Foods for the Gods... And You Too

Food is love. It’s always been that simple. No food, no life. Nothing lives without eating, so we must share and feed those we love. We take pains in the kitchen to protect our loved ones by cooking properly so they’re strong, healthy and ready to pursue their dreams. We also feed our sacred gods to show our love and concern for their wellbeing. We feed them to say Thank You so they know we’re grateful. We don’t want them to go away. Offering food to those who watch over us, gratefully and humbly sharing, is a tradition as old as human kind. So is sharing our heavenly food with each other as a serving of brotherly love. Here are some of the heavenly foods fit for the gods and us too:

Sandra Garson is the author of Veggiyana, the Dharma of Cooking and How to Fix a Leek and Other Food From Your Farmers’ Market. As a longtime student of Tibetan Buddhism and well-known cook for Dharma centers from Maine to Mongolia, she became the first food historian to explore the Buddha’s influence on how the world now eats. This led to exploration of more religious beliefs about food.

Buddhists: Yogurt

Yogurt was widely prescribed in Ayurvedic medicine and venerated in ancient India. Its dazzling whiteness made it the perfect symbol of purity. Its cornucopia of nutrients, and its power to both stimulate digestion and cure diarrhea, made it a metaphor for spiritual nourishment so it was used in yoga rituals. It’s believed what the dairymaid offered the emaciated, ascetic Gautama Siddhartha to restore his body so he could meditate and become the Buddha was yogurt. That’s why the inside of the bowl in every pictorial Buddha’s hands is shiny white. Yogurt is thought to foster longevity, vitality and wisdom—precisely what the Buddha gained from eating it, and what every meditator seeks. It’s always offered at the end of the long monsoon retreat in Tibetan Buddhist tradition, at a nationwide celebration called the Yogurt Festival.

Celts: Salmon

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Because it leaps effortlessly and survives in both salt and fresh water, the Atlantic salmon seems to possess magical knowledge. The Celts believed it was as old as time, a bridge between past and future, and offered gods salmon to unlock ancestral wisdom to guide them forward. Coins in Celtic France and stele in Scotland were emblazoned with salmon, which is also the omniscient unnamed giant water creature in the legendary tales of King Arthur. Salmon was sacred enough to determine the site of Westminster Abbey. In 604 AD when a chapel was being dedicated on the bank of the Thames, salmon fishermen ferried a mysterious man they later swore must have been St. Peter incarnate. The belief that salmon fishermen ferried St Peter to that site led to the building of Westminster Abbey on it, and the tradition of the London Fishmongers’ Guild offering a salmon every year to its Priory.

Sikhs: Karah Prasad

Many a Sikh ceremony ends with “Langar,” that literally means “kitchen.” But it really means a sacred food offering prepared while meditating on the divine. The food must be humble, easily digestible and not harmful (i.e. vegetarian) so it’s usually dhal, yogurt and bread. This is believed to nourish the bodies of the assembled and also the souls of the volunteer cooks who follow strict rules that require good health, cleanliness, chanting special prayers in the kitchen. Cooks may also not sample during preparation because the divine gets first taste. Since everyone sits together on the floor to receive the ritual food, Langar represents the ideals of sharing, humility, inclusiveness and equality. The most important element of Langar is the last: before worshippers leave the temple, they’re offered Karah Prasad, sacred pudding. Prasad means blessing, and that’s getting a small piece of the buttery whole-wheat pudding represents.

Muslims: Roast Lamb

To show gratitude to Allah and compassion for others, Muslims offer food at harvest time, weddings, births and especially on two momentous religious occasions. At the Feast of Thanksgiving that ends Ramadan’s month of fasting, they must give money or meals to the needy so they too can share in the joy of ending hunger. At the Feast of Sacrifice to celebrate Abraham’s unquestioning obedience to God, they offer a perfect animal to be butchered—usually a sheep (Isaac in the Biblical story was replaced by a ram), and then must share the sacrifice. The meat is divided into three parts: one third for the owning family, one third for relatives, friends and neighbors; and one third for the poor in the surrounding community. Offering this meat helps to erode the sin of greed, prevent the sin of gluttony and develop the empathy charity requires.

Hindus: Panchamrita

At the end of a puja, the priests or hosts offer special food to deities and attendees. Typically it’s panchamrita, which means “five nectars of the gods.” Panchamrita goes back to the famed Indian epic, Mahabharatha, in which the demons and gods had a very long fight for control over this luxuriant beverage, aware that whoever had it would become immortal. The Gods won. That’s why it’s offered. The thick, rich drink is made from equal amounts of honey, milk, sugar, yogurt and butter or ghee. Milk represents purity and piety; honey sweet speech; yogurt longevity and prosperity; sugar is happiness; ghee-- being distilled from butter that is in turn churned from milk-- represents victory, meaning you have to work to achieve something valuable. These ingredients represent “ahimsa”, the promise of not harming anything alive. They’re also Ayurvedic sattvic foods: simple, bland ones that don’t let the stomach distract the mind.

Native North and Central Americans: Atole

Corn is the sacred food of the Americas, Mother of the people, primary source of their nourishment, so Native Americans worship and nourish her with ritual offerings of cooked corn. One of the common ancient offerings was atole. Its roots are in Aztec rituals, but its tentacles are in Choctaw and Cherokee practices today where it’s offered to the sick or pregnant or dying, anyone considered in need of strength and thus ready to "return to the arms of Mother Corn." In a different, thinner form, it’s now an everyday breakfast drink throughout Mexico, and also winter comfort in the Southwest. The original cinnamon and vanilla flavored, sugar-sweetened cornmeal mush Atole is still offered and eaten everywhere on the Day of the Dead and Christmas.

Jews: Wine

Bringing food to God's holy temples was part of everyday life in Biblical times as a way to practice humility, gratitude and charity. Today the most important offering to God remains the ritual Passover meal dictated in Exodus to remember He led the Hebrew people to freedom. The Seder requires participants to offer a cup of wine to God, then drink four themselves. Wine is the offering of choice. The Hebrew word Kiddush, sanctification, is given to the special cup used to offer wine. A Kiddush cup is elaborate, often made of silver or gold engraved with Biblical symbols. The Torah commands Sabbath to start with blessing a cup to sanctify the coming day of rest. Newlyweds sanctify their marriage by sipping from a shared cup. The word Kiddush is also used for food offered to participants at the end of a ritual ceremony, prayer session or special occasion—indicating it’s blessed.