The Blot Copyright @ 1991, 1992 Lewis Stead

The Blot is the most common ritual within Asatru. In its simplest form a
blot is making a  sacrifice to the Gods. In the old days this was done by
feasting on an animal consecrated to the  Gods and then slaughtered. (The
word blot itself is related to the Norse words for "blood" and
"sacrifice.") As we are no longer farmers and our needs are simpler today,
the most common blot  is an offering of mead or other alchoholic beverage to
the deities.

Many modern folk will be suspicious of a ritual such as this. Rituals such
as the blot have been  falsely interpreted by post-Pagan sources in order to
denegrate the ritual or trivialize it. The most  common myth about ritual
sacrifice is that one is buying off a deity e.g. one throws a virgin into
the Volcano so it won't erupt. Nothing could be further from the truth. In
Asatru it is believed  that we are not only the worshippers of the Gods but
that we are physically related to them. The  Eddas tell of a God, Rig, who
went to various farmsteads and fathered the human race so we are  physically
kin to the Gods. On a more esoteric level, humankind is gifted with "ond" or
the gift  of ecstasy. Ond is a force that is of the Gods. It is everything
that makes humans different from  the other creatures of the world. As
creatures with this gift, we are immediately connected to the  Gods, we are
part of their tribe, their kin. Thus we are not simply buying off the Gods
by offering  them something that they want, but we are sharing with the Gods
something that we all take joy  in. Sharing and gift giving was an
incredibly important part of Norse cultur (and of most ancient  cultures)
and had magical significance. Giving a gift was a sign of friendship,
kinship, and  connection. By sharing a blot with the Gods we reaffirm our
connection to them and thus  reawaken their powers within us and their
watchfullness over our world.

A blot can be a simple affair where a horn of mead is consecrated to the
Gods and then poured as  a libation, or it can be a part of a larger ritual.
A good comparison is the Catholic Mass which  may be part of a regular
service or special event such as a wedding or funeral, or it may be done  as
a purely magical-religious practice without any sermon, hymns, or other
trappings.

The blot consists of three parts, the hallowing or consecrating of the
offering, the sharing of the  offering, and the libation. Each of these is
equally important. The only tools required are mead,  beer or juice, a horn
or chalice, a sprig of evergreen used to sprinkle the mead, and a ceremonial
 bowl known as a Hlautbowl into which the initial libation will be made.

The blot begins with the consecration of the offering. The Gothi (Priest) or
Gythia (Priestess)  officiating at the blot invokes the God or Goddess being
honored. This is usually accomplished  by a spoken declaration with ones
arms being held above ones head in a Y shape, in imitation of  the rune
elhaz. This posture is used for most invocations and prayers throughout
Asatru. After  the spoken invocation an appropriate rune or other symbol of
the God or Goddess may be drawn  in the air with the finger or with the
staff. Once the God is invoked, the Gothi takes up the horn.  His assistant
pours mead from the bottle into the horn. The Gothi then traces the hammer
sign  (an upside down T) over the horn as a blessing and holds it above his
head offering it to the  Gods. He then speaks a request that the God or
Goddess bless the offering and accept it as a  sacrifice. At the least one
will feel the presence of the deity; at best one will be able to feel in
some inner way the God taking of the mead and drinking it.

The mead is now not only blessed with divine power but has passed the lips
of the God or  Goddess. The Gothi then takes a drink of the horn and it is
passed around the gathered folk.  Although it sounds like a very simple
thing, it can be a very powerful experience. At this point  the mead is no
longer simply a drink but is imbued with the blessing and power of the God
or  Goddess being honored. When one drinks, one is taking that power into
onesself. After the horn  has made the rounds once, the Gothi again drinks
from the horn and then empties the remainder  into the hlautbowl. The Gothi
then takes up the evergreen sprig and his assistant the hlautbowl  and the
Gothi sprinkles the mead around the circle or temple or onto the altar. If
there are a great  number of the folk gathered, one may wish to drop the
drinking and merely sprinkle the various  folk with the mead as a way of
sharing it. In a small group one might merely drink as the  blessing.

When this is done the Hlautbowl is taken by the Gothi and poured out onto
the ground. This is  done as an offering not only to the God invoked at the
blot, but it is also traditional to remember  the Earth Mother at this time,
since it is being poured onto her ground. Many invocations  mention the God,
Goddess, or spirit being sacrificed to, and then Mother Earth, as in the
Sigrdrifa Prayer "Hail to the Gods and to the Goddesses as well; Hail Earth
that gives to all  men." (Sigrdrifumal 3) With this action, the blot is
ended.

Obviously this is a very sparse ritual and if performed alone could be
completed in only a few  minutes. This is as it should be, for blots are
often poured not because it is a time of gathering or  festivity for the
folk, but because the blot must be poured in honor or petition of a God or
Goddess on their holiday or some other important occasion. For example, a
father tending his  sick child might pour a blot to Eir the Goddess of
healing. Obviously he doesn't have time to  waste on the "trappings" of
ritual. The intent is to make an offering to the Goddess as quickly as
possible. At some times a full celebration might not be made of a holiday
because of a persons  hectic schedule, but at the least a blot should be
made to mark the occasion. However, in most  cases a blot will at least be
accompanied by a statement of intent at the beginning and some sort  of
conclusion at the end. It might also be interspersed with or done at the
conclusion of ritual  theater or magic. Our kindred, for example, begins the
ritual with a chant of "Odin, Vili, Ve"  which connects us to the Gods of
creation. Between the invocation of the God or Goddess and  the actual Blot
we usually add a meditation or something else which acts as a focus of the
ritual.  Once, for example, we made mead in the middle of a ritual to Aegir.
As part of our blot we also  pass the horn three times. The first time
around is a taking in of the power of the charged mead  and all offer a
toast to the God(s) of the occasion. The second and third rounds are open to
toasts  to other Gods, toasts to the kindred, the hosts, to pledges,
boasting and anything else on wishes to  say. It is essentially a "mini
sumble" in the middle of our blot. Always of course, we remember  the
purpose of our ritual. We would never toast one of the Jotnar during a
ritual to Thor for  example. We have also added a few steps at the end which
are a private affirmation of our groups  kinship with each other and with
the Gods.

Basic Outline of the Blot Ritual:

I. Sanctify space with the Hammer rite II. Invocation of the Deity III.
Secondary Activities supporting the blot: meditation etc IV. Load mead by
offering it to the God V. Pass mead for blessing or sprinkle on folk VI.
Other activities, prayers, etc VII. Thank the deity VIII. Pour the
libation to the Earth