Thanksgiving Traditions

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Thanksgiving by Ralph Waldo Emerson – 1803-1882

Thanksgiving is not just for Christian Americans! We can embrace this holiday as our own, by giving thanks to the Goddess! 'Even before biblical times the ancient people of the Mediterranean Basin held festivals at harvest time in honor of the Earth Mother. The Goddess of the Corn ('corn' being the European term for any grain; Indian corn (American corn), is called maize), was always one of the most important deities in the hierarchy of the gods, and her child was the young god of vegetation.'

'The ancient Semites called the earth mother Astarte...The Phrygians called her Semele...The Minoans had an earth mother for each district. All these local deities were absorbed by the Greeks into the one great goddess, Demeter.'

'Besides eating, feasting, etc. the married women practiced special rites. Under the cover of night, the women spent the next day bathing nude in the sea and dancing and playing games on the shore. Then they fasted, sang songs, then feasted, sang, and laughed. All this lasted over a period of several days.'

'The Roman harvest festival was called the Cerelia, after Ceres, the Roman Goddess of the Corn.'

'The leading role in the drama was taken by Ceres. In Britain she was later known by several names: the Maiden, the Harvest Queen, the Kern or Corn Baby, the Kern Doll, the Ivy Girl, the Neck and the Mare. Sometimes she was simply the stalks of corn and sometimes she was represented by a sheaf dressed in many colored clothes which were decorated with flowing ribbons and the finest lace. Whatever her form, she dominated the banquets, harvest suppers, and merry making of early times.

Where do we get the food we eat and drink? From plants and animals that have fed on other plants and animals. Where did these plants get their food from so that they could grow and become our dinner? From the minerals and elements in the soil; from the energy in the sun. Every time we eat anything we are eating reformed/recreated, minute pieces of the body of the Goddess.

The Goddess has given us food to eat, medicines to cure and sooth, and pure water to drink. She has given us our creative minds so that we can make fabulous meals and miraculous cures out of Her gifts. She is abundant and nurturing when She can be. She is a beauty to behold even in Her most barren looking and frightening states giving us joy and awe and humility. She gives us life. She gives us Life. She provides us with everything we would ever need or want.

While Samhain was only a few days ago we all know that Thanksgiving will fast be upon us.  It is time to consider traditions you might want to add to your own holiday dinner, while keeping in mind that a ritual need not be formal or lengthy to be powerful.

Fill a bowl with pieces of construction paper cut into the shape of autumn leaves.  Over the next few weeks encourage your family members to write the things they are grateful for on them and place them back into the bowl, unsigned.  During your meal, and perhaps for the rest of the weekend, make a point of pausing to read these statements aloud.

Make a point of donating food at a local collection spot (school, library, supermarket, church).  Bless the food at home first though with words along the lines of  “may you never hunger, may you never thirst.”  Encourage the kids to help pick out the foods to donate and bring it to the donate site.

Remember it’s never too late to start a new tradition.

For food that stays our hunger,
For rest that brings us ease,
For homes where memories linger,
We give our thanks for these.
~Traditional Mealtime Blessing
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