The Red Meal and the Haunted Meadow

Late one auspicious afternoon the gang hiked across our favorite meadow to an area we call the haunted meadow. As a general rule we do not enter the haunted meadow because it marks a spiritual boundary to parts of the woods we are unwelcome in. Even the parts of the wood that butt up to the meadow are eerie as fuck. These woods are full to the brim with animals and between the cattle who graze in the mountains,the plethora of native birds, the bugs attracted by cow pies, and gangs of cheeky coyotes it’s generally pretty noisy with the sounds of nature. This all changes when you step into the haunted meadow. The air in the haunted meadow is thick and oppressive with the feeling of being watched and the silence hangs heavy; not even the buzz of insects can be heard. My dog becomes visibly uncomfortable when we approach it’s boundaries. The genius loci is noticeably different than the one in the larger meadows to those sensitive to these sorts of the things and it is not friendly. We don’t go into the haunted meadow anymore.

The thing is though we spend a ton of time in the surrounding meadows and woods and figured it would be nice to respectfully introduce ourselves. We wanted to signal that we are friendly (from a distance, mind you) and if there’s one ritual that excels at this it’s the Red Meal.

The Red Meal (also known as the Housle or Housel) is a sacrificial rite of sharing blessed bread and wine with the spirits based on Robin Artisson’s “A Feery Feast (Hawthorn Stream)” in The Resurrection of the Meadow. It closely resembles the ‘cakes and ale’ segments of many other pagan and witchcraft rites expanded into it’s own ritual and has been adapted by many traditional witches. I will defer to Artisson to explain the full meaning of the Red Meal but the process itself is fairly simple: Dig and ritually empower a sacrificial pit, bless and ‘kill’ sacrificial wine and bread, then share the meal with the spirits. There’s more to it of course but that’s the jist. The Red Meal was one of the very first rites I performed when dipping my toes into traditional witchcraft and to this day it remains one of my favorite spiritwork techniques due to it’s efficacy and elegance. I will note that sabbatic witchcraft has some notable differences from Artisson’s mythos that effect the rite (for example the gender associations of bread and wine are flipped) so care should be taken when adapting it.

So into the kitchen I went to rustle up some homemade bread (sans salt of course) with a little help from Viridarium Umbris and some poppy seeds gathered at a Scottish standing stone by a beloved friend. Highly recommend trying out that bread recipe for yourself by the way, it’s very tasty.

The hike to the meadows was uneventful if notably quieter than usual. Before heading in we headed off the trail into a thicket of trees choked with poison oak (the hedge guardian of these woods) and laid the Cross-Seal of Arrival from Viridarium Umbris.

The sun began to set as we approached the haunted meadow and nerves began to set in. We’ve walked these woods and fields hundreds of times but we’ve never done it at night. Though the directions are simple (when in doubt, go west) people get lost in these mountains all the time and I’d be lying if I said the spirits of the meadow didn’t add to my nervousness.

After some searching we decided to set up our ritual at the foot of a massive oak standing alone in the meadows surrounded by a small copse of trees. Near enough to the haunted meadow to make it clear who we were talking to but far enough away to avoid offense.

The setup for our Red Meal was simple. We hallowed the Kingdom of Cain and tread the mill, dug our pit, turned out the lights, and communed with the spirits. In addition to my homemade bread we offered red mead, local honey infused with ritually forged mugwort, and jasmine incense. What followed is private but I will say it was both a fulfilling and disturbing experience culminating in the sounds of a large creature stomping around the circle. As the spirits swarmed it sounded like the forest was crashing down around us. Our offering was accepted, we said our farewells and hiked back to civilization in the dark. I needn’t have worried about navigation as it turns out I do know these woods like the back of my hand and was able to easily guide us back to our car. As we exited the woods we noticed a cow and her black calf standing on the Cross-Seal of Arrival, undoubtedly a good sign. A coyote stood sentinel on our way home, another good sign.

I apologize for the vagueness but you know how it is. Sub Rosa. I really recommend trying out a Red Meal for yourself. It’s execution is simple but it’s effects are not.