The Winter Sunstead: Yule

Evan McCallum

The place of the ritual should have an altar near the north of the area, and a Yule tree decorated for the season. If possible, other decorations should be in blue and white. Beyond the altar hang a banner of the Odin rune in black cloth with silver or gold markings. Place a rune-banner for Freya to one side of the Odin rune and one for Thor to the other side. (Suitable images representing the three Deities may replace the banners.) Decorate all banners (or images) and the entire ceremonial area festively, for Yule.

Those who follow the Old Ways may want to decorate the Yule tree to reflect Yggdrasil, the World Tree. To do so, trim the tree as usual, but with particularly Norse features such as an eagle on top (representing Odin as giver of wisdom and victory). A little below the base of the tree, put a cave with the Earth Dragon, images of the three Norns, a pool (a mirror will do) and a cauldron. Stags may be in the snow about the base of the tree, and squirrels in the branches. A manger scene is also appropriate (placed in straw against the trunk of the tree) with Mother Frigga and the newborn Child of Promise, along with domestic animals. Three male wanderers (representing Odin, Thor and Loki) may bring gifts to Frigga's Sacred Child. Valkyries on the backs of winged horses may be in the higher branches, with winged female figures (representing Valkyries, also called Swan Maidens). Place many stars and lights in and around the tree.

On the altar should be harness bells and seasonal decorations, a flame bowl (or flaming brazier), an incense brazier, a sword or dagger and a drinking horn in its center. Have a jug of mead or ale available beneath or beside the altar. Have a twig or small bundle of leaves as an aspergillum, to sprinkle the mead for consecration. You may want to have copies of the rite for the participants. If possible, each participant should have a part. Have a wassail bowl of eggnog for the celebration after the rite.

Light the ritual area only with fire. Have candles or torches on or beside the altar, to be lit during the ceremony. Place one at each Quarter and before each rune-banner. Before beginning, light a small taper on the altar in order to light the other candles or torches and to aid reading. When using altar candles, there should be many white ones.

If using banners or standards to symbolize the gods and goddesses of Valhalla, or heroes of the people, place them about the edge of the ritual area. If available, a bull's horn or other appropriate musical instrument should signal the start of the rite.

Besides the Godi (Priest), it is best that a Godia (Priestess) lead the ritual. If a woman of the Folk is not available, place flowers before the banner of Freya, and the Godi (or any other) may speak the words of the Godia.

When all is in readiness, assemble the folk. (If there is room, the Godi and Godia may lead a Procession of Honor, ending before the altar.) The Godi lights the candles or torches beside the altar.

Opening

When ready, sound the summoning horn (if used) and assemble the folk. After a silence of twenty-five heartbeats, the Godi rings the harness bells and says:

O Great Odin, Azure-Cloaked Wanderer from the far, ancient lands of our people, Lord of the Shining Ones who do protect our land, our folk and our families, we call to Thee to be with us here. We call to Thee across all of time and all the worlds of the gods. Your people are still here, O Wise One. Come to us again, and give us to drink of Thy cauldron of life and of inspiration that we may prosper once again. Come to us now and be with us here as the seasons turn. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

Godia:

O Leader of the Wind-Riders, You who weave fates and destinies and before whose magicks men and gods do bow, co-ruler with our great Valfather, Odin of the shining Lands of the Gods, we call on Thee, O Freya the Fair One! Be with us here in this rite as the seasons turn. Hail Freya!

All:

Hail Freya!

Godi:

O red bearded thunderer, friend and protector of our people, laughing and hearty, generous and good, we call on Thee, O mighty Thor! Be with us here in this rite as the seasons turn. Hail Thor!

All:

Hail Thor!

Calling the Far Realms

The Godi calls for a period of silence of at least thirteen heartbeats, as all put themselves in a calm and meditative state. Godi then says:

Great Odin, we do now work this rite in Your honor. Be with us here, we do ask.

Godia:

O fair and magical Freya, we do now work this rite in Your honor. Be with us here, we do ask.

Godi:

Strong and sturdy Thor, we do now work this rite in Your honor. Be with us here, we do ask.

