Blot

 The Blót is the most common ritual within Asatru. In its most basic form a blót is a sacrifice to the Gods. We, as humans, are giving something of ourselves over to the Gods. In ancient times, it was common to hold a feast in the Gods honor in this way people gave of their crops and livestock to the Gods. In modern times, we must search for different things to give to the Gods marking our commitment to them. The majorities of aapeople today do not live on farms and are not as connected to the land as our ancestors were. Today, we also do not have the same relationship with animals as our a did. For our ancestors, these animals were their lifeblood. Giving the animals to deity was giving of themselves.

It is, therefore, very uncommon today to see Asatruar sacrificing animals to the Gods. It is more common that sacrifices today include alcohol, usually mead that has been handmade, as the primary gift given to the Gods. The ingredients to make mead: honey, sugar, and yeast, come from the Gods. These ingredients are turned into mead by human hands and understanding. As mead they are then returned to the Gods in exchange for the blessings. A gift for a gift.

A blót can be as simple or as complex as one may want to make it. It is the perfect ritual for one person to perform a solitary rite whether by design or necessity or it can be changed slightly to accommodate a group of a hundred. As can be inferred, there are many ways in which to perform this rite. What is listed here is the standard outline for all Raven Kindred North Blóts. As I said, this same outline has been used for single person rituals and for very large group rituals. The only tools used are a hammer, blessing bowl (called a blöt bowl), some sort of drink (usually mead, but can be apple juice). Please bear in mind that none of these are actually necessary to perform a blot. People have preformed very effect blóts with their finger and a bit of water. The only thing necessary is having the right mind set or attitude. Approach the ritual with seriousness-not too much, the Gods do like to have fun, and a sincere desire to commune with the Gods and you will have very powerful experience.
 

 
This the standard blót outline for all of Raven Kindred North’s ritual. Each individual performing this ritual should change the contents to reflect their own goals for the ritual. We have offered this outline as a guide for how we do rituals and not as dogma as to how all Asatru rituals should be done. Please take from it what you need.

I. Chant:
“Odin Vili, Ve” 3x

II. Hammer Rite
While making the sign of the hammer (an upside down T) facing the altar:
“Hammer of Fire, Hallow and Hold this Holy Stead”
While making the sign of the hammer (an upside down T) facing away from the altar:
“Hammer of Ice, Hallow and Hold this Holy Stead”

III. Invocation of the Deity
Invoke the deity in whichever aspect you wish for the blot

IV. Secondary Activities supporting the blot: meditation etc.
The godhi should have an appropriate activity or meditation.

V. Pass mead for blessing
Members present can make their toast. This continues for three rounds

​VI. Sprinkle the folk

VII. Thank the deity

VIII. Ring Rite
Here is where all members of the kindred take hold of the ring and repeats after the godhi
“Hear me all holy wights, both high and low of Hiemdallr’s kin! This ring is an unbroken circle and binds us together as a kindred to those here and those scattered throughout all the nine worlds. The bonds of kinship survive even death. ALL HAIL THE RAVEN KINDRED!!!!!!!”

IX. Pour the libation to the Earth
After choosing an appropriate spot the godhi pours out the remainder of the blessing bowl saying:
“From the Gods, to the earth, to us. From us, to the earth, to the Gods. A gift for a gift. The rite is ended”.
Raven Kindred North has used the same ritual outline for as many years as we have been around with only a few minor changes. We begin our blots by chanting “Odin, Vili, Ve” three times. Odin, Vili, and Ve, it will be remembered, were the forces that created the universe after slaying the Jotun Ymir. By chanting their names we become connected to those primal forces, which gave rise to the universe, as we know it. The chant is continued three times, as three is a holy number within Asatru.

After the chanting we do a hammer rite in order to sanctify the space. The hammer rite has been done many different ways over the years with each kindred adding its own flair to the rite. Raven Kindred North does the following.
While making the sign of the hammer (an upside down T) in one direction, usually facing the altar, say “Hammer of Fire, hallow and hold this holy stead”. Turn 180 degrees, make the sign of the hammer (an upside down T) again while saying, “Hammer of ice, hallow and hold this holy stead.”
We chose to use two directions and the opposing forces of fire and ice because in the Eddas we are told that it was from these forces that all creation was formed. It is with the power of these forces that our blots will be born.
Next we do an invocation to whichever deity may be the focus of the ritual. During the invocation we are sending an invitation to the deity to join us while we honor him/her/them. We call to mind all the names, deeds, or attributes of that deity that we would like ourselves to be blessed with.

