Let's share everyday heathen rituals we know or have seen!

[DanishCrow]

Care to discuss everyday heathen rituals you've discovered?

I'll start. I got to participate in a smaller-scale heathen ritual this sunday, which may interest some of you: a member of my blót guild had moved into a new apartment, and held a housewarming - she charged me to bind a big stick of cleansing incense because of my vølvic experience, and so I did, interested to see what was going to happen with it. She said it was to clean and guard the apartment, and so it was.

She lit it up (I made one from garden wormwood, white sage and red pine), then took it to each window and doorsill in the apartment, waving it in a circle and making a cross in the circle (this is essentially the sun/season wheel which is our primary religious symbol, and is always done clockwise in accordance with tradition), saying "Sun and Sun's Son, Moon and Moon's Daughter, I draw you down and ask you to protect this home".

After that we held a traditional blot as is custom here in Denmark, only inside around a table, calling on Brage (she and her husband are mandolinists), Sun, Moon and Frigg (Odin's wife, aesir, protector of the home), where we had four rounds of beseechment and sacrifice, and the traditional blessing of items below the guild ring. I was channeling Moon, and so stood in the west, holding the guild ring along with the other corners as the runic prayer - involving such boss elements as naming the lords of the dwarves and dark elves in order to gain their magic - was said.

Then we ate lots of cake and I played with some cute children who threw licorice into my mouth. 10/10 would heathen housewarm again!

Feel free to post any everyday rituals you know of, or have participated in - it would be nice to expand on our collective ideas for a daily heathen practice!

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I myself don't really do daily ritual things. The most we do for housewarming is my wife does her thing - enters the house the very first time with bread and honey, so that we never go hungry (it's worked so far) - and then I carve or burn runes and staves for protection against harmful spirits and witchcraft.

 

[DanishCrow]

So no event-based ritual actions outside of the yearly sacrifices?

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Not that could be considered "everyday" actions. I do have a couple that I do before roadtrips:

 

[Hildeburh]

My daughter and son-in-law bought a house last week so we did a land taking ritual for them called beating the boundaries (riding the fringes). The custom has existed in England for a very long time and consists of walking the perimeter of the land and beating boundary markers with a stick asking blessings and announcing new tenancy . In England the stick would have been birch or willow but here in Australia we use Eucalyptus.

Following the perambulation we lit the brazier and burnt gum leaves which according the the Australian Aboriginals clear negative energy and spirits. Following the gum leaf smoking we placed offerings in the fire for our ancestors and the local land wights. Followed by a bbq and a few brews of course

We also travel the outback fairly regularly and prior to leaving I will employ the Old English metrical charm called the Journey Charm, which I have reworked, deleting the Christianised elements. I call on my ancestors for safe passage and end with an offering. When we bush walk we also take offerings for the local wights and announce loudly that we mean no harm or disrespect and would appreciate safe passage. It seems to be a shared Anglo Saxon and Australian Aboriginal belief that land wights are best not offended.

 

[DanishCrow]

That's great stuff! Native americans will bless dwellings by burying quartz and asking land spirits to protect it, and we scandinavians did something like it before the christians came.

In fact, all indigenous peoples used to have a relationship with spirits of the land, but a lot of it went with the inquisition.

 

[Deidre]

I've been adding incantations into my daily prayer time. I'm off for the next week from work, and thinking of buying some spices and candles to create my own incense experiences. I've been reading about the meanings behind each spice, so I think that would be cool to burn incense while doing incantations, as a daily ritual.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

I know Wiccans use a lot of crystals, but I can't say I've ever heard of indigenous Americans or pre--Christian Europeans using them.

 

[Hildeburh]

That's great stuff! Native americans will bless dwellings by burying quartz and asking land spirits to protect it, and we scandinavians did something like it before the christians came.

In fact, all indigenous peoples used to have a relationship with spirits of the land, but a lot of it went with the inquisition.

Building offerings are quite common in pre Christian cultures but I did not know Native Americans deposited quartz for protection. That's cool.