Godia (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the East and salutes, saying:

O winds of the East, blow soft, cool, and sweet upon our people. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

Godi (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the South and gives salute, saying:

O Warm sun of the South, shine brightly upon our people. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

Godia (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the West and salutes, saying:

O blue waters of the West, flow cool and giving of life for our people. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

Godi (or other so chosen) turns briefly to the North and salutes saying:

O lands of the North, give rich crops and calm souls to our people. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

The Blot Rite

The Godi fills the drinking horn from the jug of mead, then hold it for the Godia. She takes the dagger and touches the point to the mead, saying:

Great Odin, accept this as sacrifice in honor of You, in honor of our gods, and in honor of ourselves. Place Your blessing within, so that we may draw upon your wisdom, that your folk may prosper and gain victory in all that they do. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

Godia puts down the dagger, and half fills the Blot-Bowl. She takes the bowl and dips the aspergillum into the mead, and briefly sprinkles each of the worshipers (this may be symbolic when it might damage delicate clothing), saying:

You are blessed in the Name of Odin.

When all have been blessed, the Godi takes the bowl and aspergillum and similarly blesses the Godia. Then he replaces all upon the altar, turns to those present and says:

At this time, as in times far past, are those of us who follow the Old Ones blessed and consecrated in their sacred presence. May the strength, power, magick and wisdom, the courage and the steadfastness of the gods themselves remain forever within each of us. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

Runes of Winter Sunstead

After a space of 25 heartbeats, sound the ceremonial horn (if used). Then the Godi (or other so chosen) rings the harness-bells and says:

The Ring of the Year continues, without beginning and without end. Friends, the second half-year has passed. This time of old was called the Wolf Season—in our old lands a time of cold and harshness. But as surely as spring shall follow the bitterness of winter, so also shall our Gods be with us.

Godia:

The times to come are cold, yet look to the sky and see the promise of the High Ones. The stars that we call "Freya's Gown" are high in the winter sky, and the Winter Way winds from her feet to mark the path of souls across the sky. So also, in the coldest of seasons, we see the promise of life and plenty to come.

Godi:

At this time we are at the balance point of the year. The days have grown shorter and there is chill. Thus we remember the distant ages of ice and snow, and the threat of chaos in the terrible Fimbulwinter of legend. Yet, though the days may be cold and bitter, there is promise of the future, as days slowly grow longer.

At this time we do call on far-seeing Heimdal, watcher for the Gods, to give us vision of the future, and the steadfastness and patience to wait for better times. Hail Heimdal!

All:

Hail Heimdal!

Runes of the Life Force

After a pause of 25 heartbeats, the Godi rings the harness-bells and says:

This, the time of the Winter Sunstead, is the start of the natural new year. Our patron of this time is Heimdal, the keeper of the passage over the bridge Bifrost, linking the Mid-earth of men with the shining realms of gods. It is at this time that Heimdal has always brought news of the coming year, with the sounding of the great Gjallarhorn, which might even sound the ending of the world in times far distant.

Sound the bull's horn (if used), to signify the blowing of Gjallarhorn. The Godi continues:

Our legends tell us that the great Heimdal can hear the grass growing in the fields, the growing of wool on the sheep and even the passing of time. In high Asgard, the passing of yet another year is but a moment in eternity, yet we in this world and in these lands much live day to day as time passes.

Godia:

It is at the Winter Sunstead that we celebrate the longest night and the shortest day of the year, for this is the winter solstice. Beyond this time, beginning with the first day of the natural new year, the sun shines longer in each passing day until the glorious height of summer.

Godi:

Our folk in our ancestral lands, millennia ago, knew that the Sun's warmth quickened all life on the good Earth. They symbolized Her as the Sun-wheel and saluted Her with great bonfires.

Also they realized that more than gentle warmth was needed, and our myths thus spoke of "the Well of Life" as the Source of all that lives. In this day we call this the Life Force; that which starts all life, and which is the totality of all nature. Yet our traditions remain, for the Sun-wheel and bonfire still symbolize the Life Force.

Godia:

Watcher of East, give us your thoughts.

Watcher of the East:

The Life Force, the totality of Nature, is constant in its intent. It is neither good nor evil. It is reality.

Man cannot change anything in nature by asking favors of the Life Force. Though prayer and rituals cannot gain special privileges from the Life Force, they can change man's attitudes towards it.

