Blot: the offering
The central act of Heathen worship is the gift. The Old Norse word is blot.
In the pre-Christian North a blot was usually the sacrifice of an animal, followed by a feast at which the meat was shared among the people. It was both an offering and a communal meal: the gods received their portion and the community ate together in their presence.
Modern Heathens almost always offer drink or food: mead, ale, milk, bread, the first fruits of a garden. A typical blot is simple. Those present gather, the gods or spirits being honored are named and welcomed, the offering is blessed and given, usually poured onto the earth or into a bowl, and the rest is shared. Words may be formal or spoken from the heart. The rite may be held at a household shrine, in a garden, or in the open country, with a greeting first to the wights of the place.
Symbel: the shared horn
Symbel, also spelled sumbel, is a ritual of speech. A horn or cup is filled and passed, and each person who receives it speaks before drinking: a toast to a god or goddess, a remembrance of an ancestor, a boast of something achieved, or an oath of something to be done. Words spoken at symbel are understood to be laid into the well of wyrd, and are not spoken lightly.
In the hall poetry of the old North, the horn is carried by a woman. In Beowulf it is the queen, Wealhtheow, who bears the cup to the king and then to each warrior in turn, and whose words over it bind and steady the company. This was an office of real authority, not table service. We explore it in The Horn-Bearer.
A horn for everyone
No one should ever be pressed to drink alcohol in order to take part in a rite. Under the Frith Standard, a drink without alcohol is always offered with equal honor, and a toast may be made by raising or touching the horn.
Rites of the household
Much of the old religion was practiced at home, and the sources suggest that the women of the house often led it. When the Christian poet Sigvat traveled through Sweden around 1019, he was turned away from one farm after another because the households were holding a sacrifice to the elves, and at one door it was the woman of the house who told him so and sent him off.
Many Heathens today keep a small shrine or shelf at home with images of the gods, photographs or keepsakes of ancestors, and a bowl for offerings. The house wight may be given a share of the baking or the first pour of a new brew. These small, regular gifts are the daily bread of the religion.
Rites of passage
- Naming. In the sagas a newborn was accepted into the family by being sprinkled with water and given a name. Modern naming rites welcome a child and ask the blessing of the Disir and the ancestors.
- Coming of age. Many kindreds mark the passage to adulthood with a rite and a gift.
- Marriage. Heathen weddings center on oaths exchanged before witnesses and the gods, often with the giving of rings and the sharing of a horn.
- Funerals and remembrance. The dead are sent on with honor, and are remembered at the ancestor shelf and at the holy tides.
The holy tides
There is no single Heathen calendar. Different communities keep different feasts according to their sources, their climate, and their own custom. Snorri names three great sacrifices in the Norse year: one at the start of winter for a good year, one at midwinter for growth, and one at the start of summer for victory. Most Heathens build their year around those three and add others.
| Tide | When | What is kept | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Nights | Mid-October | The start of winter. Thanks for the harvest; honor to the Disir, the elves, and the ancestors. | Well attested in the sagas |
| Mothers' Night and Yule | Late December | Midwinter. Twelve nights of feasting, oaths, and remembrance, opening with the Night of the Mothers. | Well attested. Snorri speaks of three nights; the twelve are later custom |
| Disting | February | The assembly of the Disir, as held at Uppsala. A time for community business and for honoring the female powers. | Attested for Sweden |
| Eostre | March or April | Spring and returning light. | Attested by Bede for the English; the rites are modern |
| Summer Finding | Mid to late April | The first day of summer in the old northern reckoning; the victory sacrifice. | The sacrifice is attested in the Norse sources; the name is modern |
| Midsummer | Late June | The summer solstice, kept with fires and outdoor gatherings. | Folk custom; early evidence is thin |
| Harvest | August to September | First bread from the new grain; thanks to the land. | Folk custom and modern practice |
We have tried to be honest in the last column. Some tides rest on firm evidence, some on later folk custom, and some are modern creations that have earned their place by being kept. A feast does not need to be ancient to be holy, but people deserve to know which is which.
Who may lead
Anyone may make an offering. Within a kindred, rites are often led by a godi (priest) or gydja (priestess), or the role may pass around the group. The old sources know women as leaders of public cult: the Icelandic Book of Settlements gives several women the title gydja, priestess, and one the title hofgydja, temple priestess. There is no rite in Heathenry that a woman may not lead, and no role at the horn, the fire, or the high seat that is closed to her. Our Statement on Women in Heathenry says so in full.