Devotional Offerings I: The Sacred Bread

Bread is sacred, no doubt about it.

It is also incredibly common and mundane. Every culture in the world has a form of bread, from the indigenous in America (I will count arepas and casabe as bread and I will die on this hill), up to the most remote parts of Eurasia and way back.

Every culture in the world has granted a form of sacramental quality to it, alike no other form of substenance. It is the absolute base of many diets and as such it became the physical manifestation of abundance and wellbeign. Agriculture, and specially grain, is a powerful symbol of the Great Goddess and of such companions to Hekate, as Demeter herself, illustrating in a very real manner how She is the basis for all life in the universe.

The historic and religious significance of bread can be traced in almost all spiritual paths that are held in the human heart.

Much alike our Goddess, bread also has a crossroad significance, a manifold manifestation as simbolizing light, life and fortune, as well as death, transformation and passing. A very obvious example of this is how the grain cycle symbolizes death and rebirth as the reaper violently sowes the wheat to re-plant it next. This has stayed in the collective mind as the Grim Reaper, collecting the human souls that are bound to die.

Common to Italic, Iberian- Hispanic and American cultures, is the symbolic Pan de muerto, Pan de animas or pan de finados (bread of the dead) and the belief that when one is to pass, bread must be an offering to ease the soul's transition.

Because of all of the above (and more, as brief introduction) , it is and was an incredibly valuable religious offering that can be a devotion act in the making as well as the final product you get.

Making bread is an inestimable skill that will help you elevate your devotion and strengthen the relationship with the Divinity, and in this series of blogs I will help you navigate the recipes for offerings that have been in my practice for years, in order to help you focus on the act of gifting the gods and your personal spirits with labor as well as nourishment, changing the perspective on Offerings from (often) an afterthought to the front and center of temple devotional work.

Let's start with a simple, yet very effective recipe that will absolutely make you fall in love with ritual and devotional cooking.

This recipe is vegan, but can be adapted to your liking.

Ideas for this below

Simple vegan oat and whole wheat bread.

You will need

• 1/4 cup of water

• 0.25 oz of active dry yeast (7 grs )

• 2 tablespoons of white sugar

• 3 tablespoons good quality olive oil

• 2 cups whole wheat flour

• 1 cup bread flour

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt

In a large bowl, add the warm water and sugar to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast. Leave it to rest and poof until a foam forms on top, about 15 minutes (it will look like the head of a nice beer)

Add the rest of the ingredients, starting from the oil and mix until it's all well combined and there's no more dry spots visible and a shaggy dough starts to form.

Turn he dough to a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes, until the dough is firm, smooth and bouncy if poked lightly.

Transfer into a lightly oiled bowl to allow for fermentation to form and rest in a warm spot on your kitchen until doubled in size for about two hours.

When the dough has risen, punch down and turn it in a lightly oiled surface. Form a rectangle with the dough and roll it into a log, pinching the ends to seal it.

Transfer into a loaf pan and allow it to rise again for 45 minutes, until it reaches a bit above the height of the loaf pan. Preheat your oven to 350 F or 180 C during this time

If you have aquafaba or plant based milk, you can brush the top of the loaf and sprinkle with oats for a decorative touch. If not, brushing with olive oil is reccomended

Preheat your oven to 350 F or 180 C and bake for 30 to 45 min until browned and beautiful

If you're unsure if the bread is fully cooked, you can thump on the bottom of it, it should sound hollow if done.

Next time, we follow up with a much more technical bread, so here's to hoping you practice!

Little idea here: If you'd like to replace the water for plant based milk (unsavored, unsweetened) and infuse a pinch of saffron on it... I bet it'd make it extra interesting.

If you're not vegan, substituting the sugar for honey is another idea that will elevate the recipe a bit more.

If you make this, please let me know how it turned out!

Gio