This full moon, I decided to create an offering mix. This is something that has been recommended by Emma Rustel Orr as a gift that you can give to the spirit of a place, when you perform rituals outside. I like the idea of this because it’s small and discreet and doesn't hang around for too long.
For my offering, I combined rose petals, oats (for any small creatures that might want a snack) and vervane. The water I used to bless the circle was from Glastonbury White Spring and the incense was dammar.
After performing my opening ceremony, I recited a herbalist prayer over all of the herbs. The prayer, called A Prayer to Mother Earth, is a twelfth century English work, translated in 'Early English Magic and Medicine' by Dr. Charles Singer, Proceedings of the British Academy, Vol. IV, with a few modern English replacement words. More detail of its fascinating history can be found here and the prayer itself is in the comments section below.
I also blessed each of the ingredients separately, while talking about what they represented:
Rose petals - for love
Oats - for sustenance
Vervane - for enchantment
I then mixed all of these herbs together in a large bowl and held my hands over them.
I brought to mind feelings peace, love and gratitude and let this feeling fill my whole body. As I breathed in, I visualised energy flowing into me from the earth. As I breathed out, I imagined it flowing through my body, taking the feelings with it, out of my hands and into the herbs.
I continued this until I felt the herbs fizzing with energy and then poured them into a small jar.
After closing the ritual, I went out onto the balcony and scattered some of the herbs into the air, as an offering to the full moon.
While it is often nice to leave something in appreciation of the spirit of a place, a far more significant offering is to pick up any rubbish that you find there.