Midsummer/Harry's Welcoming

Well this past Saturday we held our Midsummer/Harry's Welcoming blót with family as well as various other heathens present. I know i mentioned in my last entry I was going to post pictures but I have decided against it since this was such a powerful and moving event I did not want to "cheapen" it in any way. The weekend started out with my father-in-law taking the trip with me to Glenmalure Farms to pick up the blót swine. I have been in contact with the owner for a few months prior, making inquiries about the farm, the animals and the feasibility of them giving us a live pig to blót as opposed to the normal procedure of them selling a pig to someone after they have had it slaughtered and prepared already.

It was "hot" on Friday to say the least...I am not going to bother boring you with the central air unit needing to be replaced debacle...but we picked up a beautiful and healthy sow and made the trip home where we cooled her off with water from the hose and fed her a whole bunch of apples. I would periodically go out to the shed to cool her off and rinse out the crate she was in and making sure she was comfortable as we continued to prepare for the next day. J and Jenn came up from Deleware and Dan and Leigh from Laerad also came down as did 2 of my sisters and we had as much fun as possible while waiting for the unit to be replaced so we did not boil in our own juices.

Saturday morning came bright and early for me as I was up at 7, put a pot of coffee on and began to make the preparations for the day...both physically and mentally...as we waited for the rest of the guests to arrive as we planned on holding blót around 11am. I gave the sow somw apples soaked in the raspberry mead that we made a few years ago to help keep her calm and she ate it faster and more hearty than she did the plain apples before, who knew? I conducted a final pre blót briefing with everyone since just about everyone present was going to have some sort of role to play, be it catching the blood in the hlautbolli or clearing my grandfathers...Harry's namesake...rifle after the initial shot. I wanted everyone to have a part to play in what was a momentous occasion for both us and Harry. After the briefing we all made our way down to the grove with the sow in the crate and I stopped briefly at the edge of the grove and said what I needed to say and then we all filtered in, taking our positions and making sure the crate was near the godpoles and vé yet also ensuring everyone was behind us and out of the line of fire.


I chambered a round in grandpa's .22, opened up the cage, and enticed her out with some pieces of cut up apple that I set on the ground, took the safety off and made ready...

You know something...I wasn't nervous, or even anxious, but about 30min prior to going down to the grove it hit me, and it hit me hard. I have hunted almost my entire life and have had the unfortunate job of dispatching animals others have shot, up close and personal like (which SUCKS BTW), and I was really unsure as to how this was going to affect me. I  mean I knew it was going to but I was unsure of how, would it be sadness from taking a life? Or would it be more of a "moving" type emotion that reflects the power of the act and how it affects all those present.

It was the latter...She came out of the cage and lowered her head as she began to eat the slices of apple place before her. I remembered what I was told as to where to place the bullet to make it quick and clean. I squeezed the trigger and grandpas .22 did it's job, she fell to the ground and was quickly lifted onto the altar that I had made a few weeks before and held down firmly. I handed the rifle over to Josh who ensured all the rounds were emptied and the weapon placed on safe as I took the blót knife and quickly prepared to  make the cut. The blót knife in this instance was a simple boning kitchen knife that we had as I did not have sufficient time to have a blót knife commissioned as one would not have been ready in time, but you know what? I made sure the knife was sharp, the cut was quick and clean and Jesse quickly knelt down to collect the blood into the blót bowl...


You know what? All I could think of was "what if she does not go down?", "what if I screw this up?", how is this going to affect my luck and the luck of those present. I mean after all isn't that one of the things that happens? You are there to "get" some of or "partake in" the luck of the blótsmann and if I screwed up what would the consequences be? Well guess what...It went beautifully.


As Jesse collected the blood and filled the bowl you could almost hear and feel the collective sigh of relief that I knew was being breathed at that moment by all those there. Once both bowls were filled I took the secondary bowl and reddened both the Thor idol and pillar and the Freyr idol and pillar, the vé, and the stones around the pillars. The altar itself didn't need to be as it was reddened by her blood from the cut. I knelt down by her head as she was still being held down and spoke softly to her, thanking her and just "listened", you could hear a pin drop in that grove but what was unmistakeably clear were the soft sniffs and sobs of those gathered. This was the most powerful, moving and life changing experience I have ever had, and I think it was the same for those gathered. It was the first "real" blót for all of us save 1 person there and if I had to put it into words I would use just one...holy.

Once she had stopped moving and had been bled the words I had prepared were spoken by me to those present and I took our son in my arms, spoke his name to all present and ceremoniously fed him...I say ceremoniously because Harry apparently did not want to cooperate but that's ok. I handed him back to Lisa who then dipped her finger into the blót bowl and dabbed a finger of blood on his cheek. Lisa and Jesse then went around to each person as Lisa introduced them to Harry Mykola Golden and dabbed blood on their cheek, once everyone was blooded the remaining blood was emptied on the altar and vé.

 I then asked both Jesse and Dan to come forth as we had asked, and they accepted, to be the "godparents" and to assist us in raising Harry as a heathen, we did this because they both are well respected, honorable heathens and have proven their worth to us.


I concluded the blót and everyone made their way back to the house as a few of us stayed to make sure we took everything out of the grove. At that point it was on to preparing the pig to be cooked and just hanging out and having a wonderful as we waited for the feast portion of the day.


Lisa, Dan, Murry and Lorien did an absolutely amazing job of preparing the tables and flower arrangements and once everything was prepared and ready to go the other formalities took place. As lady of the house Lisa seated everyone individually/by couples as Leigh and Lorien brought a wash bowl and clean hand towels to each person so they may wash their hands prior to eating. After everyone was seated we presented both Dan and Jesse with their gifts we had made for them and even more feasting and drinking commenced.


It was a deeply moving day, a day filled with laughter, friendship and tears, a day of introducing the next generation of heathens to his community and to our tribe. it will certainly not be the last.