Eating Right...?

   I hear a lot of talk about eating organic, and many Pagans I meet have strict “organic” or “all natural” diets that they say helps keep their bodies clean and therefore allows them to work their magic and connect with the divine better.  I have noticed, over the years, that my experiences with the divine have been less intense since I started eating more microwave meals and preservative rich snacks.  In the last two weeks, though, my body has been forced to adjust to a better diet, one that minimizes pre-prepared food, maximizes my time in the kitchen, and will allow me to lose some much maligned weight.  This diet has been hard, because I had become very reliant on microwave meals (with all their sodium and preservatives) but I’ve also begun to feel not only healthier in body but healthier in spirit.

   I’ve been studying holistic medicine and kitchen witchery for a good ten years now.  Not non-stop, uninterrupted.  I have times where I spend more time working in the kitchen, getting a feel for the foods I’m using, and there are times I’m not so focused on that.  I know a bit here and there.  I can treat headaches and stomach aches with teas.  I can also treat broken hearts and curses with teas.  I’ve made soups that are shared with friends, infused with good will.  I know what plants protect the heart and kidneys and liver, and what plants protect the spirit.  I know the difference between stirring a pot deosil and widdershins and what that means to my patient, myself, or my loved ones I’m sharing this food with.  But I am no expert.

What I do know, is this: Everything we eat has energy.  It took energy to grow, it took energy to harvest or slaughter, and it takes energy to cook.  That winds up being a lot of energy.  Not all of us can have our own gardens, so sometimes that energy isn’t exactly positive or exactly what we want.  We need to counter the possible negative energy of the planters and growers away from the equation so all we have left is our own positive energy. 

   I don’t know where to begin sometimes.  I want to make everything in my life meaningful, from making an elaborate vegetarian dish to serve to my friends with only the best vegetables and spices, to poking that store-bought steak with a thermometer to make sure it is rare like my husband and I like it.

   And what of meat anyway?  Is a vegetarian, or vegan, or cruelty free consumption lifestyle right for me?  Right for my finances?  Right for someone else?  I was vegetarian for a very long time, and after that I was vegan.  Well I thought I was vegan, but these days it seems I was just a type of vegetarian that also doesn’t consume dairy or eggs.  I was on this diet as a part of my year-and-a-day study, which many pagans and Wiccans undergo.  I wanted to be able to soak up everything I was learning as best I could, and this diet was suggested to me.  I even was pescatarian for a while after that, eating a few servings of fish a week. 

With diet being a big concern for so many people, its hard to choose which diet is right for you  on your spiritual journey, or even if a specific diet is what you need to enrich your path.