The Germanic tribes were also fond of gemstones. Pre Viking and Viking age beads and the trade/movement of amber, jet, jet like materials, rock crystal, fluorspar, and cornelian are particular interests of mine. These substances/gemstones have been found deposited in adult female, male and child graves in England and Scandinavia; usually but not exclusively in the form of beads.

The majority of the beads found in graves have been interpreted as displays of wealth, role and gender but single beads found in graves; such as single amber beads have been interpreted as amulets and in the case of sword beads as talisman.

Viking sword beads are mentioned in Kormak's Saga, "Bersi had a sharp sword called Hviting, with a life stone attached to it, which he carried in many dangers." It doesn't say what the life stone was made from but some gemstones, such as, amber and jet have an extensive association with myth and magic in the pre Christian world so it would not surprise me if this was also the case in the Germanic world.

 

[Gallowglass]

I don’t know about daily but I remember when I was really little I used to go and make bread for Frau Holle and the ancestors with a local Urglaawe lady once a week, and then do a little sammel (a version of sumbel) in this redware stein to “ensure the land.” She did it every Friday.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Every morning I go down to the garden to empty the previous night's wine from the libation bowl. This originally felt just like housework until I read Patricia Lafayllve's book on Asatru and adopted the prayer
"From the gods to the earth to us; from us to the earth to the gods; a gift for a gift."
That turned housework into worship.

Incidentally, I once had to explain my activities under the trees to a neighbour who suspected me of feeding pigeons or even rats! Of course, I might be breeding a generation of alcoholic worms…

 

[Holdasown]

My only daily rituals are giving offerings to my dead and my wights. I do monthly non mundane cleaning of my home.

 

[DanishCrow]

Missed this one, apparently

I know Wiccans use a lot of crystals, but I can't say I've ever heard of indigenous Americans or pre--Christian Europeans using them.

Really? Use of stones (and rock quartz in particular) as a source of power predates agriculture, let alone christianity! Particularly in the Americas, rock crystals have seen spiritual use for at least 2000 years.

Building offerings are quite common in pre Christian cultures but I did not know Native Americans deposited quartz for protection. That's cool.

I've worked with both a Peruvian and a Lakota shaman who did this kind of work, so I assume it's pretty widespread.

Viking sword beads are mentioned in Kormak's Saga, "Bersi had a sharp sword called Hviting, with a life stone attached to it, which he carried in many dangers." It doesn't say what the life stone was made from but some gemstones, such as, amber and jet have an extensive association with myth and magic in the pre Christian world so it would not surprise me if this was also the case in the Germanic world.

Amber has great power, you need only see it to know.

 

[Holdasown]

Isn't Amber associated with Freya?

 

[DanishCrow]

Indeed, and Njord.

 

[The Kilted Heathen]

Really? Use of stones (and rock quartz in particular) as a source of power predates agriculture, let alone christianity! Particularly in the Americas, rock crystals have seen spiritual use for at least 2000 years.

Amber I can see (especially with Brisingamen) but in what other ways are crystals such as quartz used? Not saying it doesn't happen, just I'm not familiar with the practice being particularly ancient.

 

[DanishCrow]

Well, the practice of using crystals for various energy work as we most often hear about it, is really new (late 1800s I believe), but quartz is used by animist magic workers to gain power, and have been for thousands of years. Considering that inuit, peruvian and korean shamans use them for the exact same purpose leads me to believe that it was universal in scope, at least until judeo-christianity murdered their wise folk.

 

[Holdasown]

I pick up rocks I like and paint them with symbols for various warding and such. I would imagine if they found quartz and liked it they would use it. It can give off some vibrations. If you picked it up and felt a connection, you would incorporate it into something.

 

[DanishCrow]

It stores electromagnetic energy, which could easily be registered (if not fully understood) by a prehistoric shaman. Many american legends explain that the largest quartz stones were pillars of the universe, you threw them against the ground, and if the gods heard you, the world kept turning - and since ancient people understood the universe to end with them (a cyclic view of phenomenologies), this was in fact correct - a huge quartz rock would release enough electricity to kill you if thrown towards rocky ground right next to you.

This is just one of many ways that modern scientific concepts were already partially or even fully understood thousands of years ago, though this is probably too off-topic and more suited for the Shamanism DIR.