"It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so entwined that we canno think of one without the other."
-M.F.K. Fisher-
The Simple Feast has many names. This one is Scott Cunningham's paticular term. But it is also known as "Cakes and Wine" or "Cakes and Ale". What exactly is it? Well, when you're doing a spell or an act of magick, once you've sent the energy, don't you feel a little detached? Exhausted, but joyful and feeling like you've been away from the earth for a long time? Well, this is because some of the power you sent out still lingers in your body and in the circle, rushing around frantically. To come back to earth and your normal energy scheme, an earthing ritual is needed. Eating is the easiest method. Consuming something that began its life in the earth brings you down from your high and relinks you with physical reality.
The Simple Feast is what it says - no elaborate banquet of specially-prepared food, just a light snack. It usually consists of (surprise, surprise!) cakes and ale. The cakes traditionally are "Crescent Cakes" (see recipe below), actually a kind of cookie. The wine is just regular wine. But this is not always practical, especially for us young Pagans. For one thing, we're underage to drink. And do you really have the time to bake while juggling homework, phone conversations, answering email, talking with your friends, etc? A popular alternative is store-bought cookies or crackers, drank with juice or milk.
After you work your magick, but before you eat, you should make an offering to the Goddess and God. If you are outside, scatter cake crumbs and pour a little bit of your drink on to the ground. If indoors, place a piece of cake in an offering bowl (it can be any kind of bowl, but preferably natural material like wood, clay, ceramic, silver, etc.) and some water/juice/milk in a little cup. Then, bury these things outside as soon as you can.
Also, before you eat, say another little prayer, thanking the Goddess and God for this food. Sort of like the Christian table blessing. I like this one by Scott Cunningham, but you can write your own if you want.
"Goddess of the verdant plain;
God of the sun-ripe grain;
Goddess of the cooling rain;
God of fruit and cane;
Bless this meal I've prepared;
Nourish me with love;
Bless this meal I now share
With you both above.
Blessed be."
You've now made an offering and said a prayer of thanks for the food. One more thing you should do before eating, and that is bless the Simple Feast. Here's one way that can be accomplished.
Hold up the drink to the sky (or ceiling) and say:
"Gracious Goddess of Abundance
Bless this juice/milk/water and infuse it with your love.
In Your names, Mother Goddess and Father God,
I bless this juice/milk/water."
Hold up the plate of crackers, cookies or cakes, and say:
"Powerful God of the Harvest
Bless these cakes/cookies/crackers and infuse them with your love.
In Your Names, Mother Goddess and Father God,
I bless these cakes/cookies/crackers."
NOW, you can eat!
Recipes
Here are a few recipes for traditional cakes-and-ale fare.
Crescent Cakes
1 cup finely ground almonds
1 and 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 drops almond extract
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg yolk
Combine almonds, flour, sugar and extract until thoroughly mixed. With the hands, work in butter and egg yolk until well-blended. Chill dough. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of walnuts and shape into crescents. Place on greased baking sheets and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Soft Mead
1 quart water, preferably spring water
1 cup honey
1 sliced lemon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
Boil together all ingrediants in a non-metallic pot. While boiling, scrape off the rising "scum" with a wooden spoon. When no more rises, add the following ingrediants:
pinch salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
Strain and cool.
Cauldron Cookies
3/4 cup softened butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp grated lemon rind
2 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit. Cream the butter in iron-cast cauldron or mixing bowl. Gradually add brown sugar, beating well. Add eggs, lemon juice and lemon rind, and then beat with electric mixer or by hand until mixture is well-blended. Stir in flour and pecans. Cover cauldron (or bowl) with plastic wrap or tinfoil and refridgerate overnight. When ready, shape dough into one-inch balls and place about 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheets. Bake for
approximately 8 minutes. Remove from oven and place on wire racks to cool completely. Makes 36 cookies.