Only dedication to understanding the Life Force, the only spiritual and physical phenomenon of the Universe, is of use to humankind. For verily, the Life Force has its own methods, and we must understand them. For the better we understand these methods, the better and more bountifully we live.

Godia:

Watcher of the South, give us your thoughts.

Watcher of the South:

In times past, we and our forebears usually considered the methods of the Life Force to be the Physical laws of the universe. Yet, just as important are the spiritual and social values that man must follow to live in successful association with others.

Humankind is part of nature, and a part of the Life Force. The societies of both human and animals are of the Life Force as well. Even the gods are a part of the great Life Force, for they help guide man towards a society that promotes well being.

Godia:

Watcher of the West, give us your thoughts.

Watcher of the West:

As we view times long past, those leaders that exemplified the best in their societies were held in very high regard. Over many generations, these high folk came to embody the spiritual ideals of their peoples. The spiritual and social ideas of these revered chiefs and leaders in time became a part of the culture of their people, even a part of the deepest memory of their folk.

It is said that the Great Odin was such a leader. His deeds of valor, honor and wisdom became legend, and after generations he became a God in the eyes of his people. Even after all this time, Great Odin still lives as a spiritual part of his folk—of ourselves.

Godia:

Watcher of the North, give us your thoughts.

Watcher of the North:

We, like those of ancient times, are Odinists because we believe in wisdom, honor, and valor as part of social values, as well was our own personal ideals. Further, we believe above all that these are spiritual values of the Life Force itself. On this night we rededicate ourselves to the understanding of the Life Force, and to Odin and His people.

The Godi adds fuel to the altar flame bowl to make the flames higher. He gazes within it for the space of 10 heartbeats and says:

This fire represents the Life Force. As we look deep into the flames, let us realize that before us is an infinite variation of movement and color.

Just as these flames rise and fall, so does man's fate. More often than not, a man lives only by fate, for he knows not why humankind is here or where it is going. And in truth we can only attempt to understand where the life force is guiding us. If we muse with our logical minds as well as with the feelings of our hearts, we sense that the Life Force directs us to perpetuate our lives in some way.

Deep within, we understand that death without personal or social fulfillment is bad. If we reason, we know logically that those who choose not to further enhance life are already dead.

The Godia adds fuel to the altar flame-bowl to make the flames higher. She gazes within it for the space of 10 heartbeats and says:

As we look deeply into the flames, we sense the timelessness of the Life Force. We do not know when or where the Life Force originated. We do not know where our people originated, thousands and thousands of years ago.

We have lived in families, clans and tribes for these thousands of years, and we have flourished. The unanimity of thought and emotions of our people has stabilized the societies in which we have lived, and given us continuing progress. In this day we now need the understanding of our past and the best of our thinking to guide us along life's paths.

The Godi adds fuel to the altar flame-bowl to make the flames higher. He gazes within it for the space of 10 heartbeats and says:

Now as we look deeply into the flickering flames, let us think of our personal goals which shall further the intent of the Life Force. Let us now visualize our personal goals.

See them clearly? See them clearly. Each time you visualize your goals they will become clearer and clearer, and your desire to obtain these goals will become greater and greater. As you look into the flames, see yourself as having achieved these goals. See yourself with the reward of success. See your enjoyment.

Godia:

As a group we have dedicated ourselves to the intent of the Life Force. Let us now look up into the sky and see the vastness of the universe. We realize that humankind is a very small, but very complex part of the universe. We belong here.

Let us respect the environment beyond us, but let us not submit to fear of it. Let us understand and respect the Life Force, knowing that it is neither good nor evil, but that it is all-powerful.

Only man is good or evil according to his own social rules for survival. Those societies that follow the Life Force survive, but those that follow false ideas perish.

Godia:

We have begun the dedication of each of us to the Life Force. It is now for each of you to complete your own personal dedication.

You need an accurate understanding and definition of your personal and social goals for a successful year, and a successful life to follow. I bid each of you, in the name of our gods, to set aside a few hours in the coming days to analyze and to visualize your future, and to chart the course of your life through the years to follow.

Odin lives! Hail Odin!

All:

Odin Lives! Hail Odin!

