Libation offerings

[Jainarayan]

When I do a libation I pour the mead, ale or beer in the horn. I hail Thor, Odin, the Aesir, ancestors, spirit, et al. Then I pour some from the horn into a small bowl and drink from the horn. I take the bowl outdoors and pour it onto the ground. Is that part overdoing it? Is it necessary or is toasting everyone OK without the extra bowl. This seems overthought but I also thought it's redundant to toast, offer, then pour a second time. What say you?

 

[Treks]

Thorbjorn, did you ever find a resolution for your question, or are you still doing it this way?

I'm very interested in libations. How often do you do them? Why don't you do them directly outside on the ground (thereby removing the need for the bowl)? I dunno, I don't know the first thing about this yet

 

[Jainarayan]

@Treks I don't do my ritual every day, maybe a couple of times a week, if that. But every morning before going out I go to the altar to put on my hammer pendant and say some prayers over it. I don't think I've ever missed doing that since I adopted Ásatrú. So I get to spend even a few minutes at the shrine every day. When I pour a drink I occasionally pour a little into another small bowl, no more than an ounce or two. I leave it on the altar until the next day then I take it outside. For the most part I don't do that anymore. As someone told me, when raising the horn, or cup toasting the deities or ancestors, you're already "transcendentally" offering and sharing. She felt it was redundant because my ritual is not really a blót.The main reason I questioned it was because the weather was so bad over the winter it seemed a bit shallow to bundle up, run outside, pour the little bit in the mud or snow, then run back in the house. Short of pouring it outside I haven't really figured out what to do with it. Of course I drink all of what's in the horn. My horn is about a pint. When the weather gets nice I may do the whole thing outside and pour some out directly from the horn. My regular ritual is to light the candles, say some prayers, pour the mead, or beer, or wine into the horn, and raise it in toasts to Thor, all the Aesir and Vanir, the ancestors, and the landvaettir. I could make a small vé (shrine) outdoors with a carved wooden idol and votive candle, and do my ritual in the open.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

Pouring onto the ground does seem to be standard in all those religions (e.g. Hellenism) that don't offer and then scoff the lot (e.g. Chinese Shenjiao).

My nightly Hellenic ritual is to light candles, burn incense, pray, and offer wine and fruit. Some of the wine goes into a bowl that's emptied into the garden next day. The rest, with the fruit, becomes part of my dinner. It's a bit inconsistent, but burning food in an apartment with no fireplace is a bit messy. As I always say, it's the thought that counts.