In the Chinese tradition (I’m 1/2 Chinese), when we offer food to ancestors, we eat it after a few hours when we feel that they’ve already eaten its “spirit.” Besides, it seems wasteful not to.
How about you guys? Or do you burn them or bury them after offering them to spirits?
Either. When I was studying with a Taoist order the offering was usually oranges and I might eat some. I’m india fears are put out and started afterwards as well.
However for goetic type stuff, the offering is smaller and usually something like wine, or bread that gets dried up, and that’s no good after it’s been left out for a day. I pour leftovers down the sink.
The third type is shared offerings where you invoke and the spirit enjoys the item through you.
If you try the search you will find this has been discussed many times and there are variations on the theme.
I have myself said a couple of times, energetically I like to check if there’s any real qi left in the offering. If there is, it was not taken. If not, there’s no point eating it as the qi is deficient and not healthy any more. I prefer not to eat offerings for this reason as it feels dirty to me.
In the case of libations and tobacco, do you pour a portion of the drink on the ground and light the cigar/cigarette, or do you just leave the cup and tobacco there?