Asatru, Norse, Heathen web blog full of pictures and other Heathen related stuff.
Ran by the Gothi of Kaerhrafnr Kindred in Central Southern Wisconsin.
This is NOT about the comic put out by Marvel.
(Note: Heathen Temple is submitting various rites and ways of Asatru. Some may be ‘fluffy’ others not so much. The goal is to increase your knowledge and give you a framework of practice seeing there is really no step by step given in Lore. this includes all information on the page in general as well unless Historical context is provided)
FaceBook link:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/KaerHrafnr-Kindred/172850726100135
Walburga’s Night/May Day
Mike Smith
Walburga’s Night- A night of magic and mystery.
As said before, some Ásatrú have associated Walburga with the goddess Freyja in modern aspects, so they honor her and Óðinn with elements of runic magic and seiðr. This hátíð is observed on April 30th at night. Then, in the morning, May Day folk customs are observed, like the Maypole’s fertility dance, with merriment and fun. This example ritual’s structure is a bit different than the usual. But, of course, one may utilize the former structures or create one.
Waluburg’s Night - Ways of Asatru
The May Eve festival is one held by all the Germanic peoples. It is generally known as “Walpurgisnacht”, after the christian St. Walpurga or Walburga; the native Teutonic name for the festival has not survived. The Oxford Dictionary of Saintstells us that “(Walburga’s) feast of 1 May inappropriately coincided with a pagan feast for the beginning of summer and the revels of witches, whence the customs of Walpurgisnacht, which have no intrinsic connection with the saint. It is, however, not impossible that the protection of crops ascribed to her and represented by the three ears of corn in her images may have been transferred to her from Mother Earth” (p. 395). However, many folk choose to give the name “Walpurga” a Heathen reading, though it is incorrect to associate the first element with Wal- as “Slain” and thus to connect it either with the cult of Wodan or with the Frowe as the chooser of her share from the battlefield. The name’s original form was “Wald-Burga” (Wood-Protection). However, a similar name, “Waluburg”, is recorded for a Germanic seeress in the second century C.E.; this probably derives from *walus (stave or staff), just as the word “Völva” does (Simek, Dictionary, pp. 370-71), and thus is wholly fitting to this night of magic.
Ostara (Eostre) - Ways of Asatru
The first mention of the goddess Ostara (Old High German), or Eostre (Anglo-Saxon) comes in Bede’s De Temporum Rationale, in which the christian cleric tells us only that she is a Heathen goddess after whom a month (April, roughly) was named and that during this month a holiday was celebrated in her name. The Frankish Ostarmanoth (recorded in Einhard’s Life of Charlemagne) and the surviving Modern German name for the festival, Ostern, support the belief that she was known among the continental Germans as well. Not only was she known, but she must have been well-known and firmly rooted, since her name had to be kept even for the christian feast. The name Ostara does not seem to have been known in Scandinavia at all; though we have no evidence for it, it is quite tempting to suggest that Iðunn may have stood in her stead.
Eir Blessing- Ways of Asatru
(Note: Heathen Temple is submitting various rites and ways of Asatru. Some may be ‘fluffy’ others not so much. The goal is to increase your knowledge and give you a framework of practice seeing there is really no step by step given in Lore. this includes all information on the page in general as well unless Historical context is provided)
~Kveldulfr Gundarsson
Since a blessing to Eir is likely to be done when someone needs healing, the form of this blessingdiffers slightly from the others given here.
Sample Dísablót - Ways of Asatru
Mike Smith
Introduction
Dísablót is an old, traditional hátíð which is in honor of the Dísir. They were often worshipped in the autumn or late winter. Most Ásatrú celebrate it in mid-February. This is when the female ancestral, or tutelary, spirits are worshipped.
On Animal Sacrifice - Ways of Asatru
~Mike Smith
from chapter 6, Ways of the Ásatrú
Blót literally means “blood”, and survives in the modern Icelandic word blóð and the modern German blüt. Another related modern word is “blessing” (Anglo-Saxon blétsung) which originally meant “to sprinkle with blood”.
Thorrablot (Thor’s Feast) - Ways of Asatru
January (Snowmoon - Æfter-Giuli - Thorri) 19th - 25th
Thorrablot (Thor’s Feast)
This holiday began the Old Norse month of Þorri. Today this festival starts on the Friday of January between the 19th and 25th (the 13th week of winter in Iceland).
The Historical Blot - Ways of Asatru
I am quoting historical references here. Though it would of differed from tribe and area. Also there has been no step by step description.
Heathen Ways - Substitute for Hammer Rite
That the Hammer-rite is in imitation of the wiccan “Circle-casting” which in itself is a 20th century imitation of the ceremonial of the centuries from the middle ages onward is not in question; it is simple fact. The rationale for borrowing the rite is also not in question since we basically have clear admission from the originators (actually, the original borrowers) as to where it came from and why it’s done.
Ways of Asatru - hátíðir (holidays/celebrations)
Lets explore the holidays and major ritual types of the Ásatrú folk. In these holidays and rituals, it is important to keep within the mindset that one is not appeasing the gods by buying them off, but rather one is giving honor to them by bestowing or sharing gifts with them.
Ways of Asatru - Feasts or Veizla
The word used to describe a feast of importance was, “veizla”. Veizla could be done alone in honor of a particular person, guest, to celebrate an event, or it could be in honor of a god or goddess. But, it always followed when either a blót or a fórn was performed.
Ways of Asatru - Blót and Fórn
Blót literally means, “blood”, and survives in the modern Icelandic word, “blóð” and the modern German, “blüt”. Another related modern word is “blessing” (Anglo-Saxon, “blétsung”) which originally meant, “to sprinkle with blood”. The blót, in ancient times, was the main form of communal worshipping ritual.
The Ways of Asatru - The Sumbel
The sumble is an event that follows the veizla at all hátíðir. It is as much of a holy event as the blót or fórn. The Roman historian, Tacitus, refers to such a ritual in his Germania remarking how amazed he was that these Germanic tribesmen would lay out the most personal of things before everyone.
Hammer Rite - Ways of Asatru
The hammer rite is on shaky historical ground. We do know that Thor was considered the “hallower”, that his hammer was used as a symbol of faith in response to the Christian cross, and that Thor’s hammer is brought in “to hallow the bride” in Thrymskvidha.