Following the invocation we do a meditation on the deity in relation to whatever kind of blessing is being asked for. For example, if we were doing an Einjahar Blöt we would do a meditation focusing on a battle scene with Odin in it giving some sort of advice. Quite possibly, for a ritual to gain wisdom the guided imagery could be used to go to Mimir’s Well or to the Well of Urd.

The kindred does not always do a meditation. In some cases we replace the meditation with some other appropriate activity. For example we have; at times, replaced the meditation with mead making when honoring Aegir, he being the mead maker of the Gods. When honoring Frey at Freyfaxi, we have sacrificed a horse (made of dough) at this time. The possibilities have limits only in the godhi’s goal for the ritual and imagination.

For the next part of the blót, Raven Kindred North has incorporated a mini-sumble. Our mini-sumble consists of three rounds and is our chance to “commune” with the Gods on a more personal level. The godhi, taking up a horn/glass of mead, invokes the deity’s blessing within the drink. When he/she feels this has been accomplished, he/she drinks some of the mead, thereby taking into him/herself the blessing of deity. The godhi then passes on the mead to the other celebrants for them to ask for their own blessings. In turn, each celebrant should hold the horn and speak so that their words stir the liquid within the horn. In this way their words are dropped into the Well of Urdth where they become part of their wyrd forever. The celebrants then drink in their own words making them physically a part of them. Raven Kindred North also became aware of the fact that there are some who cannot or do not want to drink alcohol for a variety of reasons. These people, we suggest, kiss the side of the horn rather than drink from it so the sumble may continue. The round ends with the pouring of the remainder of the horn into a blessing bowl. The natures of the toasts (rounds) are as follows:

The first round is always given to the deity being honored. At this time the celebrants express their concerns, admirations, wishes or whatever to the deity directly. They ask for his/her/their direct support in some matter. The horn/glass is then drunk from or kissed and then passed on.
The second round is generally used for people to toast their personal patron, family, or ask for blessing in any other area of life that they wish. At this time the individual celebrants is believed to have a direct communication with their deity. The words they speak at this time have power by being witnessed by the gathered folk and heard by the Gods. ask for anything else from the deity while still on the topic of the blot. For example, while honoring the Einjahar, one might ask for victory in battle for a friend at this point. Some may ask for guidance in a specific area that the God may have expertise in.

The third round is used to honor the ancestors or heroes, ask for blessings of any of the Gods, or make boasts with all the kindred and Gods listening. As was stated above, we believe the celebrant to be in direct contact with the deity at this point. The words spoken are directed right to the deity in question. The conclusion of each round is marked by the pouring of the remainder of the horn into a blessing bowl.

After all the rounds have been poured into the blessing bowl the person acting as the godhi for the ritual will take a sprig from a tree and use it to bless the gathered folk with the contents of the bowl. In this way the blessings are received back by the celebrants and shared with the community as a whole.

If there is a large number of people gathered we have sometime opted to have the godhi make the toast at each round for the entire group present, then sprinkle the mead over the crowd with a twig toward the conclusion of the rite. We have also limited the number of rounds to just one, with everyone making their own toast to the deity. Finally we have also just let each person do each of the three rounds in turn. This does make for a VERY long ritual, especially with 50 or more people, but all three have been used with success. The determining factor seems to be the goal of the ritual and what effect the godhi wishes the celebrants to take away from the ritual.

After the three rounds, or whatever variation is being used, have been completed the godhi then thanks the deity/ies for their attendance and requests that they take back the words and deeds of the gathered folk back to Asgard. We at this time wish them a safe return across the Bifrost Bridge and prepare to conclude our ritual.

The godhi next takes up the Oath ring of the kindred and calls all members of the kindred forward to take hold of the ring. At this time Raven Kindred North reestablishes our commitment to each other as a kindred and to the Gods as their folk. We also acknowledge our kinship with those members who are unable to attend our rites.
​
The ritual is concluded when the godhi takes up the blessing bowl with its contents and goes to a near by tree or some other appropriate spot. It is here we give back to the Gods what they have given to us. The godhi pours out the contents of the bowl saying “From the Gods to the earth, to us. From us, to the earth, to the Gods. The cycle continues. The rite is ended”. At this point the gathered folk usually break for a feast and general merry making. A good time is always had by all.