Lewis Stead

The Ravenbook

officiating at the blot invokes the God

or Goddess being honored. This is usually accomplished by a spoken

declaration with ones arms being held above ones head in the shape of

the rune Elhaz Z. (This posture is used for most invocations and

prayers throughout Asatru.) After the spoken invocation an appropriate

rune or other symbol of the God or Goddess may be drawn in the air

with the finger or with the staff. Once the God is invoked, the Gothi

takes up the horn. His assistant pours mead from the bottle into the

horn. The Gothi then traces the hammer sign (an upside down T) over

the horn as a blessing and holds it above his head offering it to the

Gods. He then speaks a request that the God or Goddess bless the

offering and accept it as a sacrifice. At the least one will feel the

presence of the deity; at best one will be able to feel in some inner

way the God taking of the mead and drinking it.

The mead is now not only blessed with divine power, but has passed the

lips of the God or Goddess. The Gothi then takes a drink of the horn

and it is passed around the gathered folk. In our modern rituals each

person toasts the deity before they drink. Although this sounds like

a very simple thing, it can be a very powerful experience. At this

point the mead is no longer simply a drink but is imbued with the

blessing and power of the God or Goddess being honored. When one

drinks, one is taking that power into oneself. After the horn has

made the rounds once, the Gothi again drinks from the horn and then

empties the remainder into the hlautbowl. The Gothi then takes up the

evergreen sprig and his assistant the Hlautbowl and the Gothi

sprinkles the mead around the circle or temple or onto the altar. If

there are a great number of the folk gathered, one may wish to drop

the drinking and merely sprinkle the various folk with the mead as a

way of sharing it. In a small group one might eliminate the sprinkling

and merely drink as the blessing.

When this is done the Hlautbowl is taken by the Gothi and poured out

onto the ground. This is done as an offering not only to the God

invoked at the blot, but it is also traditional to remember the

Nerthus, the Earth Goddess, at this time, since it is being poured

onto her ground. Many invocations mention the God, Goddess, or spirit

being sacrificed to, and then Mother Earth, as in the Sigrdrifa Prayer

Hail to the Gods and to the Goddesses as well; Hail Earth that gives

to all men. (Sigrdrifumal 3) With this action, the blot is ended.

Obviously this is a very sparse ritual and if performed alone could be

completed in only a few minutes. This is as it should be, for blots

are often poured not because it is a time of gathering or festivity

for the folk, but because the blot must be poured in honor or petition

of a God or Goddess on their holiday or some other important occasion.

For example, a father tending his sick child might pour a blot to Eir

the Goddess of healing. Obviously he doesnt have time to waste on

the trappings of ritual. The intent is to make an offering to the

Goddess as quickly as possible. At some times a full celebration

might not be made of a holiday because of a persons hectic schedule,

but at the least a short blot should be made to mark the occasion.

However, in most cases a blot will at least be accompanied by a

statement of intent at the beginning and some sort of conclusion at

the end. It might also be interspersed with or done at the conclusion

of ritual theater or magic.

One important thing to note about any Asatru ritual is that ours is a

holistic religion. We do not limit our Gods or spirituality to a

certain time and place. While the sacrament of the blot is usually

poured as part of a ceremony, the feast afterwards, singing of sacred

songs, reciting of poetry, toasts at mealtime, Morris Dancing, etc are

all part of our religion. At the first Raven-Thing, our annual

festival, we began with a great feast, then we held a blot ritual

which involved a mystery play of Thor and the Frost-Giants.

Afterwards, we held a sumbel. All the gathered folk sat for the first

three rounds dedicated to the Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors, but

afterwards people came and went (politely and quietly) as they wished.

The atmosphere of the whole evening was one of ritual and celebration.