Covenstead Bread
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup finely chopped citron
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp anise seeds
2 and 1/3 cups flour
1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add honey, citron, sugar and anise seeds. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved, then remove from heat. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and spices, and fold into the hot honey mixture. Turn the batter into a well-greased 9 X 5 X 3-inch loaf pan and bake for one hour. Turn out on a wire rack to cool. Makes 1 loaf of bread. Taste of Covenstead Bread improves if allowed to stand for a day, so consider making it ahead of time.
Shortbread
1/2 cup room temperature butter
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/4 cup flour
pinch of salt
1 tsp sugar
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Blend butter, vanilla and 2 tbsp sugar in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until mixture is light and fluffy. Mix in flour and salt until mixture is crumbly. Squeeze dough into a
ball and put in the middle of ungreased baking sheet. Pat dough firmly into 7-inch wide, 1/2 inch thick circle. Prick dough with fork so 12 pie-shaped wedges are outlined. Sprinkle dough with 1 tsp sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes, till slightly browned. Let cool 1 minute on tray, then cut into wedges and put on rack to finish cooling. Makes 12 wedges of shortbread.
Raspberry Cordial
2 12-ounce pkgs frozen raspberries
1 and 1/4 cup sugar
2 lemons
4 cups water
Put unthawed raspberries in a saucepan. Add sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring once in a while, for 20-25 minutes, until berries are thawed and sugar dissolved. With potato masher, mash berries and syrup thoroughly. Pour berry mixture into a wire strainer, making sure to extract all the juice by using the back of a wooden spoon to push it through. Discard pulp. Pour raspberry syrup into a pitcher. Squeeze lemons and strain juice. Add lemon juice to raspberry syrup. Boil water and add to raspberry syrup. Cool raspberry cordial to room temperature, then cool in fridge. When cordial is ready to serve, stir well. Serve with ice. Makes 6 and 2/3 cups.
Banana Muffins
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter
1 beaten egg
1 cup mashed bananas (approximately 3 bananas)
1 and 1/2 cup sifted flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar, then add egg and mix well. Add bananas and flour. Dissolve baking soda in 1 tbsp boiling hot water, then add to creamed mixture along with nutmeg, vanilla and salt. Spoon into greased muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes. Makes 12 of the best banana muffins you've ever tasted! Does not double well.
Pumpkin Loaf
2 cups canned pumpkin
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
3 and 1/4 cup flour
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking soda
1 and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 and 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. cloves
Beat eggs till frothy. Add oil and water. Mix with pumpkin. Sift dry ingredients and add to pumpkin mixture. Pour into greased aluminum loaf pans (2 large, 3 small). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-65 minutes. Makes a moist, delicious bread, perfect for autumn rituals.
Healing Apple Crisp
2 cups apples, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 to 3/4 cup graham crackers, crumbled
2 tbsp. butter, melted.
Preheat oven to 375 F. Visualize yourself in glowing, radiant health as you peel and slice the apples, squeeze the juice, and crush the graham crackers. Turn prepared apples into a 9 x 9 baking dish. Mix the lemon juice into the honey and our over the apples. (If the apples are very tart, use slightly less lemon juice and slightly more honey.) Combine the crumbled graham crackers with the butter and sprinkle over the apples. Bake at 375 F for 30 to 40 minutes (until the apples are tender) Serve topped with cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serves four.
Peaceful Cider Cake
3 cups sifted flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg, ground
1/4 tsp. cinnamon, ground
1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup apple cider
Preheat oven to 350 F. Visualize yourself as a peaceful person while you measure the spice, flour, and baking soda. Sift together the first four ingredients and set aside. Beat together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and mix. Alternately, add the flour mixture and the apple cider. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Place the batter onto a well-buttered loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out dry.
Slice and juice the fruits, visualizing their purifying energies. Pour the juices into a glass. Add one teaspoon honey; stir well. Taste. If desired, add more honey.
Reference: Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Living Wicca, and The Magic of Food by Scott Cunningham and The Wicca Spellbook by Gerina Dunwich
