Observing Lent

Don’t worry, I’m not going back to Orthodoxy.  Hear me out.

An elder in the Wiccan community recently wrote a post about giving up sweets for Lent.  He made the case that pagans in England would have had to fast during the time after Imbolc out of sheer necessity.  Supplies would have been low and continued bad weather might put a damper on early planting season meaning families would be indoors for even longer around the hearth.

This makes sense to me.  It would be yet another seasonal event the church took to ease pagans into the new religion.  They’re fasting anyway because of food shortage, then make it Christian law!

It got me thinking that in Wicca we don’t have any strict dietary rules.  Many of us are vegan and vegetarian, and others like myself who know that animal consumption is killing Mother Earth make the conscious decision to eat less meat.  In my specific case if I don’t eat red meat a few times a month I am subject to anemia and vitamin B12 deficiency which I used to have to get an injection for when we tried to go vegan for Shadow’s health.  My doctor flat out told me, I shouldn’t be vegan.

Some of us may practice fasting for health or meditative reasons.  I used to fast all the time when my Yiayia was alive and well and she lived with us.  We couldn’t eat certain foods, couldn’t eat until a certain time, couldn’t eat before church so we could receive the Eucharist.  There was even a calendar the church gave out every year outlining specific foods not to be eaten on particular days.  I never learned what the days signified but I remember them being marked as no olive oil, no cheese, no meat, and no fish.  Devout Christians like my Yiayia took heed to this.

Now back to Wicca, besides giving up sweets which would not have been on any one’s daily menu pre industrial revolution, we have to think of what foods would have still been available in mid to late winter, root veg certainly, dried goods, maybe some apples or pears if they had been stored well enough.  We must also question the hours of the meals themselves.  Church was over at around 1pm for us in Queens, so that was a significantly long period of time we hadn’t eaten as dinner would be at 5pm because my father went to bed early.

We know of the two sleeps back then, and the lengthy time it took to get a good fire going.  Potage would have been left over from the night before, or could have been started early to feed the family little by little through out the day.  There was always daily bread, but when was that baked and ready by? Lack of electricity pushes workable hours to very few, so how long were they going before “breaking fast”?  I am not an expert on early Christian living, I’ve just watched a significant number of documentaries on the history of such things, but I tend not to remember specifics.

I’m not further researching any of this right now but it’s an interesting topic nonetheless.

In today’s world we have access to everything, so giving up fast food, take aways, and chocolate seem to be high up there on the list.  I already don’t partake in alcohol, and I can’t afford to eat out.  So what if I fasted, not necessarily to show piety to the God and Goddess or a form of reverence for my ancestors, but as a way to save a few extra dollars?  The children get breakfast and lunch from the school.  What if I only purchased food for our dinners and their snacks?

I could still have tea in the morning, because let’s face it, I have a stock pile, for lunch I can eat leftovers and then dinner cook whatever meal I planned on making anyway.  This wouldn’t be too much of a change from what I already do because of the side effects of my medication.  I can’t eat past 6pm because otherwise I have heart burn and I can no longer eat as soon as I wake because of minor nausea.  (I swear the shit I put up with to not have to be in a wheel chair.). How much money can I save by not cooking myself breakfast?

I’m not doing the math right now, I’ll just see how much under my weekly budget I go if I’m not purchasing my preferred breakfast foods.  I’m a savory breakfast type of gal by the way, so I don’t even have to give up sweets!  

Imagine how much I can save by not purchasing avocados!  Maybe I can finally get a mortgage! (That’s some broke ass millennial humor for you.)

Anyway, I’m gonna give it a shot.  I’m a fat ass, so I needn’t worry about starving myself.  And all jokes a side, perhaps it will be a good time for reflection as I drink my cup of tea and not eat anything with it.  Honestly, it’s the perfect lazy person life hack.  I don’t even “fix” my tea, it’s just a tea bag with hot water, no sugar, honey or milk!

So let’s see how this goes.  I’ll give myself until Ostara, which is about a month from now.  Whatever money I save, I can put toward the gem and mineral show which is scheduled for this summer.  I will only be going if I can get a vaccine by then, and my budget is only the cost of tickets plus maybe 30 to 50 bucks (my microscopic apartment can’t fit statement pieces).

Wish me luck!