On Fasting

This Full Seed Moon has filled me with energy, and that means it's time for a Double Bonus The Pagan Experience Post! This post is inspired by my sister witch Amanda's writing about the topic - I wrote her a reply so long that I realized it is a post unto itself. So here we are, an extra bonus post for the tail end of March.

I've experimented quite a bit with fasting throughout my Pagan career. When I was a baby Pagan, I took this aspect of practice very seriously. I read that fasting was a good preparation for ritual, so I fasted for at least 24 hours before each and every ritual. For my first initiation, I think we did 3 days. We allowed ourselves water and plain brioche. Not much brioche, just enough to keep us coherent. It was tough at age 13, and it was also my first attempt.

I have also experimented with fasting for health reasons. Fasting is helpful after an illness, especially a stomach virus. Reintroducing foods slowly and mindfully helps our GI tracts to heal and repopulate with healthy flora. I have also fasted after over-indulging at Yule, or as a personal spring cleaning before Ostara.

Several times I used the Master Cleanse (the maple lemonade). Sometimes it was successful, other times not. I struggle with low blood sugar, though I have no official diagnosis. I still don't fully understand why I was able to complete the Master Cleanse some years and not others.

I'm also familiar with fasting as a Yoga practitioner. The Yoga Sutras tell us to eat just enough - to fill our stomachs halfway with Sattvic (pure/balanced, most vegetables) foods, then a quarter more with water, and to leave the last quarter empty. Yoga practitioners are encouraged to fast as a means of getting closer to God, but not to the point that one becomes emaciated. The Yoga tradition also includes tales of Yogis who are able to live without food and water altogether. Is it true? Who can say?

So as Pagans, why should we fast? First off, I would never say that anyone *should* fast. We all follow different traditions and different Gods. Across world religions, there are many different reasons that people fast, and many different ways that this is practiced. Go check out this awesome infographic for a summary.

Overall, I would say that most religions fast as a form of voluntary sacrifice to the Divine, as a means of building discipline and as a form of personal purification. All of these things are helpful for Pagans, but I say this with reservations.

It seems to me that many of the religions that advocate fasting associate food with pleasure and pleasure with dissolution, gluttony or even evil. I agree that over-indulging regularly is not healthy on any level. But as a Pagan, I see the fruits of the Earth as beautiful gifts that should be enjoyed, with full gusto and pleasure. The Charge of the Goddess tells us “Let my worship be within the heart that rejoiceth; 
for behold, 
all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals.”  That is one of my very favorite passages. Some versions of the Charge also include: “Nor do I demand aught in sacrifice; 
for behold, 
I am the Mother of all living, 
and my love is poured out upon the earth.”

That’s my kind of deity. A loving one, one who does not wish us to deny ourselves or require us to prove our worth. The Goddess loves all with an unconditional and perfect love. She recognizes our inherent worth and potential. Sin does not exist anywhere in the Pagan equation, at least not in my tradition. For me, this is an essential point. 

At this point, my personal conclusion is that fasting is a useful technique when used in moderation. I know that it's much harder for me to have any type of peak experience when I am glutted with food, especially rich foods like fatty meat, dairy, sauces, etc. Fasting puts me in a different headspace, and it makes transitioning to ritual consciousness easier. Hunger – it’s an automatic altered state!

What works for me is to do short fasts (24 hr) when I want to abstain from food altogether, and an Ayurvedic monodiet when I want to do a longer fast. Also, any type of fast will work much better when I manage my energy demands. So no long days of massage while fasting, for example. Fasting during tax time or other mentally demanding work would also be difficult.

NOTE: I always drink water when fasting. I don’t see how voluntary dehydration is a good idea. Humans can live for a long time without food, but we die quickly when dehydrated. Be careful with yourself!

I fast for ritual preparation, vision quests, before initiations, and occasionally as a devotional practice. I used to like to fast on every Full Moon day. These days, with my busy workload, fasting is pretty infrequent. I just can't get through a day of massage or teaching Yoga on a fast like I could when I had a sedentary job!

Initiation & Ordination Countdown

A little over a week from now, I will go through a second degree initiation and a legal ordination. I've been preparing for months, and it has been a very interesting ride.

One personal learning I can share is that for some reason, part of my path is to minister to interfaith and Christian populations. It's tied together with my healing work, in some cases. People come to me and find that I can help them, even though they don't know why or can't explain it with science.

Aside from the healing work, many patients feel safe enough to ask for what can only be described as spiritual counseling. This has happened throughout my life. I'm an empath. People somehow know this, trust me with their secrets and ask for help. I have to wonder about my super conservative Christian clients. Surely they must sense that I'm "different" in some way. Many times, I even wear a pentagram to work. Yet they are not threatened by me and appear to truly value my viewpoint.

This mystifies me.

I'm happy about it, of course. I feel a certain sense of pride and satisfaction about my ability to reach people regardless of their faith. I fervently believe that the way forward for humanity is to acknowledge the validity of all faiths. To focus on our similarities instead of our differences. To come together, rather than continue to be driven apart by belief.

But as a shamanistic witch, this isn't how I envisioned my "ministry". I don't even like to use that word, yet "priestessry" doesn't sound right. I thought I would start a coven and have magical adventures. So far, my compatriots have not yet found me. But such is the spiritual life, eh? We have ideas, but things don't always manifest the way we imagine.

My interfaith Meetup group, South Wake Spiritual Community, is my focus at the moment. We have a core of lovely people who have loyally supported nearly every event. For that, I am eternally grateful. But growth is slow. We just hit our six month anniversary, and we still have less than 50 members. It still doesn't feel like a community to me.

All of which shows that I'm still finding my way as a spiritual leader. I'm okay with that. I have faith that it will manifest in the best way possible for all involved. I'm taking steps each day. I take care of myself and tend my own spiritual practice. I continue to learn. I'm open to opportunity.

Meanwhile, I prepare for the event itself. Along with the ritual, I will be changing my legal name. I'm waiting on one last background report so that I can file the petition with the court. The ring that will symbolize this event has arrived. My ritual tools are all in order. The ritual itself is on its way to completion.

Today I've embarked upon a ritual fast. Due to the nature of my work and body, it's more of a healthy foods week rather than an actual fast. My body can't function without animal protein, and certainly not without solid food. I have done the Master Cleanse and other cleanses/fasts before, but it only works if I lay around. I can't be very active, and the last time I tried it (2010-2011), I didn't make it a whole week before I started to feel dangerously ill and weak. I've learned from my experiences, and combined with my Yogic knowledge, I've come up with a plan.

So here is what my week's "fast" looks like:

• Egg/kale/carrot bake for breakfast
• Kitchari for lunch (Ayurvedic healing dish for all body constitutions)
• Chicken or fish for dinner with plenty of veggies
• Lots of water
• Tea - dandelion or turmeric (intent to detox and tone organs)

Avoiding:

• Sugar
• Caffeine
• Alcohol
• Dairy
• Red meat
• Pork
• Processed foods

The only other preparation I am considering is attire. I'd like to have some new ritual garb to wear. This weekend I spent some time thinking about my preferences and trying to decide. In fact, I may write a whole post about ritual and magical attire. So far, the idea of a zip/snap front white ritual robe with hood and half sleeves is winning out. It doesn't sound that exciting, but it also sounds like the right thing.

It's almost here, it's almost here!