant or anything like that for the making of the coffee
yet, mainly because I'm always only marginally awake at this stage (still
pre-shower).  In various degrees of semi-conscious, I grind the beans and pour
everything into its slot in the coffee maker and stumble into the shower.

  People down at PSG often do the "Where there is life there is coffee..."
chant at this point, but it's always too cheery for me at that time of the
morning.

  When the coffee's made, however, my ritual begins.

  The first of the freshly brewed coffee goes to the sacrifice bowl with 
something like;

  "Thank you, Mother, for the day beginning.  For the bean that awakens
me and sustains thought, for the water that refreshes me, for the heat which
brings us together.  Thank you for the day beginning."

  It's important to note that not giving the Goddess Her fair share of the
morning coffee, in my experience, can lead to a nasty spill on the freeway
(She takes that which is not offered :) ).

  For some reason, there's a triad of dogwood trees in the side yard that
I look at when I do this.  Three is a nice number, and the trees look nice,
and they caught my eye the first time I did this in the house, so they've
become where I empty the coffee sacrifice bowl.  I'll probably eventually
build an altar near them, but that's not currently on the deva's adjenda.

  I have a mantra for the first sip of coffee in the morning.  I call it the
first affirmation of the Javacrucian (for my particular sect, of course - your
milage may vary);

  By caffene alone my mind is set in motion,
    by the bean of Java thoughts aquire speed,
    the hands aquire shakes,
    the shakes become a warning.
  I am in control of my addiction !
    By caffene alone my mind is set in motion.

  <<sip coffee>>

  Repeat affirmation.

  Dune fans will of course recognise the inspiration for this.  I was watching
the movie and when the mentat did the "by the juice of saffo" chant, I
completely lost it.

  I've been doing this for so long now that it's really quite hard to say
it slowly enough for others to understand.  I've heard that saying the Rosery
is similar.

  Although all of this started out as a "ha-ha" kind of ritual, it's become
very important to me.  Coffee is one of those things, like salt, which are
really easy to take for granted, but it really is a gift.  Drinking coffee
has been alternatively ok, then percecuted, then banned, then encouraged
throughout the last few hundred years, and we're really kind of lucky to have
ended up with a culture that not only permits it, but expects it.

  The coffee break was one of the first times I really got a glimpse of what
the state cults of Attica may have been like.  The priest/esses say things,
then do things, then show things, and we all stand around and are illuminated
and discuss the other state cults; football, baseball, TV, Dan Quayl.

  Remember that add. that Linda Ellerbe did sitting on the set of OverNightly?
Smiling at the camera with that enourmous cup, she said (approximately);
"Coffee.  It's the pause that calms you down, and perks you up."

  Words to live by.

  Blessed be, Ciaran.