Sumul

After a silence for 25 heartbeats, the Godia fills the ceremonial drinking horn. Standing to the east of the fire-circle, she holds the horn up towards the rune-banners and says:

Hail to Ye, great ones of the Shining Lands! We are gathered here in Your honor, and in our own, to celebrate this great gift of the Gods. We ask that You place Your blessings upon this mead of inspiration, that some of Your noble powers may thus pass into we who salute you and remain. Grant Your blessings and be with us, Odin of Wisdom! Freya of Power and Magic! Thor, of Strength! Accept this libation as our offering. Hail Odin!

All:

Hail Odin!

The Godia pours a bit of mead in the fire (or, if indoors, in a special libation bowl, to be later poured beneath a tree) and says to those gathered for the rite:

In ancient times our people would gather on nights such as this to seek the inspiration of the Gods, to speak holy words, or words of joy, and then to drink in the honor of the Great Ones. I bid each of you to speak, to give salutations, or to give laughter. Then honor the high Gods and the Life Force that pervades all with this horn. Now, ye blessed of Valhalla, let us all do as I do first.

The Godia holds the horn aloft, speaks briefly in honor of the Life Force in her own words, ending with "Hail Odin!" before drinking. She then steps before the first person to her left, holds out the drinking horn, and says:

I give you the wisdom of Odin.

The follower takes the horn, holds it aloft, and either gives a salutation to a deity, recites an appropriate poem, speaks of the Life Force, or whatever else is appropriate. When finished the follower calls out "Hail Odin!" and drinks.

The follower then hands the horn back to the Godia, who takes it to the person on the left to repeat the process, working deosil about the circle. Each time that the horn returns to the starting point, the Godia speaks and then drinks in honor of Odin. As the drinking horn empties refill it. When the Godia determines that it is time for this part of the rite to end, she takes a final drink and pours out any remainder as a libation.

Closing

When it is time to end, the Godia or Godi has all stand in a silent meditation for a moment. The Godia or Godi then holds out the sword in salute before the rune-banner(s) saying:

The time for our rite is ended. Let us give thanks for this time when we may be with the gods. As we go our ways, may the spirit of far Valhalla and the High Ones of the shining land, go ever with us, with our children and with our people. Hail Odin! (salute)

Continued on page 32

The Winter Sunstead

Continued from page 30

All:

Hail Odin! (salute)

The Godia or Godi replaces the sword upon the altar, and says:

This rite is ended. Go ye ever in the Way of the Gods and live their blessing. May all of us here have a prosperous New Year!

Now is the time for feasting, drinking the wassail (or eggnog). It is traditional for the Godi or Godia to offer horns (toasts) in honor of Odin (victory and power), Thor (strength and power), Njord and Frey (good years and peace) and Bragi (solemn vows for the coming year).

1989, Evan McCallum.

The Odinist Tradition

Evan McCallum's Odinist Wheel of the Year continues this issue with Mother Night and the Winter Sunstead. Mother Night occurs on the evening before the Winter Sunstead, the birth of the new year. Appropriately, it venerates and celebrates mothers, and the essential role they play. The Winter Sunstead celebrates the new year itself, the Life Force, and all that these represent.

Ancient Northern Europeans often thought of the new year as the birth of a new child, since each year usually brought a new child for the family. Also, as now, the new year represented opportunity and promise—for this reason, they also used the symbol of the newborn child. They saw the old year, quite logically, as dying, thus pictured as an old man. He also symbolized the chief of the Old Gods of the last eon, carrying out the old and outworn. In the Middle Ages, he became the old man with the scythe, or the grim reaper. Mother-Night and Yule were so well established in ancient Europe that the Church usurped these festival days for the celebration of Christ's birth. (The Christian manger scene, by the way, was familiar to Northern Europeans, who kept cattle under their living quarters as a heat source.)

—E.M.

Remember that, at this dawning of this New Age, "folk," "culture," "peoples," etc. are what we make them. For instance, many of us find our "family by choice" to be closer than our family by birth. In the New Age, a "folk" is a group with a homogeneity of spirit, rather than of DNA. The "One Planet, One People" bumper stickers do not call for genocide. Similarly, "Folk" asks us to recognize our unity as a species and a planet and to manifest it as a unity of will to create the best world we can.

Also, it is important to remember that each of us embodies both the masculine and feminine principles. Thus, the words "women" and "men" refer to the principles more than the sexes. Look for the truth of the words about women and men in yourself and others, regardless of gender.