An Offering for Wildlife & Nature (zero waste)

 reading time: 7 min




In the midst of winter, when the frozen grass crunches beneath a thick white coat of frost, and the nearby swamps in our area bear a crystalline skin of ice – what is more powerful than making an offering to those around you that are currently facing scarcity and cold?

An offering of food in a time of hunger.

An offering of care in a time of disregard.

And, likewise, an offering of gratitude to that which we have and that which we are able to share.

Today's blogpost is greatly inspired by one of my personal role models in terms of lived spirituality and Earth-connection, and that is Dana O'Driscoll. She is a multi-media artist, druid and permaculture teacher as well as the author of the wonderful books Sacred Action and Land Healing – and I can't wait to read her new book, Eco-Spirituality in the 21st Century that she co-wrote with Nate Summers! On her blog, The Druid's Garden, Dana writes about different aspects of Eco Spirituality. There, she also shared her way of creating a Sacred Herbal Offering Blend which she uses to bless the land and her spirits with healing and vitality.

I have been making and using my own Herbal Offering Blend for the past two years and felt compelled to share it here on my blog, where I've been absent taking a blogging hiatus for the past 1 1/2 years or so. 

For my own offering blend, I am using a mixture of local plants and herbs as well as seeds and other natural materials from my area to use as a simple yet powerful offering to the animals, the plants and the Earth herself. Birds, squirrels, mice and other native creatures may enjoy the seeds and berries included in this blend.
Where I live, robins are among the birds that stay throughout the winter months in need of food, along with tit mice, blackbirds, wrens, and many more!

What to use in your offering blend:
 
  • dried homegrown garden herbs (e.g. rosemary, sage, mint, lemon balm, bay laurel)
  • dried local herbs  (e. g. blackberry leaves, lady's mantle, dandelion, creeping charlie, plantain, heal-all, yarrow, mugwort, St. John's wort, goldenrod, rose petals)
  • dried local berries (e.g. rosehips, rowan berries, hawthorn berries, elderberries, raisins)
  • dried local conifers (e.g. spruce, fir, larch, cedar, pine)
  • local nuts and seeds, and grains (e.g. raw sunflower seeds, uncooked millet, uncooked oats, wheat bran, pea flakes, corn kernels, hemp seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts)
  • other finds from nature, such as cones, conkers, eggshells, feathers, dried leaves ...
  • you can also add some store-bought wild bird food to your blend, if you want
  • you can also add local (!) plant seeds to your blend (make sure to look up what plants are native to your area as you don't want to disrupt the ecosystem! In my case, my natives include nettle, dandelion, cornflower, chamomile, mallow, meadowsweet, elderflower, St. John's wort, lady's smock and valerian)
     
you will also need:
several small jars or bottles (I like to use old jam jars, small nut butter jars and smoothie bottles for this) 
(optional) a mixing bowl 
 

How to make and use the offering blend:

Have your dried plant "ingredients" ready. You can either mix them in a large bowl, or simply transfer them to their containers in layers. 

When combining the plants in the large bowl, I like to bless them with a short prayer, either out loud or usually in my mind, with both of my hands cupping the filled bowl like holding a huge mug. Do what feels right and natural to you. For me, I like to thank the plants for being part of my offering blend, and I take a moment to appreciate them. Visualizing your blessings infusing with the herbs, stir with intention in a clockwise direction until everything is well mixed. Fill into several small jars or bottles, or several small plastic bags.

When transferring the plants directly without mixing, you can bless them either while filling them into the containers, or you can hold and bless each container once it's filled.

Store in a dark, dry place such as a cupboard or - like in my case - chest of drawers / witchy altar.

To use, simply take one or several of your containers with you when you go for a walk. You could also always carry one small bag with you, when you're running errands or going to work. 

You may offer your blend and your blessings to ...
... your favourite tree or place in nature 
... your backyard birds and squirrels  
... a plant you've been communing or (physically or spiritually) working with 
... the stump of a (recently) cut down tree
... a (recently) toppled tree
... an infected tree or plant
... a place in nature where you've put up a camp or a campfire
... a plant or mushroom you've foraged from
... a place in nature where you're performing a ritual 
... barren land 
... 

Take a handful of your offering blend and scatter it where ever you feel called to. I like to accompany this with another prayer, blessing the Earth and all of her beautiful creatures. Scattering the blend, I pray for health, safety and abundance for all. Scattering the blend, I scatter my loving attention and intention.

Leaving an offering for mice, squirrels, birds, the tree ...
Look who I found tucked away in an acorn "hat" nearby! Isn't she precious?

This practice helps shift my focus to giving back to nature, whether that's in the form of blessings and prayers for healing, or in the form of regenerating the land by spreading plant seeds and feeding wildlife.

By the way, a different kind of offering you can make is by leaving some of your "liquid gold". By which I mean your pee. Yep, that stuff is full of nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus, making it an excellent fertiliser. So, next time you're out in the woods and you need to pee, perhaps you now do it with an attitude of blessing the land with your urine :) Please don't do this if you are a heavy smoker orare undergoing chemotherapy, taking antibiotics, or using other (pharmaceutical) drugs, as this will contaminate the soil.
  

Here are some other ways you can support your local wildlife:

Easy DIY Fat Balls for Birds


♥

Maisy

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