Witchy Wednesday - Rice
Witchy Wednesday - Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species Oryza sativa (Asian rice) or Oryza glaberrima (African rice). As a cereal grain, it is the most widely consumed staple food for a large part of the world's human population. There are now more than 40,000 varieties of rice and it is grown on every continent except Antarctica. It grows to height of 6 feet on average and has both broad and slender leaves coming off a main stalk and has flowers growing off of them. Rice is commonly used as food mainly is Asian culture but is used worldwide for a variety of dishes from soups and stew to curry and even as rice pudding. Rice should be rinsed before cooking to remove any dust or chemicals from processing and packaging. Then it should be soaked for a half hour. In the Philippines rice wine, popularly known as tapuy, is used for important occasions such as weddings, rice harvesting ceremonies and other celebrations. Rice plays an important role in certain religions and popular beliefs. In many cultures relatives will scatter rice during or towards the end of a wedding ceremony in front of the bride and groom. Magickally the practice of throwing rice at newly married couples is meant to give blessings of fertility, abundance and good fortune and it is the first food a newly wed in India will offer her husband. An old belief claims that certain evil spirits are obsessive counters and a container of grain near the door will cause any that try to enter the house to be distracted so much by counting the individual grains that they will forget to enter. The pounded rice ritual is conducted during weddings in Nepal. The bride gives a leaf plate full of pounded rice to the groom after he requests it politely from her. Finally White rice is very easily digested and kind on the stomach. It is good for people who are having difficulty keeping their food down
