Polysporia – a dish that dedicates every grain to the gods

“Made up of a mix of all the grains, legumes, and edible seeds grown in any given area,” writes Siobhan Ball, “polysporia belongs to that most fundamental class of agricultural ritual: the kind that gets down to the bare bones of the relationship between man and gods, expressing plainly what we want and what we’re willing to give in exchange.”

The Fear of God

Who do I find the gods that fill my life now so restful?They are terrifying. The kindest of them is streaked with blood and prone to fits of violence. Their characters are complicated and often petty, their stories filled with the sorts of vengeance that humans can only feint at. Which is why I trust them. At least they’re honest about it. 

Not a Witch

At the end of it, I know that the projects I do take on – be they jars of herbs or small rituals, necklaces made of certain stones or clothes woven just so – are few and far between. If I light a candle and say a few words, they are more likely to be a prayer than an incantation. Surely that’s not Witchcraft.

Horology

I use models for what is “old enough” to consider seriously in my practice based on instinct and a vague understanding of the world “historiography,” picking up and discarding things from 1000, 1300, or 1800 as either “older than anything else I’ve found” or “too new” – all while the modern Witchcraft movement can be meaningfully traced to the 1940s.