Offering of Thanks

I want to be able to give offers to the Gods, what exactly should I give them?

Usually, if one requested for something, one would promise to give something if it happens. If you're just generally giving thanks, anything from a libation, to expensive votive offerings. It's pretty much up to your situation, and how much money - if any - you can throw at it. Fruits, incense, bread, libations, are all appropriate.

Usually, if one requested for something, one would promise to give something if it happens. If you're just generally giving thanks, anything from a libation, to expensive votive offerings. It's pretty much up to your situation, and how much money - if any - you can throw at it. Fruits, incense, bread, libations, are all appropriate.

Agathocles makes an important point here — for your future reference, to avoid ambiguity and questions of whether or not one has fulfilled one's obligation, it is customary to clearly state your promise to the Divine in return for an answered prayer. This is, however, a specific situation, a vow (or 'votum', or 'votive offering'), which is different from everyday worship.

For everyday worship, what you offer should suit your means and situation: more expensive does not mean 'better'; the sacrifice is for your benefit, not the god's. Likewise, in terms of means and situation, it goes without saying that you should not offer sacrifices that you cannot properly offer or dispose of. For instance, many types of sacrifices must be burned or buried — if you can do neither, which is a reality for some (dorm-living college students, for instance), then there are other ways of offering sacrifice that are more suitable.

Since you are young, I imagine you are living at home, and likewise do not have access to wine. Further, from what I hear often from younger people, many in your situation are not permitted to use fire/charcoal etc. This is no great obstacle, however. While an actual flame is essential for formal worship, in the meantime, you can purchase good-quality electric candles (in pillar, taper, votive and tealight sizes) from most hardware stores, craft stores, and many general goods stores like Walmart or Target.

If you cannot use wine, it is perfectly acceptable to pour plain water, or grape juice, milk, kefir, honey, or olive oil as libation offering (although oil can be quite expensive, and is difficult to dispose of, and honey and oil both have the potential to make an awful mess).

It is perfectly fine to only offer libation offerings if that is all you can reasonably manage. However, if you wish to make further offerings, but have to means to immolate them, there are likewise other options. You can offer consumable/food offerings and, following the offering ceremony, they can be taken down from the altar and eaten as a kind of consecrated/blessed meal. This is called prasad in India.

Flowers and leaves of auspicious and sacred plants are also very proper offerings. Depending on where you live, different plants may be more or less difficult to obtain, but the leaves of the bay laurel have been used as simple sacrifices from Antiquity all the way to the present day (especially in traditions that reject blood sacrifices), and they remain the primary sacrificial offering in Orphism. Bay laurel plants can be easily grown outdoors in warmer climates, and, I have been told, with good care, can be grown as houseplants in colder climates. Likewise, the leaves, used commonly in cooking, are available both fresh and dried in most grocery stores and supermarkets.

Flowers and garlands are also excellently suited to situations where sacrifices cannot be burnt. Cut flowers and garlands naturally 'sacrifice themselves' as they wither over time. They are likewise beautiful, of course, and if you string them into a garland yourself, your offering becomes that much more auspicious by the effort you have put into it. Most divinities have particular plants or colors, with regard to flowers, that are sacred to them, and it is good to incorporate this if you are able. However, any flower or garland may be offered to any deity, whether hung from a statue, or draped over an icon.

For further information, I would recommend you take some time to go through some of the threads and stickies in the Beginners subforum; there are many resources there that can be of assistance to newcomers.