At the heart of your relationship with spirit is the exchange of energy. This is the most basic give-and-take between you and spirit. When I speak of spirit, I mean both a singular Great Spirit and also the individual spirits you may come to know, for instance, a spirit guide. In this way, spirit needs “feeding”. This really means that you cannot expect a bounty of blessings while giving nothing in return — this would be a shallow and very limited relationship with spirit.

So what are some ways to feed spirit? Thankfully, it’s a long list. You should be able to adapt one of these basic ideas to fit your practice — but more likely, you’re already doing something :)

As far as I see it, there are two categories for feeding spirit: Offerings, and Prayers.

Offerings. There are limitless possibilities here. Offerings can be things enjoyed by the senses — a beautiful flower, a lush incense, a delicious fruit, an amazing song. They can be physical things given on an altar or in nature. On the other hand, offerings can be things that you do for spirit. Maybe you have decided to make a new altar with a certain theme, or maybe spirit has asked you to spend time alone, dancing freely. Thus rituals are offerings, albeit elaborate ones.

Prayers. Prayer is actually more adaptable and interesting than people think — it doesn’t have to be done just one way. You can sing a prayer, for instance. If you’re not big on words that’s perfectly fine. You can think a prayer in your mind, or just try to send out the different kinds of basic energy discussed here. But besides asking for things (which isn’t really what feeding spirit is about), what kinds of energy can you give spirit in prayer? There are actually quite a few different things prayer can represent. First of all, the energy of gratitude is very important. If you’re not giving gratitude, you’re not in a caring relationship with spirit. If you don’t even feel gratitude then you have some work to do before establishing any relationship with spirit. Another prayerful energy is appreciation or love. It’s how you emotionally honour spirit. Then there is the energy of faith and trust. Finally, there is the energy of harmony, which is what I believe spirit creates. By establishing an energy of harmony in yourself, you’re helping spirit work for its cause.

The simplest but most powerful thing I share with spirit is breath.When I breathe in, I imagine the whole universe contracting just a tiny bit, and I say thank you. When I breathe out, I imagine the whole universe expanding just a tiny bit, and I say bless you. It can be surprisingly intimate and powerful.