So, I know what you are thinking. How does eating relate to not only paganism, but to walking a spiritual path. Eating is one of the singular most spiritual things that we all do. The action of taking nourishment into the body to build 
the temple of the spirit transcends separations we may all have in faith paths. We choose our food. There is sacrifice involved in the preparation. The consumption also brings in a connection to energy in a way that even a non-spiritual person can agree with. This is also one of the few actions where we still foster a connection to community. Most food comes from the earth in some way, it brings in the elements: earth in bringing life, water in growth, fire in creation, and air in spreading the seeds and continuing the cycle. So, eating is a deeply spiritual action.
With all that said. This is also one of the areas we take for granted. We, as spiritual practitioners, use food in ritual, in celebration, and in offering. Tho, many of us also reach out for food that is not healthy to out minds, body or spirit. Making food and eating choice be something that is a spiritual act will bring our path work fully into an area of our lives that impacts us directly. When we begin to connect to the physical body we, we also begin to open up a path for the spiritual self to enter into our vibration fully. Our body becomes clear, our souls awaken into each moment, and we are able to move through each and every experience fully. When we drop weight, we begin to let go of limitations. Our bodies move with greater ease, and we move away from disease.
Prayer work and food also go hand in hand. Invoking prayerful energy into our meals brings us into greater alignment with gratitude. In a world that moves us faster and faster taking a moment to connect into the simple act of eating, deeply, meaningfully, and with all of our being allows us to be present in all of our aspects.
How do you connect food into your ritual/path working? Do you have a prayer that you use before you eat that you’d like to share?
M. Brazell CFT CSN MAT PAT
michael@gmail.com
movement + intuition 
I subscribe to the idea that cooking is the first magic. First heard the theory last summer at PSG. It stuck with me and I try to at least focus on that idea when I cook, since it’s easy to simply put together a meal without actually changing any of the items. But once you get down into that transformative process that cooking is, you begin to focus on the magic at hand.
That’s not to say that raw-fooders aren’t engaging in magic either, though. Eating food in its natural state can be just as magical, if you acknowledge it. There’s a difference, in my mind at least, between eating and consumption. Eating is a more spiritual experience that comes from actually acknowledging what you’re doing, realizing that you are taking in the nutrients and energy of a living thing; consumption is simply shoving it down your gullet and not thinking about it.
Good post. Sometimes it seems like the actual food we use is underlooked in the community.